Description: This magnificent new edition is designed for readers with some acquaintance with Old English who are coming to Beowulf for the first time. Beowulf consists of four parts: an introduction; text and notes; an account of how the editors arrived at their text; and a section devoted to giving the background to the poem. It includes relevant shorter texts and key illustrations.

The interpretations of the poem reflect the best scholarly view on each point, often a majority consensus among editors and scholars, rather than original interpretations of the editors. This edition encourages the reader by including minimal notes and emendations. The editors adopt a detached and impersonal presentation, except in a short section where they individually explain their own differing views about the poem. The volume does not attempt to conceal the existence of phonological and metrical problems, or of variant readings, but actively discusses such problems or readings only where these may affect the meaning of the poem.

Leslie Webster's important contribution to the edition and a discussion of what Klaeber calls the poem's 'fabulous' and 'historical' elements provide the reader with a comprehensive contextual account.

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