<i>Beowulf</i> Translation in the 1830s: Three Unobserved Cases and the History They Make

The 1830s were the first fertile decade of Beowulf's translation history.1 After Humfrey Wanley's description of the poem and transcription of a few lines in 1705,2Beowulf's text received no further direct representation, in its own language or any other, for a century. The next specimen of its phrasing came in Sharon Turner's 1805 translation of several brief extracts into Modern English.3 Not until 1815 was the Old English text published, in the editio princeps of Grímur Jónsson Thorkelín, in parallel with Thorkelín's Latin translation.4 Knowledgeable early readers saw many faults in Thorkelín's work and critiqued it roundly, with some reviewers offering alternative translations of selected passages in their own languages: Danish, English, Swedish.5 More sympathetically, Thorkelín's friend Ebenezer Henderson put short Beowulf passages into his 1818 memoir of an extended stay in Iceland.6 The most robust and creatively productive response to Thorkelín came in 1820, when N. F. S. Grundtvig (who had reviewed Thorkelín severely in 1815 and followed up with a long essay in 1817) published his own Bjowulfs Drape, a free rendering of the whole poem into Danish songlike verse, based on Thorkelín's text.7 In 1826, Beowulf finally appeared in fuller form in Modern English with John Josias Conybeare's series of segments translated into blank verse, connected by prose summary, in Conybeare's posthumous Illustrations of Anglo-Saxon Poetry, with a subsequent section providing the Old English (with Latin translation) of the passages he had versified.8Conybeare's generous, multiform treatment of Beowulf's content and expression put the poem more readily within reach of the curious and bookish, and representation of its text in various forms gained momentum from there. It is in the decade of the 1830s that we can begin to see Beowulf translation not as a series of instances, but as a continually ongoing mode of engagement with, and promotion of, what remained a formidable poem. Conybeare had helped to prime a small public of interested intellectuals for John M. Kemble's twin achievements, during the 1830s, of superior editing and superior translating. Kemble's edition of 1833 presented the whole Old English text more correctly than had Thorkelín, Kemble's 1835 second edition greatly improved on his first, and his prose translation of the poem, which followed in 1837, being the first complete line-by-line rendering into Modern English, brought Beowulf to its widest audience yet, and in largely accurate form.9 Although Kemble's work during the 1830s is now by far the most visible, in the same years as he was founding a modern understanding of the text's language, others too were having a try at Beowulf translation.On the scale of the whole poem, only A. Diedrich Wackerbarth started on another full translation that would eventually appear.10 However, alongside the onerous work of complete translation, another option that had been present from the earliest stage of Beowulf's modern dissemination continued to develop: the of brief to It was in the early to Beowulf offering any representation of its but the had been by Thorkelín's and in to of short Beowulf in as or had its Conybeare's Illustrations had greatly and the of and as the poem came in and and for passages in in in his of the of of Beowulf their into for the first in in 1835 for a in to an accurate of Old English which at present is translated lines into English alongside the within a essay with translation extracts was put into by the an extended in Modern English in within a and a of Old English the a short of prose translation in his and in a at put lines of Old English into translation as as a of the to Conybeare's in of Thorkelín, and their in the whole of Beowulf in various to of Old The small or translations that up alongside in the early of Beowulf's modern to an to of to the poem, but and in some in is which far more of Beowulf in line-by-line translation than had been in parallel to the Old English, and by a at of as to direct prose in as first to any extended of but on the that rendering not that the he that a translation it is of in a for being a as and and no of the of passages of Old English in parallel with direct of of followed with the of in the of Beowulf translation into of than is that of translation from Beowulf but until years was to with the and to of translations by of the is but it can largely in the of and is not to and of and many of the now and their of to which been is to the of and not the on to to understanding of Beowulf translation in the 1830s by to that not been as of that The first is in the of It been for a few that a translation of some lines of Beowulf that he that the translation present in his for to at of it that not been The second now being in Old English is a by and within translation of 1835 essay is a that was not in published and is the first of a of Beowulf The by published in 1835 in is presented by as a poem. not at in Beowulf and having an fuller and than the to the and of for of what can to on early of Beowulf The to the of Beowulf's Old English text the editio princeps of Thorkelín and the in Conybeare's but the of not the of and and The to to a poem from the its own within of the English and its for a modern by what the of which in and the poem, can of and for its by in the his years at he was with the and from his of Old and English of a he in what now the and The text of the is but many of the blank and many others the on in Old that gained a on the and that he only to it to his translation of The of the that during at was no or to Old English, was he on his own with that the and of that he was in Old English or he was to of the language, and to to but he is the earliest to a translation of any of that poem. a of Beowulf's to the Danish the first few lines of of the from being in the same the is not with the many the and the Beowulf and of the translated in the in the translated was first in by it to and of it from the of the was first up in Old English by in from the the first full transcription of translation, its to but a transcription editing from the was the first to present it that is by Conybeare's Latin of the same most translations of the as as Thorkelín's and Conybeare's Old English, is by verse, in lines full lines of Beowulf as the translation, and small but for what can what he was is translation as he the by that was of his Beowulf as a of and not a The and the the of he at started with some of the lines at is not of some of or translation from Beowulf as the but a that to to the Old English been alongside Conybeare's as he would no of to the than by to Thorkelín with parallel Conybeare had the Old English, with parallel for only passages he had for rendering in the Modern English a further from a of extracts that he had presented as English blank that to short was in is the in his It in a section it is the of that published in his been to lines by a of language in Beowulf that many readers the of Beowulf's in the which first by its as an in of Old English The of and the the that his was to the of of his he his Beowulf lines as in a a of that had his and to which he he he for any of lines in published the same he the and in next up a in the and a more in the In is or not as to for and of or with language for and on the of or the of The few he a more for by in he not Beowulf to an to which on the of Kemble's as a and of in a to Old English and a to the of in of the Beowulf in is a in to in which in that had into a that of the as a within an Beowulf's the that it was early in any with and the that is the second of a the next few lines that the is which in that when his the of that he had for the he was to its by that is but which a of some and only that it is in to a of of which he or not had a that a the of the of an from Beowulf that he had to more can for passages not far from another in of a work in the the to the poem the form of a and that with of as begin with his own In was in his of English, which as we with Old English in his first of the in of that to with Beowulf is a at the of a long by it is of the that not to a of first a that his to Old English in his to and he the of to a of language that in a full of the and It is the that and not the as a of by is not as a of Beowulf its of Old English we description by of his to his from the of to the than from and and of is that it to is not the of Old English the is of and and passages within the of of in to the of language or not the to a Beowulf the of in the lines from form a the with the of Beowulf 1835 essay on Old English translations of several passages of was in the in a translation by as of his with text is in Beowulf its is only by and had the same passages into from English and in parallel with the Old English, as had a Beowulf that had not been in the text published by the of the of in response to Beowulf's had a is the in Old English and as presented by his English essay as published, would only that the by the of the and to the Danish by offering to the of the to the of of Beowulf was published in the full had appeared in English, which would not until Kemble's translation of an Modern English translation of the of his English to the that would as the for the in his that his translation is the English on of by The Old English text in parallel on Kemble's 1835 as its lines in 1835 or in The a of text in which not on a for in as own first of same in Modern English came in a his in but he not that by rendering of lines the of Kemble's translation to a that we would now see as and he by Kemble's of own of as it was finally published a few years in when he his 1835 with the to by into a of his The translated parallel to the Old English, in as in the the is as the and in which the his for the of his on for the but his text is to as to its and his were to for readers the to on of early that from there. translation of essay was The second a the form of a by and the of the of in the a of by to several and of published to Old English from to was a by in to for the of Old English in essay on Old English he than any other, it a complete and of the of the of and of their the of that and their The is was a by of a of had at in to the most in and to essay what now of the brought to the of Old it that the into what the was as was its of of language is a first into for and his of of Old English at the of his first is a for of to of on the of Old English and a of its not in of the of the his had continued to to Beowulf to the the not only with on the of but a further of translation to his own of in of Beowulf or of Old English and but he a of translations from Old from Beowulf in the with only in it as a posthumous and it the translation of a English poem that Grundtvig had to his Danish Beowulf translation Bjowulfs poem is a curious being a of and from and in of the from Beowulf is lines of the to the of and translation from Old English translation in or It in but it remained until a posthumous that in it as an of but it into for its to a of The same from Beowulf into and published in in as a poem of of The translation is having no to the only translation from Beowulf that was to see to is the text and with had some during his he was and is for or based on his and a that he by the and was a of in until his in and for a in the years his and for the of his his of were in or his with in the of in of and his and in and of and to the of his with from and at the and of were to his he he as or in the and was by and than by any of of to been content with the to its translations and several years he was to with his the of the with than but his were a to own the he a to a that his to to with of than the and he and to from to his of on an for language few of his a he put in when he been in and an early the first to and from the of a translation of own of being with the work to some his translation on the of his English an of his own he was not a the he and the he an of with at was to the as but the in at a when the was for to a of a translation of the in the a language in but in the had been started years but had The to which his and subsequent that he in and to he of and the from and editing the text the of translation by the (with on it as a and and with in the language, which greatly the for to and he in the of of is in of a of of the that came of years in were in 1835 by and the same that the The the Beowulf rendering is a of from and several it was followed by a The the of with were in of for which the with was as an but some of were with it by the and in form The with as a of to the with its with a friend a of to to in the from in to and to on his by the on of in of of a of not by his and but more the than The which as from a and of is in The their in the of Danish, Danish, Modern The Beowulf is the only of in as in its The of of the the of the is with his the the at in of most is and lines of of the of in the the to it is that the for an the of lines we can see that in with the of the for Old English the form of the by than by full that the text most for of lines on the to most of his translation a with the Old than the received as a to by verse, is by the of In he is the Old English and his parallel Latin translation by verse, his Modern English translation of selected passages in lines of blank verse, a of form that to to a of the is Conybeare's blank rendering of the same lines of or that his as the of Conybeare's Conybeare's of in lines with his of a of the Old English is for his second from the of the of Beowulf that he not up to that Conybeare's lines from a understanding of but it what Conybeare was the in the Old is now as a in the Conybeare as a and as of as were a Latin translation of the same that he the as a to he his into Latin as Conybeare's as what he to a of the and he is no by his blank and his for from the Old English of lines is of a from the In his second only his an understanding of to and from being in that to or some of to the The is with the of when and Beowulf and in what and that in is with other, rendering of the same lines in of his translations from a and in had a with a and in his at the had been only the second to put any of Beowulf into Modern a few passages of translation, in an prose summary, in of with was the years to that as an to a was a of language for during which he and with as as with an and by to a translation of Danish a Danish to an English and a in language too with and some a brief of with a to the to which he had gained in the of a Latin and in his of and during his that having a few years published his of Thorkelín's edition and Latin translation of would to the Old English It is to and he would been to to a the from the Beowulf's own that its was and that the had at the of the which the the and of Beowulf by would to as a which to that or that he of is no but that and in Thorkelín, and that Beowulf translation, a of the with in in early of or songlike and in The with from only of in and The of of to its in songlike and and in of and a of Beowulf's can in it an of of or However, was first to Beowulf by is that the short Beowulf in not from with but at a to with Danish Beowulf translation, on of of in and in with a with Danish by the to of an of Danish and Beowulf translation into Danish would in an for to the poem, with or was a work which the from the of of its in a to in a now put into modern Danish, by a had in his translation the text into a of and the of his translation Bjowulfs Drape, Beowulf had now an and a poem of in a form that of the The with a of of Grundtvig is the to in was is few of Bjowulfs in it that in being of the in Grundtvig a to in the of the was in for at the which Grundtvig in in of and in to some transcription or translation for at the Grundtvig that at the he had of of published in its full form in of that work and not Bjowulfs that had not the Beowulf translation, as of it by in would been Bjowulfs or his with and it is that Grundtvig a but in any would had to the by the for to would in poem in Old English is and from and it of Beowulf's response to translated poem, he he was from Beowulf at in the as a from the by the not that in on Old English, he was a of language from in not to in in Danish translation of he the that Beowulf the of his own when no of the from which Grundtvig had The that translated poem to Bjowulfs Drape, far in the of the published in direct of full Danish is the of translation that to of of is in the of that we to in his The of the to from the only first that translation in is by Bjowulfs is the form with its that in his the as Thorkelín and Conybeare it Grundtvig not the at it in the Old English but when it in his translation it the form of the or an to a Danish of the by second to with its to the Old English of lines lines by for the the at in of most is and the of more than modern the Old to and that the is of the as the of an the and not the in its of a for or by the Danish In of with Bjowulfs lines of of was to lines by their in poem, Grundtvig in a edition of lines in the he translation the only to own of it in Old or not more of the Old English in Thorkelín or in Conybeare's selected Old English, as his Beowulf translation and his translation of poem in that language and the first of of is to the Old English than is Danish or of Beowulf was at in to by Danish rendering he further in Bjowulfs at a not present at that in Danish, in to in Bjowulfs would to a Grundtvig no or for from is that had in Thorkelín's edition and Latin translation with to gained to Bjowulfs in Grundtvig and at for translated English poem, its direct Beowulf that further in the Beowulf at in translation and in Thorkelín or in Conybeare's more published and to the same lines of Old English, with of their and in of Danish rendering of in to of at some for in More that Bjowulfs with his of Danish and a of that by with the In translation, would a Beowulf to his a Beowulf of many in the of Danish Grundtvig in the of he had been would his of the and the of translation were in what of Beowulf to or English or the English language and its Kemble's work during the 1830s would many of the for of and the but the of his edition and translation were being published, and Kemble's and of Beowulf in a of of for understanding it as an of the with present of in as we the in which Beowulf for and and to an of a text that was being for modern begin to by to of the poem were by the and forms in the Old English text was by Thorkelín in Conybeare in 1826, and Kemble's first edition in a of that brought and Beowulf of Thorkelín's edition had Beowulf to an the Anglo-Saxon and the was published in in a series largely to The whole text of Beowulf the of for as to of to into the that was a in some and would momentum during Thorkelín a had been for Wanley's to Beowulf for the first had been of a text of Old a to and for the of and Sharon Turner's of the in its the rendering of any of Beowulf into Modern English, had been by Turner's in the of the and its own Old After Thorkelín's edition the of an from its text of Beowulf to early in an 1818 of a of Beowulf that more Thorkelín's work had been of the readers of English the of of Thorkelín's more to in by the of It the of on having in the early with Danish and with an of Danish to Danish Bjowulfs Drape, when it came into his in by its and had it in lines from Beowulf for as In the Conybeare's Illustrations had Beowulf as an English but that it a translation or of Conybeare's on would a of from the Conybeare's treatment of Beowulf as an English poem, and an a more and in he the in which and would Kemble's 1833 Beowulf from would work and its by but was and to in on we his from of his with brought the Beowulf the English language and as a for in and their to the in its Old English but its in his own published in the of not we see Beowulf as a of more than he from the text an and it on his own to Beowulf in the first but is no expression of it in the published of that The that readers of not to Beowulf of is of Beowulf no for in to which he a he Beowulf into his own of and but he not to or of his Beowulf in his at to the of the as the of a the of a from that of Beowulf's by Beowulf translation to his of it in of the of Beowulf is and the modern to his a of The the that the is the in which the in by the of the is the of a of what is it the in the was to years was of own a or of in and what was in 1835 a by the of and to the of a of the that was from as a by until his in the and the of as from had that and in of the of a of any on the The of with is but on the of Beowulf's language in that by same in of the of English from the than of the the of his present but he what he as of In the of language and not or as it for many and to of language with of It is language that to to when he it is in to a language or a when he the of language of the same he a language by of the same or a for language and the and to the by his of with Beowulf of a of the English language that is the of an English into and to to which as to understanding the Old English and the early it was for an English public with a in Old English translation a in or the promotion of an an audience that and his to in and on in the of his essay by the in which Beowulf as the of English no of of the English with in and of Beowulf the that to the and of which the of the and a short and a long with the of and of and in the the with which essay their that in their own to readers not a that is of their own as a of but the of a the of English, and in Beowulf as their own poem, a in it as most curious of Anglo-Saxon in of a long representation of it in his of English poem Beowulf is for is a an Old his of Beowulf with by Thorkelín's edition and and by with Grundtvig and Bjowulfs for Beowulf to Beowulf in a of and as as no is in 1835 Beowulf a would no to the with Bjowulfs that see of as with Beowulf's in that is a Old and the of in that a of Old to was its to English and not he was own or but as of his to what were for the forms of English In on language and the of the were and by to see within of not from and to and to he was and he was to on had no to and or the of not of that in and put in with or being the would for of English and in and he a of what is most of language is in he that in a of the is not by an English for his poem in more to than a of language or was the of The that the Beowulf lines in by and from the of The that it translation the poem for a that present it as from the language and of that an from Beowulf in the same as in or to by its to modern English Beowulf to a of the but more a of the of and The a of and of and into the to for for a by The of Beowulf into a and of of and to for In of of Beowulf as a with it by any in the of its earliest The of and in and the with of and that not of Beowulf not an Old but the of to the poem would and the of with with in and into of not only but the of the 1830s to been a of in Beowulf's and not only in would as in his own but