Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations

Translation of 'Beowulf' Revives Epic Tale

This weekend, a movie based on the Old English epic poem "Beowulf" was number one at the box office. Yet in many ways, popular interest in the story was revived several years ago, when Irish poet Seamus Heaney published a new translation of the 1,000-year-old text.

Heaney, a Nobel prize-winning poet, discusses the historic poem's meaning and influence.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.