Translations from <i>Beowulf</i> by C.S. Lewis

This article prints for the first time translations of three extracts from the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf produced by C.S. Lewis. It situates these translations within Lewis's academic study of the Old English epic poem, first as an Oxford undergraduate and later as a tutor of English at Magdalen College. As well as investigating the linguistic choices apparent in his translations, the article compares these with another contemporary translation, that by Lewis's friend and colleague in the Oxford English Faculty, J.R.R. Tolkien. The remainder of the essay considers the significance of these translations for our understanding of Lewis's knowledge of, and attitude towards, the poem, and a reconsideration of the importance of Beowulf for Lewis the scholar, teacher and writer.