Boydell Press Translating Early Medieval Poetry: Transformation, Reception, Interpretation: 11 (Medievalism)

The first decades of the twenty-first century have seen an unprecedented level of creative engagement with early medieval literature, ranging from the long-awaited publication of Tolkien's version of Beowulf and the reworking of medieval lyrics by Ireland's foremost poets to the adaptation of Eddic and Skaldic poetry for the screen. This collection brings together scholars and accomplished translators working with Old English, Old Norse and Medieval Irish poetry, to take stock of this extraordinary proliferation of translation activity and to suggest new ways in which to approach these three dynamic literary traditions. The essays in this collection include critical surveys of texts and traditions to the present day, assessments of the practice and impact of individual translators from Jorge Luis Borges to Seamus Heaney, and reflections on the particular challenges of translating poetic forms and vocabulary into different languages and media. Together they present a series of informed and at times provocative perspectives on what it means to "carry across" early medieval poetry in our contemporary cultural climate. Review The essays are without exception well written, sometimes indeed entertaining as well as scholarly, and any reader interested in early Western European poetry and its translation will find much of interest. ― PARERGON By juxtaposing the three linguistic traditions [Old English, Old Norse, and Celtic], the editors create a crucible that reveals both defaults and the desiderata for each literature, pointing to where scholars might productively enrich and contextualize their particular area of study. ― SPECULUM [A] view of translation as process, as complex aesthetic, cultural, and intellectual activity with different aims and interests depending upon context. . . . [A]n impressive blend of art and scholarship. ― JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND GERMANIC PHILOLOGY High quality scholarship that has such a wide potential audience, far beyond the borders of academia, is rare, and definitely very welcome. ― TOEBI About the Author Dr Tom Birkett is lecturer in Old English at University College Cork; Dr Kirsty March-Lyons is a scholar of Old English and Latin poetry and co-organiser of the Irish Research Council funded conference and translation project " Eald to New". Contributors: Tom Birkett, Elizabeth Boyle, Hannah Burrows, Gareth Lloyd Evans, Chris Jones, Carolyne Larrington, Hugh Magennis, Kirsty March-Lyons, Lahney Preston-Matto, Inna Matyushina, Rory McTurk, Bernard O'Donoghue, Heather O'Donoghue, Tadhg Ó Síocháin, Bertha Rogers, M.J. Toswell.