[Dain]

I liked and understood the excerpt from Tolkien's translation (the part printed here seemed poorly punctuated, maybe?), and I've read and enjoyed Heaney's translation, too. I liked looking at the Old English original across the page, as well, because even if you couldn't undestand it, you could read it--well, if you figured out how the letters sounded--and get an idea of the poem. I would be very interested to read Tolkien's Beowulf, because it sounds like he captures that flavor of it. Just using uncommon words and phrases gives it a more ancient feel, and I like that. I am confused, though, is it published or not?

I couldn't follow Bill and Bethberry's discussion, but I certainly didn't like that professor Clark's tone. I don't think you can argue about someone's interpretation of something over a thousand years old being "completely wrong," unless you were there when it was written! And I always saw the monsters as hostile nature-forces, too. But then, I'm a physicist, not an English student...