Editor's Preface

The most famous or—for some medievalists—infamous translation since Seamus Heaney’s, Maria Dahvana Headley’s 2020 translation marks the first full text translation of Beowulf done by a woman. (Meghan Purvis, for example, provided an earlier translation but it is not a full text one.) Heralded as feminist and progressive, said to steer medieval literature out of the cliché dark ages, Headley's translation presents an interpretation of Beowulf that is distinctly rooted in twenty-first century America. Her translation and the image of Grendel’s mother which she creates were the original inspiration for The Mere Wife’s Kingdom project. Her translation breaks apart the skeleton of the Beowulf text and then pieces it back together to form the same skeleton but one that is glued together with gold in a kintsugi fashion, the Japanese process of mending broken pottery by using gold dustings to emphasize the imperfections.

In her text, Beowulf is no longer a noble warrior thane as is the common portrayal but instead possesses the humor and habit of an American frat boy. He competes in rap battles and speaks with the same locker room talk that has become a familiar posture in the past years: I snatched / the sword, striking down the bitch [Grendel's mother] that sought / to slay me. Words like daddying and fuck and beer-hall brothers are used frequently, leaving readers to linger on the uncomfortable nature of such crass words. Headley draws out the uncomfortable themes that most translators, including Heaney, would like to gloss over: violence of men against women, the disruption of women's peace by invasion, the entitlement of the wealthy and powerful.

What Headley has done with her translation is tether the text to a specific time and place— twenty-first-century America. Within her translation, she has effectively built a word-hoard of contemporary American English with all its slang and vulgarities. But what is unique to her translation are the themes which she centers her story around: male violence against women and the partnering of destruction and invasion, the danger of elevating these themes uncritically. Before Headley few translators were willing to venture into a feminist interpretation of the text even though one has been sitting there, waiting for it to be unearthed and dusted off and shown to everyone. For ultimately, that is what all translations of Beowulf are no matter how devout the translator is to authorial intent: interpreting fractured text, piecing together old bones of a dead language.

Headley denies Beowulf the elegant language that softens the violence of the titular character and his world. There is no safety for him there in her text. There is still merit in reading previous translations of Beowulf. And while I do not propose that we only engage with Headleywulf in our conversations about the early English period, Headley’s is the translation that comes to us at the right moment in history. It dispels notions about the perfect greatness of the early English and challenges our presentation of it. For that is what Old English translations should do–challenge us to rethink and evaluate tradition.

For more information as to why I have specifically chosen to transcribe the fight between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother instead of the countless other scenes from the original text, please refer to the Editor’s Preface for William Morris’s translation.

In terms of the actual editing process, I have kept the text as close to Headley's original edition as possible.The most important editing aspect that I have added to Headley's text is addition of my own notes and observations regarding her translation decisions which can be found in the footnotes.

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Amelia Lehosit, Editor, 2023

Footnotes

1. One interesting theme which Headley emphasizes in her translation is the importance of God's (meaning the Christian God) blessing upon Beowulf. In contrast, Grendel and his mother are rejected by God. The question of "fairness" is then raised as the monstrous figures lack the power of the divine.

2. Pointing out that Grendel will never reach Heaven instills the sense of "otherness" and "outcast" upon Grendel.

3. The attitude toward Grendel's mother is one of sympathy in this translation. Headley establishes from the beginning that Grendel's mother, though Beowulf considers her monstrous, has human emotions such as sorrow for her son's death. The monstrous in form is more human than initially assumed.

4. Note Headley's decision to describe the Geats and Danes with negative connotations. Their act of killing is not honorable but described as "murder" and they are a "herd" which assumes a lack of individual autonomy or thought.

5. For a contemporary audience, the notion that the warriors are complaining that they, too, would suffer losses seems ridiculous. In highlighting the spirit of complaint, Headley is countering the common presentation within translations of the warriors being noble and good.

6. This kenning reflects Headley's modern sensibilities in translating as it is a reference to the phrase "dead as a doornail."

7. This is not the first time that Headley refers to Beowulf as a "boy" which is markedly different that other translations. The use of "boy" creates a sense of immaturity within Beowulf. In the following line she describes him as "hungover" which establishes Beowulf as being more similar to the American stereotype of the "frat-boy."

8. Headley's use of expletives in her translation is one of the most distinct features of her translation.

9. This emphasis on "simple citizens" who live in the "muddy country" is interesting because it holds the implication either that 1) Hrothgar has ignored helping his lower class citizens by offering them protection or 2) Grendel purposefully ignores the lower class and only targets the wealthy.

10. Hrothgar calling Beowulf a boy points to Headley's desire to emphasize the immaturity of Beowulf as a character.

11. The original Old English does not distinguish that this is Beowulf's personal belief about life. Instead, Beowulf states it as a general truth that is accepted by everyone.

12. There are two notes about this line. The first is that Beowulf does not refer to himself in third person in the Old English. In doing so here, it points to an inflated sense of self-worth. Secondly, the use of "asylum" is striking as it conjures images of refugees seeking asylum in many Western countries and the divided response to it.

13. The lack of care in covering their tracks signals the believed superiority of the Danes and the Geats when compared to the Grendels. This emphasis is not as prominent in other translations.

14. Compared to other translators of Beowulf, Headley utilitzes italics for emphasis more so than most.

15. The rhyme within "ferocious," "tenacious," and "rapacious" demonstrates Headley's modern poetry sensibilities and her drawing on a sort of contemporary rap tradition.

16. In using "hall" to describe Grendel's mother's lair, Headley is stating that Grendel's mother is equal to the kings who rule their own halls such as Hrothgar.

17. It is unclear what Headley means here. Scrimshaw refers to "small articles, typically of ivory or bone, decorated with engraved designs" which were originally created from the bones and teeth of sea creatures such as whales.(OED)

18. The use of "engineering" is interesting because, by contemporary Western societal standards, engineering gives an air of intellect. The underlying assumption is that Grendel's mother must have been intelligent to construct such a hall.

19. The word "blueprint" conjurs one of the most visceral images in Headley's translation. It implies an act of violence from a man to a woman. Compared to Heaney’s “he would have to rely / on the might of his arm” (1534-1535) and Tolkien’s “He trusted in his strength and grasp of his own mighty hands” (1282- 3), Headley’s translation situates the text within the conversation of sexual assault and domestic violence against women.

20. The Christian God, according to Headley, has favorites and Grendel and his mother are not amongst them.

21. There is nothing in the Old English that would suggest she dies in a prayer position. This is Headley's addition in order to contrast God's favor toward Beowulf with his rejection of Grendel's mother.

22. Once again, the translation depicts the Christian God as harsh, especially towards women.