Beowulf

Beowulf is not for everyone but if you want to read a fundamental piece of English Literature (composed sometime between the middle of the seventh and the end of the tenth century in a language we now call Old English) this is the book to read. No worries for those of you not fluent in Old English, Seamus Heaney translated it for us. And he's good. (He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995.) The poem is fantastic and had me fondly reminiscing the time I spent reading Chretien de Troyes for my French Literature class. Beyond that, the poem is a narrative of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero, who is the only person able to take on the ferocious monster Grendel (and later Grendel's mother) that has been terrorizing the Danes. It follows Beowulf through the harrowing monster encounter and continues to explore the life of the hero after success. The text is laden with biblical references and laments, which at times is almost stifling, but I figure if I can slog through it, anyone can.