Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, Together with Sellic Spell

The translation of Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien was an early work, very distinctive in its mode, completed in 1926. Tolkien later returned to it to make hasty corrections, but he seems never to have considered its publication.

A Twofold Edition

This edition is twofold:

• It includes an illuminating commentary on the text of the poem by Tolkien himself. This commentary is derived from a series of lectures he gave at Oxford in the 1930s.
• A substantial selection of these lectures has been made to form a commentary on the translation presented in this book.

Tolkien's Vision and Creative Detail

From Tolkien's creative attention to detail in these lectures, there arises a sense of the immediacy and clarity of his vision. It feels as though he entered into the imagined past, vividly bringing scenes to life:

• Standing beside Beowulf and his men as they shake out their mail-shirts upon landing their ship on the coast of Denmark.
• Listening to the rising anger of Beowulf during Unferth’s taunting.
• Looking up in amazement at Grendel’s terrible hand set under the roof of Heorot.

Commentary Beyond the Text

The commentary also includes much from Tolkien’s lectures where he expressed wider perceptions, always anchored in the text. For instance:

• He examines the dragon that would slay Beowulf, describing it as “snuffling in baffled rage and injured greed” upon discovering the theft of the cup. Yet, Tolkien rebuts the notion that this is “a mere treasure story” or “just another dragon tale.”
• Tolkien reflects on the lines about the burying of the golden treasures long ago, observing that it is the “feeling for the treasure itself, this sad history” that elevates the story to another level.

He writes:

“The whole thing is sombre, tragic, sinister, curiously real. The ‘treasure’ is not just some lucky wealth that will enable the finder to have a good time, or marry the princess. It is laden with history, leading back into the dark heathen ages beyond the memory of song, but not beyond the reach of imagination.”

Sellic Spell: A Marvellous Tale

Sellic Spell is a ‘marvellous tale’, a story written by Tolkien that imagines what the form and style of an Old English folk-tale of Beowulf might have been—one without any association with the ‘historical legends’ of the Northern kingdoms.