Earle's The Deeds of Beowulf, Done into Modern Prose (Clarendon
Press);
Gummere's The Oldest English Epic;
Morris and Wyatt's The Tale of Beowulf;
Hall's Beowulf, Translated into Modern Metres;
Lumsden's Beowulf, an Old English Poem, Translated into Modern
Rhymes (the most readable poetic translation).
Translations of many of the best parts of Beowulf may be found in
P. & S. 5-29; C. & T., 9-24; Morley, I. 278-310; Brooke 26-73.
Where did the exploits celebrated in the poem take place? Where was Heorot? What was the probably time of the completion of Beowulf? Describe the hero's three exploits. What analogy is there between the conflict of natural forces in the Norseland and Beowulf's fight with Grendel? What different attitude toward nature is manifest in modern poetry? What is the moral lesson of the poem? Show that its chief characteristics are typical of the Anglo-Saxon race.
Caedmonian Cycle.—Some of the strongest passages may be found in P. & S., 30-45; C. & T., 104-120; Morley, II. 81-101; Brooke, 290-340. Read at the same time from Milton's Paradise Lost, Book I., lines 44-74, 169-184, 248-263, and passim.
What evidence do we find in this cycle of the introduction of Christianity? Who takes the place of Grendel? What account of Caedmon does Bede give? What is the subject matter of this cycle?
Cynewulf Cycle.—The Poems of Cynewulf, translated by C.W. Kennedy. Translations of parts of this cycle may be found in Whitman's The Christ of Cynewulf, and The Exeter Book, translated by Gollancz. Good selections are translated in P. & S., 46-55; C. & T., 79-103; and 132-142: Morley, II., 206-241; Brooke, 371-443. For selections from the Phoenix, see P & S, 54-65; C.& T., 143-163.