Beowulf: A New Telling

Easy to understand retelling of a medieval classic. My 6th grader had no trouble understanding and writing about it.

It was a great read, would recommend to any one who likes mythology or any other form of old story telling

I got this book because I have heard about it since high school (yeah that was quite awhile ago). I decided to read it and the price appealed to me. This is a much easier read than I expected, and a good book to give to the young ones if they aren't frightened by the idea of reading and are not easily frightened by goblins.

Was read this story as a kid and I reread it with my little one and I still love it

I came across this little book some years ago and it spurred me to an avid interest in the Beowulf saga.First off, I must admit that this story has MAJOR revisions from the original manuscript version which is about one thousand years old and written in old English. Like a Hollywood movie "based on a true story", Mr Nye made many changes to the story.What I really liked about this story, however, is that the author has Beowulf admit that there is deception in what is being told to people. In my opinion this idea of deception is the key to understanding the original Beowulf saga. Consider...-Every battle Beowulf has is hidden from plain sight. We have only his version of events to go by.-"Grip strength of 30 men" is impossible to measure, unless we are referring to Masonic type secret grips which carry insider status power.-Unferth's confrontation served as a perfect opportunity for Beowulf to claim modesty yet brag about himself endlessly. Beowulf tells a verbal proof story about killing sea monsters that sets up the idea of him having super-human swimming powers.-After Beowulf's King is killed, and everyone but Beowulf slaughtered, Beowulf shows up on the beach back home with 30 sets of armour and a tale about killing that many of the enemy before swimming back home with the loot. Hmmm...There are many more points I could list, but I leave the rest for you, dear reader, to discover...

Excellent

"Beowulf" is part of the curriculum for 10th grade English. My students have reading deficits and struggle reading the textbook version. The abridged version is absolutely wonderful! Robert Nye does a wonderful job following the story lines in the original poem of the epic hero. The students absolutely love the book and have a hard time putting it down.

Any kid's version of Beowulf should remain true to the original story. This was not. If you love the original, and want to share this experience with a younger reader, this book is NOT for you. If you just want your kid to read, and don't care about faithfulness to the original, then it's a perfectly decent fairy tale.

This ancient story given new legs and new life by a wonderful writer. It's a real pleasure to read and a joy to finally know this great story.