The Real Beowulf is in the words

The newest addition to our library is a bilingual edition of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf poem—the Old English text, from the British Library MS Cotton Vitellius A, c. 1100, with a modern English translation by Francis B. Gummere, 1910. Try reading the original aloud (just sound it out) while you scan the translation. These ancient lines carry a great deal of power, and if you’re going to see the movie, you should have them echoing in your head. Here are the first 10 sections of the poem:

• I. The Passing of Scyld
• II. The Hall Heorot
• III. Grendel’s Visits
• IV. Hygelac’s Thane
• V. The Errand
• VI. Beowulf’s Speech
• VII. Hrothgar’s Welcome
• VIII. Hrothgar Tells of Grendel
• IX. Hunferth Objects to Beowulf
• X. Beowulf’s Contest with Breca, The Feast