I love Beowulf and now that Heaney's translation of this great epic is out, I am overjoyed. Seamus Heaney is an extraordinary poet; he has unusual word choices and his Irish background is wonderful fodder for Old English. I have read other translations of Beowulf before but they are always a little flowery, stiff or dated. It is hard to translate the Old English guttural tones but Heaney uses consonants freely and you can almost hear Grendel's footsteps stalking the men in the mead hall! Thank you Mr heaney!