http://www.tolkienbeowulf.com/Harper Collins announced today that J.R.R. Tolkien's translation of the Old English epic of Beowulf will be released on May 22. I've been waiting for years to finally see this translation make it into print, especially after it was previously scheduled for publishing around the time of The Children of Húrin, but subsequently pulled without explanation.
This might be one of the most important versions of the poem to see release: Even though Tolkien's translation is by far not the first, it's significant in that Tolkien is one of the earliest scholars to argue for the LITERARY merit of the poem, when almost all previous attention it received was purely as an academic curiosity. His series of lectures, "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics," played a major role in championing the poem as a true work of art and not just an antiquity, and would also be a significant influence on The Lord of the Rings, and, in turn, the entirety of the modern fantasy genre.
In addition to the translation, the release will also contain commentary in the form of transcripts of Tolkien's famous lecture series. Also included is Tolkien's previously unpublished short-story, Sellic Spell, his attempt to recreate the underlying legends of
Hrólfs saga kraka.
