Books About Beowulf
Discover the best books about Beowulf, from Seamus Heaney's acclaimed poetry translation to John Gardner's Grendel and R. Scot Johns' epic retelling. Explore this curated list of essential Beowulf books for fans of Old English legend and modern fiction.
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The Saga of Beowulf
by R. Scot Johns
"The Saga of Beowulf" is the first complete novelization of the epic 10th century Old English poem "Beowulf." Based on ten years of research utilizing numerous historical sources, R. Scot Johns' riveting adaptation is "breathtaking in scope and relentless in pace," chronicling the tragic wars of the rising Nordic nations, the endless blood-feuds of their clans, battles with mythic creatures in an ancient heroic age, and the final, futile struggle of one man against the will of Fate that made of him a legend.
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Grendel
by John Gardner
This classic and much lauded retelling of Beowulf follows the monster Grendel as he learns about humans and fights the war at the center of the Anglo Saxon classic epic. "An extraordinary achievement."—New York Times The first and most terrifying monster in English literature, from the great early epic Beowulf, tells his own side of the story in this frequently banned book. This is the novel William Gass called "one of the finest of our contemporary fictions."
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Beowulf
by Seamus Heaney
Presents a new translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic chronicling the heroic adventures of Beowulf, the Scandinavian warrior who saves his people from the ravages of the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother.
