A Contemporary Voice Revisits the Past: Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf

Abstract

Heaney's controversial translation of Beowulf shows characteristics that make it look like an original work: in particular, the presence of Hiberno-English words and some unexpected structural features such as the use of italics, notes and running titles. Some of Heaney's artistic choices have been brought into question by the Germanic philologists, who reproached him with his lack of fidelity to the original text. Moreover, the insertion of Hiberno-English words, which cause an effect of estrangement on Standard English speakers, was considered by some critics not only an aesthetic choice but a provocative act, a linguistic and political claim recalling the ancient antagonism between the Irish and the English. Yet, from the point of view of Heaney's theoretical and cultural background, his innovations in his translation of Beowulf appear consistent with his personal notions of poetry and translation. Therefore, his Beowulf can be considered the result of a necessary interaction between translator and original text and be acclaimed in spite of all the criticism.