书名：Beowulf贝奥武夫
难度：Lexile蓝思阅读指数1190
作者：Anonymous, Burton Raffel翻译
出版社名称：Signet Classics
出版时间：2008
语种：英文
ISBN：9780451530967
商品尺寸：10.6 x 1.3 x 17.3 cm
包装：简装
页数：176 （以实物为准）

Beowulf《贝奥武夫》与法国的《罗兰之歌》、德国的《尼伯龙根之歌》并称为欧洲文学的三大英雄史诗，是一部完整的欧洲早期长篇史诗作品。本书讲述了斯堪的纳维亚（Scandinavia）英雄贝奥武夫（Beowulf）的英勇事迹。
推荐理由：
1.《贝奥武夫》是英国早期的英雄史诗，也是中古欧洲反映氏族社会末期蛮族部落生活一类英雄史诗中的一部完整史诗；

2.古老的盎格鲁—撒克逊语言，经过爱尔兰诗人、翻译家Burton Raffel的精心翻译，完美地用当代英语将古英语的美感体现出来，通俗易懂，又不失韵律；
3.作为古老的英雄史诗，结合当时口头文学传统和基督教元素，从而形成当代版本，值得读者推敲品读；
4.印刷清晰，体积小巧，便于携带，适合随时随地阅读。
The epic poem—Beowulf is the earliest extant poem in a modern European language— reflecting a feudal, newly Christian world of heroes and monsters, blood and victory, life and death. Its beauty, power, and artistry have kept it alive for more than thirteen centuries.Though it is often viewed both as the archetypal Anglo-Saxon literary work and as a cornerstone of modern literature, Beowulf has a peculiar history that complicates both its historical and its canonical position in English literature.

The poem is set in Scandinavia. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel’s mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland (Götaland in modern Sweden) and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory.
Beowulf《贝奥武夫》全诗长3000多行，其中所记历史事件属于6世纪，反映盎格鲁·撒克逊人在欧洲大陆的生活。史诗是他们在定居不列颠之后，在8世纪用古英语写成。现仅存的手抄本属10世纪。全诗分两个部分：第一部分写瑞典南部耶阿特族贵族青年贝奥武夫渡海到丹麦，替丹麦人消灭为害的巨妖格伦德尔及其母亲，歌颂主人公见义勇为、徒手搏斗的英雄气概；第二部分写50年后贝奥武夫作为国王为本族杀死焚烧人民房屋的火龙并因此牺牲的事迹，歌颂主人公忘我无私和高度负责的道德品质。全诗体现了氏族社会瓦解时期部落人民的理想。

TranslatorBurton Raffelhas taught English, classics, and comparative literature at universities in the United States, Israel, and Canada. His books include translations of Beowulf, The Complete Poetry and Prose of Chairil Anwar, From the Vietnamese, Ten Centuries of Poetry, The Complete Poetry of Osip Emilevich Mandelstam (with Alla Burago), Poems from the Old English, and The Annotated Milton. Mr. Raffel practiced law on Wall Street and taught in the Ford Foundation’s English Language Teacher Training Project in Indonesia.