Beowulf, an eighth century poem about a heroic warrior who battles monsters and dragons, has confounded many literature students who get mired in its Old English vocabulary and overlook the mystery, myth, and adventure of the story.
But a recent translation of the epic was well-received by both critical and popular audiences and has generated new interest and appreciation for the work. Composed at a time when books were rare and few of the population were literate, the poem is full of rich and memorable imagery meant to be spoken aloud and heard.
Select passages from Beowulf as translated by Nobel Prize-winner and poet Seamus Heaney will be read as part of the Wednesday Evening Lecture Series sponsored by the University of Rochester's Office of Alumni Relations and Development. The event, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, in The Meliora in the Frederick Douglass Building on River Campus, is free and open to the public. Reduced price copies of Heaney's translation will be available.
The readers will include Thomas Hahn, professor of English. Hahn is a specialist in Old and Middle English literature, has edited several texts and numerous articles on Medieval and Renaissance literature, and is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies.
For more information and reservations, call the Fairbank Alumni House, (585) 273-5888.