Comparison of Seven Beowulf Translations Essay -- comparison compare c

relation of Seven Beowulf Translations There is not unanimity among Beowulf translators concerning all parts of the text, precisely there is little divergence from a single, uniform translation of the poem. herein are discussed some passages which translators might show disagreement about because of the lose of clarity or missing fragments of text or abundance of synonyms or ambiguous referents. After the Danish coast-guard meets and talks to Beowulf, the guard then begins his neighboring speech with a brief maxim or aphorism Aeghwaepres sceal scearp scyldwiga gescad witan, worda ond worca, se pe wel penced. (287-289) T.A. Shippey comments in The World of the Poem that Translating this ought not to be difficult. The conundrum here is caused by the fact that proverbs are not merely lingual phenomena. the hidden factor is the extralinguistic frame we have been taught in puerility when to use proverbs, what their metaphors mean, who to say them to, and how to take them. It is this nonverbal beledge that we need to be able to understand the coastguards gnome. Reluctance to reconstruct such intangibles and long staring at the text have led literary critics into quarrel (Shippey 34). So lets cross-reference six translators and determine how terrible a discrepancy exists here. Ho come up D. Chickering translates the troublesome part of the passage must know the distinction between talking to and deeds, keep the difference clear (Chickering 65). E. Talbot Donaldson who thinks well must be able to judge each of the two things, words and works (Donaldson 6). Kevin Crossley-Holland one whose mind is ... ... multiple synonyms, vague references, etc. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alexander, Michael. Beowulf A compose Translation. New York Penguin Books, 1973. Chickering, Howell D. Beowulf A dual-Language Edition. New York Anchor Books, 1977. Crossley-Holland, Kevin, trans. Beowulf The Fight at Finnsburh, edited by Heather ODonoghue. New York Oxford University Pres s, 1999. Donaldson, E. Talbot, trans. Beowulf The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph Tuso. New York, W.W.Norton and Co., 1975. Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf, A New Verse Translation. New York W.W. Norton & Co., 2000. Rebsamen, Frederick. Beowulf A Verse Translation. New York Harper-Collins Publishers, 1991. Shippey, T.A.. The World of the Poem. In Beowulf Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishers, 1987..