Name:
Translation Tones
Translated by Seamus Heaney,
Irish Poet
Then a powerful demon, a prowler
through the dark, nursed a hard
grievance. It harrowed him to hear
the din of the loud banquet every day
in the hall, the harp being struck and
the clear song of a skilled poet telling
with mastery of man’s beginnings,
How the Almighty had made the
earth…in His splendour…
Grendel was the name of this grim
demon haunting the marches,
marauding round the heath and the
desolate fens; he had dwelt for a time
in misery among the banished
monsters, Cain’s clan, whom the
creator had outlawed and
condemned as outcasts.
Tone Toward Grendel:
Author’s Attitude Adjective:
Directions: 1. Underline tone clues related to Grendel. 2. Label each negative, neutral,
or positive then add attitude adjectives to describe each translation’s tone.
Translated by Burton Raffel,
American Author
A powerful monster, living down in the
darkness, growled in pain, impatient
as day after day the music rang loud
in that hall, the harp’s rejoicing call
and the poet’s clear songs, sung of
the ancient beginnings of us all,
recalling The Almighty making the
earth…
…Till the monster stirred, that demon,
that fiend, Grendel, who haunted the
moors, the wild Marshes, and made
his home in a hell Not hell but earth.
He was spawned in that slime,
Conceived by a pair of those
monsters born Of Cain, murderous
creatures banished By God, punished
forever for the crime Of Abel's death.
Tone Toward Grendel:
Author’s Attitude Adjective:
Translated by Maria Dahvana
Headley, American Author
…out there in the dark, one
waited…he’d been lonely too long,
brotherless, sludge-stranded. Now he
heard and endured the din of
drinkers. Their poetry poisoned his
peace. Every night, turmoil: raucous
laughter from Heorot, howling of
harps, squawking of scops. Men
recounting the history of men like
them. The Almighty made Earth for us,
they sang.
Grendel was the name of this woe-
walker, Unlucky, [flagged] by
Fate….His creation was cursed under
the line of Cain, the kin-killer….Though
none of that was Grendel’s doing,
he’d descended from bloodstains
…monsters, elves, giants who’d
ground against God, and for that,
been banished.
Tone Toward Grendel:
Author’s Attitude Adjective: