Translation Of Beowulf

Evolution of language comes through the usage of translation. Without it, ancient writings and works would not be the bible, or Beowulf, for example, that we read today. Looking like a lot of gibberish to us, the original Beowulf writing is ancient and antiquated to people in modern times. Things are read off of an everyday computer or blog with an extremely basic slang, or English. With the guidelines of translation being similar, both are rooted in similar idea, but difference in the path of speech. With the original story of Beowulf being the base, any translator will have the same basic concept or idea when writing the new version. The moral and base of the original work cannot be changed or it is not the same story. With Heaney’s translation,

The monster's/35 Thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws:/He slipped through the door and there in the silence/ Snatched up thirty men, smashed them/Unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies,/The blood dripping behind him, back/40 To his lair, delighted with his night's slaughter” (Raffel 30-40).

Although the same amount of writing, or close, the wording, thought process and use of literary elements show more of Grendel’s sinister behavior. The process of him moving towards the hall and proceeding through the sleeping beds of soldiers and holding a massacre of 30 men to take them back to his own lair. Even with the base story given by the original writer, Raffel was able to take it, use it, and illustrate an even better story of Beowulf and the many monsters created that he destroys. Although both renditions are very similar in content, the style rooted within the story and characters are meaningful yet different. Raffel and Heaney took an intriguing story and made a version suitable for those that have the urge to hear in modern times. The comparison and connection of both stories is extravagant and the paths of speech taken by both, bring out the story and meaning of Beowulf and his connection to the modern yet real