This new translation of the oldest narrative poem in English—the first in more than twenty years—is designed for easy, pleasant reading. It cuts the scholarly touches to a minimum, using simple margin notes to explain some word or phrase. With students, young readers, and Beowulf fans in mind, Donald Mace Williams has approached his translation as both a published writer of modern metrical poems and a scholar in the verse structure of Beowulf.
This new translation of the oldest narrative poem in English has three qualities that set it apart from the many previous translations.
First, it has cut the scholarly touches to a minimum, using only eight end notes to clarify certain passages. Notes in the margin often amount to a single word to explain some word or phrase. The introduction, too, is designed for easy, pleasant reading.
The second quality that makes this translation distinctive is that it is written in iambic meter, familiar to readers of more than six centuries of poetry in modern English. The translation uses almost always four stresses per line, the same as in the Anglo-Saxon, though the alliterative formula of the ancient text is not a part of Williams’s scheme.
The third distinctive feature of the translation is that it keeps the kennings that are such an important characteristic of the original. When the Beowulf poet (or poets) calls the sea the “whale paths,” Williams does the same. To translate the phrase as the “sea,” to Williams’s mind, would take away much of the Anglo-Saxon charm and would deprive the reader of an image.
Donald Mace Williams has approached his translation as both a published writer of modern metrical poems and a scholar in the verse structure of Beowulf. His Ph.D. in that subject was done at the University of Texas under the direction of the noted prosodist and philologist Thomas M. Cable.
Category: Poetry
Publication Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN (paper): 979-8-9879002-7-7
ISBN (ebook): 979-8-9879002-8-4
Pages: 108
Trim size: 5.5 x 8.5
The Dewdrop“Breathtaking”
Sheryl Oliver, Panhandle High School, Panhandle, Texas“In his newly released translation of Beowulf, Donald Mace Williams has brought the historical context and the sheer drama of the original English poem to life for the 21st century. His fresh take on the story as well as the introductory material make this work far more accessible to students who typically find themselves separated from the novelty and allure that Beowulf should automatically offer to readers. Williams has set the table, so to speak, for today's readers, and as a high school English teacher I look forward to implementing this new version into my curriculum. Many thanks from a grateful teacher!”
Robert Bjork, director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies“From the first word of the brief and extremely helpful introduction to the last word of the translation, Williams captures you and will not let you go. His lyrical prose energizes and delights you; the strategically sparse notes propel you further along; and the whole experience of this powerful book leaves you wanting more. I strongly recommend it.”
The Dewdrop“Breathtaking”
Sheryl Oliver, Panhandle High School, Panhandle, Texas“In his newly released translation of Beowulf, Donald Mace Williams has brought the historical context and the sheer drama of the original English poem to life for the 21st century. His fresh take on the story as well as the introductory material make this work far more accessible to students who typically find themselves separated from the novelty and allure that Beowulf should automatically offer to readers. Williams has set the table, so to speak, for today's readers, and as a high school English teacher I look forward to implementing this new version into my curriculum. Many thanks from a grateful teacher!”
Robert Bjork, director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies“From the first word of the brief and extremely helpful introduction to the last word of the translation, Williams captures you and will not let you go. His lyrical prose energizes and delights you; the strategically sparse notes propel you further along; and the whole experience of this powerful book leaves you wanting more. I strongly recommend it.”
A 150th Anniversary Reader
Rainer Maria Rilke wrote many short lyric poems of remarkable beauty and intensity. Donald Mace Williams has selected some of the best and brought these works of one of the 20th century’s most influential poet to English-speaking audiences.
These sixty-one poems, only a few of which are longer than a page, have the clarity and terseness that newspaper reporters strive for. No wonder—Donald Mace Williams spent most of his long adulthood as a newspaper writer and editor. They are his observations, full of joy and sadness, about life, loss, and nature.
In this epic re-release, Donald Mace Williams adapts Beowulf to late nineteenth-century Texas in Wolfe. In Being Ninety, he reflects on more than nine decades of devotion to the writing life.
