Lucky for Burton Raffel, Amazon requires me to give this work at least 1 star. This version doesn't even deserve that. I have to admit that Beowulf is by far THE WORST work of recognized literary merit that I have EVER encountered. The story centers around a most egotistical, self-glorifying man, Beowulf. The reader must endure pages and pages of Beowulf's constant bragging and babbling about his numerous "brave" feats. The only part of the story I enjoyed was at the very end when Beowulf gets killed by a fire breathing dragon. Fortunately, this is a very short book because if it had even been one page longer I would have had to resort to a slow, painful suicide (which would have been more interesting than "Beowulf"). I promise you will hate this version of Beowulf and you will regret every second of your life you spend reading it. If you are required to read this work, I strongly suggest you skip the "epic poem" and read the Spark Notes END