Hwaet

All Translations

Author	Title	Year	Language	Translation	English Translation
Alexander, Michael J.	Beowulf: A Verse Translation	1973	English	Attend!
Bacigalupo, Massimo	Heaney: Beowulf	2002	Italian	Allora	So
Boyden, Julie	Beowulf, a pagan hero: a modern poetic translation	2014	English	Listen!
Breeden, David	The Adventures of Beowulf	1999	English	Listen
Bueno Alonso, Jorge L.	Beowulf	2010	Galician	Escoitade!	Listen!
Carnabuci, Andrew B. F.	Beowulf: A Verse Translation from the Anglo-Saxon	2021	English	Hearken
Čermák, Jan	Béowulf	2003	Czech	Hoj!	Ho!
Chickering, Howell D.	Beowulf: A Dual-Language Edition	1977	English	Listen!
Ciuferri, Caterina	Beowulf	2000	Italian	Ecco	Here
Collinder, Björn	Beowulf Översatt i originalets versmått	1953	Swedish	Lyss!	Listen!
Conybeare, John Josias	Beowulf	1826	English	List!
Crawford, D.H.	Beowulf: Translated into English Verse	1926	English	Lo!
Frey, Johanes	Beowulf: Das angelsächsische Heldenlied	2013	German	Hört!	Hear!
Garnett, James M.	Beowulf: an Anglo-Saxon Poem	1882	English	LO!
Genzmer, Felix	Beowulf	1951	German	Fürwahr:	Verily:
Glover, Julian	Beowulf	1987	English	Hear, Listen
Greenfield, Stanley B.	A Readable Beowulf: The Old English Epic Newly Translated	1982	English	Indeed
Grein, Christian Wilhelm Michael	Dichtungen der Angelsachsen stabreimend übersetzt	1857	German	Traun!	Truly!
Grion, Giusto	Beowulf: Poema epico Anglosassone del VII secolo	1883	Italian	Affè!	In faith
Gummere, Francis B.	The Oldest English Epic: Beowulf	1909	English	LO
Haarder, Andreas	Sangen om Bjovulf	1984	Danish	Ja	Yes
Haley, Jr., Albert W.	Beowulf: A New Translation	1978	English	Listen to me!
Hall, John Richard Clark	Beowulf; a metrical translation into modern English	1914	English	Lo!
Hall, John Lesslie	Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem, Translated from the Heyne-Socin Text	1892	English	Lo!
Headley, Maria Dahvana	Beowulf: A New Translation	2020	English	Bro!
Heaney, Seamus	Beowulf: A New Verse Translation	1999	English	So
Hieatt, Constance Bartlett	Beowulf and Other Old English Poems	1967	English	Indeed
Hube, Hans-Jürgen	Beowulf das angelsächsische Heldenepos über nordische Könige neue Prosaübersetzung, Originaltext, versgetreue Stabreimfassung	2005	German	Wahrlich!	Verily!
Hudson, Marc	Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary	1990	English	Listen!
Huppé, Bernard Felix	The hero in the earthly city: a reading of Beowulf	1984	English	Hear
Huppé, Bernard Felix	Beowulf: A New Translation	1987	English	Hear
Kaufman, David	Beowulf, A Current English Version	2006	English	True it is
Kennedy, Charles W.	Beowulf: The Oldest English Epic translated into Alliterative Verse	1940	English	Lo!
Kennedy, Thomas C.	Beowulf	2001	English	What!
Koch, Ludovica	Beowulf	1987	Italian	Attenzione	Attention
Kowalski, Joan	Beowulf: Poema èpic anglosaxó compost cap a l’any 750 després de Crist, conservat en un sol manuscrit cap a l’any 1000 després de Crist	2016	Catalan	Oïu!	Hey!
Lee, Sung-Il	Beowulf	2010	English	What!
Lehmann, Ruth P. M.	Beowulf: An Imitative Translation	1988	English	Now
Lehnert, Martin	Beowulf: Eine Auswahl mit Einführung, teilweiser Übersetzung, Anmerkungen und etymologischem Wörterbuch	1939	German	Wahrlich	Verily
Leonard, William Ellery	Beowulf, a New Verse Translation for Fireside and Classroom	1923	English	What ho!
Lerate, Luis, and Jesus Lerate	Beowulf	1986	Spanish	¡Oíd!	Listen!
Linde, Māris	Beovulfs	2017	Latvian	Patiešām!	Indeed!
Liuzza, Roy	Beowulf: A New verse translation	2000	English	Listen!
Markotić, Nicole	After Beowulf	2022	English	Hwæt!
McCully, Chris	Beowulf: a translation and a reading	2018	English	Hear
McNamara, John	Beowulf	2005	English	Hail!
Meyer, Thomas	Beowulf: A Translation	2012	English	HEY now hear
Monnet, Camille	Beowulf	1937	French	Ecoutez!	Listen!
Morris, William, and A. J. Wyatt	The Tale of Beowulf Sometime King of the Folk of the Weder Geats	1895	English	What!
Nobis, Felix	Beowulf: An Adaptation	2000	English	Hwæt
North, Richard	Beowulf	2011	English	LISTEN
O'Lear, Olena [Олена О'Лір]	Beovul'f [Беовульф]	2012	Ukrainian	Отже [Otzhe]	So
Osborn, Marijane	Beowulf: a Verse Translation with Treasures of the Ancient North	1983	English	What
Pekonen, Osmo, and Clive Tolley	Beowulf	1999	Finnish	Kuulkaa!	Listen!
Petersen, Georg Paysen	Beowulf. Älteste deutsche Heldendichtung nach dem Angelsächsischen	1904	German	Traun	Truly
Porter, John	Beowulf: Anglo-Saxon Text with Modern English Parallel	1975	English	What!
Porter, John	Beowulf	1984	English	Listen.
Puhvel, Martin	Beowulf: A Verse Translation and Introduction	2006	English	Listen!
Purvis, Meghan	Beowulf	2013	English	Stop me if you've heard this one before
Raffel, Burton	Beowulf	1963	English	Hear me!
Ramalho, Erick	Beowulf: edição bilíngüe inglês antigo / português	2007	Portuguese	Co'efeito	Indeed
Rebsamen, Frederick	Beowulf: A Verse Translation	1991	English	Yes!
Risden, Edward L.	Beowulf: A Student's Edition	1994	English	Right!
Roberts, Gildas	Beowulf: A New Translation into Modern English	1984	English	Listen!
Rodrigues, Louis J.	Beowulf	2002	English	Well
Romano, Tim	Beowulf, a translation-in-progress	1999	English	Quiet!
Rytter, Henrik	Beowulf	1921	Norwegian	Høyr!	Right
Santano Moreno, Bernardo	Beowulf	2019	Spanish	¡Oíd!	Listen
Scott Moncrieff, Charles	Beowulf	1921	English	What!
Sepp, Rein	Beowulf	1990	Estonian	Näe	See
Simons, L.	Beówulf: Angelsaksisch Volksepos vertaald instafrijm en met inleiding en aanteekeningen	1896	Dutch	Voorwaar	Verily
Slade, Benjamin	Beowulf on Steorarume	2000	English	Listen!
Spaeth, John Duncan	Beowulf	1910	English	List
Steineck, H.	Beowulf	1898	German	Hei!	Hey!
Strojan, Marjan	Beowulf	1996	Slovene	Res	Indeed
Strong, Archibald	Beowulf: Translated into Modern English Rhyming Verse	1925	English	Lo
Sullivan, Alan, and Timothy Murphy	Beowulf	2004	English	So!
Szegő György	Beowulf	1994	Hungarian	Ím	Behold
Tegethoff, Wilhelm	Der altangelsächsische Beowulf, ein Werk Adalberts von Bremen. Neuauslegung und Übersetzung	1971	German	Hier, was wir bewahren:	Here, what we preserve
Thomas, Walter	Le Beowulf	1919	French	Voici!	Behold
Thorpe, Benjamin	Beowulf	1855	English	Ay
Tikhomirov, Vladimir [Вла̀димӣр Тихомиров]	Beovul'f [Беовульф]	1975	Russian	Истинно! [Istinno!]	Truly!
Tolkien, J.R.R.	Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary	1926	English	Lo
Trask, Richard M.	Beowulf	1997	English	Behold!
Unknown	Beowulf	1000	Old English	Hwæt
Veach, Dan	Beowulf	2021	English	Listen!
Vinsonhaler, Chris	Beowulf: A Dramatic Translation	2004	English	What!
Wackerbarth, A. Diedrich	Beowulf, an Epic Poem. Translated from the Anglo-Saxon into English Verse	1849	English	Lo!
Waterhouse, Mary E.	Beowulf in Modern English: A Translation in Blank Verse	1949	English	Lo
Wickberg, Rudolf	Beowulf. En fornengelsk hjältedikt	1889	Swedish	Ja	Yes
Williamson, Craig	Beowulf	2011	English	Listen!
Winter, J.D.	The Song of Beowulf: A New Transcreation	2018	English	Listen!
Alfred, William	Beowulf	1963	English	Listen.
Anderson, Geroge K.	Beowulf	1936	English	Lo!
Andrews, Tarren, and the Flathead Indian Reservation	Beowulf By All	2021	English	Heyla!
Arnold, Thomas	Beowulf: A Heroic Poem of the Eighth Century	1876	English	What!
Barkow, Henriette	Beowulf: And How He Fought Grendel—An Anglo-Saxon Epic	2004	English	Did you hear that?
Baugh, Albert	Beowulf	1925	English	Lo
Benedetti, Anna	La Canzone di Beowulf	1915	Italian	Attenti!	Atention
Botkine, Léon	Beowulf, Epopée Anglo-Saxonne	1877	French	Eh quoi!	What!
Bradley, S.A.J.	Beowulf	1982	English	Listen!
Brown, James L.	Beowulf	1973	English	What!
Cecioni, Cesare Giulio	Beowulf. Poema eroico anglosassone	1959	Italian	Ascoltate!	Listen!
Chén Cáiyǔ [陈才宇]	Bèiàowǔfǔ [贝奥武甫]	1999	Chinese	Zhūwèi ānjìng! [诸位安静!]	Ladies and gentlemen, quiet!
Child, Clarence Griffin	Beowulf	1904	English	Lo!
Conner, Sophia	Beowulf	1990	English	Oi!
Crossley-Holland, Kevin	Beowulf	1968	English	Listen!
Davis, Gerald	Beowulf: The New Translation	2014	English	Hark
Dietrichson, Jan W.	Beowulf-kvadet	1976	Norwegian	Hør!	Listen!
Donaldson, Ethelbert Talbot	Beowulf: A New Prose Translation	1966	English	Yes
Earle, John	The Deeds of Beowulf: An English Epic of the Eighth Century	1892	English	What ho!
Gordon, Robert Kay	The Song of Beowful rendered into English Prose	1922	English	Lo!
Green, Adwin Wigfall	Beowulf: Literally Translated	1935	English	Lo
Hall, John Richard Clark	Beowulf: a translation into modern English prose	1901	English	Lo!
Huyshe, Wentworth	Beowulf, an Old English Epic. The Earliest Epic of the Germanic Race	1907	English	What!
Kemble, John	A translation of the Anglo-Saxon Poem of Beowulf	1837	English	Lo!
Killilea, Alison	Boyo-wulf	2019	Cork slang	C'mere to me!
Kirtlan, Ernest J.B.	The Story of Beowulf: Translated from Anglo-Saxon into Modern English Prose	1913	English	Now
Kovačević Ivanka	Beovulf: Staroengleski junački spev i odlomci iz junačkih pesama	1982	Serbian	Počujte	Hear
Krol, Jelle, and Popke van der Zee	Beowulf: in proaza-oersetting út it Aldingelsk	1984	Frisian	Harkje nei myn ferhaal!	Listen to my story!
Kuiyagawa Fumio [厨川文夫譯]	Bēourufu [ベーオウルフ]	1931	Japanese	聽け！ [Ting ke]	Listen!
Levin, John-Clark	Gen Z Beowulf	2024	English	Fam.
Lumsden, Henry W.	Beowulf, an Old English Poem Translated Into Modern Rhymes	1881	English	Lo!
McCallum, James D.	Beowulf	1929	English	Hail!
McLeod, Thomas	Beowulf: An Inerlinear Translation	1970	English	Yes
Medeiros, Elton	Beowulf	2022	Portuguese	Escutem!	Listen!
Munn, James B.	Beowulf	1925	English	Lo!
Olivero, Federico	Beowulf	1934	Italian	Udite!	Hear!
Pearson, Lucien Dean	Beowulf	1965	English	Hear!
Pierquin, Hubert	Le poème anglo-saxon de Beowulf	1912	French	Voilà
Rogers, Bertha	Beowulf	2000	English	Listen!
Rosaspini Reynolds, Roberto	Beowulf: Versión completa	2004	Spanish	¡Atención!	Attention
Swanton, Michael	Beowulf	1978	English	Indeed
Tharaud, Barry	Beowulf	1990	English	Yes!
Tinker, Chauncey Brewster	Beowulf: Translated out of the Old English	1902	English	Lo!
Trautmann, Moritz	Das Beowulflied	1904	German	Hei!	Hey!
Treharne, Elaine	#Beow100	2014	English	Hey
Vera Pérez, Orestes	Beowulf	1959	Spanish	¡Escuchad!	Listen!
Wright, David	Beowulf: A Prose Translation	1957	English	Hear!
Fetter-Vorm, Jonathan	Beowulf: A Graphic Novel	2006	English	Listen!
Jones, Shirley	Scop Hwīlum Sang	1983	English	Listen
Weinersmith, Zach	Bea Wolf	2023	English	Hey, Wait!

About This Site

The idea for this site started when I read Maria Dahvana Headley's amazing novel The Mere Wife, a retelling of Beowulf set in the modern day. In that book she opened each chapter with a possible translation of hwaet – say, listen, so, what, attend, hark, tell, behold, ah, lo, yes, sing, and now. I got the idea of creating a crossword puzzle using those words, but got nowhere with it until I realized it would make more sense as a cryptic puzzle.

I created this site as an accompaniment to the puzzle. Originally it had about two dozen translations, all in English. Now it's up to 142 entries in 26 languages. Because I am only concerned about translations of hwaet, this list includes a number of adaptations that do not even pretend to be translations, such as Zach Weinersmith's wonderful graphic novel Bea Wolf, in which the 5-year-old heroine must defend a tree house from the evil Mr. Grindle. It also only includes versions of Beowulf that treat hwaet as in interjection. George Walkden, of the University of Manchester, argued in 2011 that hwaet should be read simply as part of the opening sentence. Whatever the linguistic merit of that argument, I find it boring on a literary level. An epic poem deserves an epic beginning.

There are many more translations of Beowulf out there that I know of but haven't been able to check – and surely even more than I don't know about – so as I'm able to track them down I'll add them to the list. Most of the translations and transliterations from other languages are based on Google Translate, so if you have a better suggestion for any of them, please send me an email. Also email me if you know of any translations that I'm missing.

A Note on Punctuation

The only surviving manuscript of Beowulf does not have any punctuation after the word hwaet. This is not too surprising, as most of the punctuation marks we use today weren't created until centuries later. Most translators place a comma after their translation of hwaet. For the sake of clarity, I have left those out, and only included less common marks (period, exclamation point, etc.).

Selected Sources

Allan, Syd, BeowulfTranslations.net
Mize, Britt, Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database, 2018-present
Osborn, Marijane, Annotated List of Beowulf Translations, 2003
Sauer, Hans with Julia Hartmann, Michael Riedl, Tatsiana Saniuk, and Elisabeth Kubaschewski, 205 Years of Beowulf Translations and Adaptations (1805–2010): A Bibliography, 2011

Attend!

Michael J. Alexander, 1973

Allora (So)

Massimo Bacigalupo, 2002

Listen!

Julie Boyden, 2014

Listen

David Breeden, 1999

Escoitade! (Listen!)

Jorge L. Bueno Alonso, 2010

Hearken

Andrew B. F. Carnabuci, 2021

Hoj! (Ho!)

Jan Čermák, 2003

Listen!

Howell D. Chickering, 1977

Ecco (Here)

Caterina Ciuferri, 2000

Lyss! (Listen!)

Björn Collinder, 1953

List!

John Josias Conybeare, 1826

Lo!

D.H. Crawford, 1926

Hört! (Hear!)

Johanes Frey, 2013

LO!

James M. Garnett, 1882

Fürwahr: (Verily:)

Felix Genzmer, 1951

Hear, Listen

Julian Glover, 1987

Indeed

Stanley B. Greenfield, 1982

Traun! (Truly!)

Christian Wilhelm Michael Grein, 1857

Affè! (In faith)

Giusto Grion, 1883

LO

Francis B. Gummere, 1909

Ja (Yes)

Andreas Haarder, 1984

Listen to me!

Albert W. Haley, Jr., 1978

Lo!

John Richard Clark Hall, 1914

Lo!

John Lesslie Hall, 1892

Bro!

Maria Dahvana Headley, 2020

So

Seamus Heaney, 1999

Indeed

Constance Bartlett Hieatt, 1967

Wahrlich! (Verily!)

Hans-Jürgen Hube, 2005

Listen!

Marc Hudson, 1990

Hear

Bernard Felix Huppé, 1984

Hear

Bernard Felix Huppé, 1987

True it is

David Kaufman, 2006

Lo!

Charles W. Kennedy, 1940

What!

Thomas C. Kennedy, 2001

Attenzione (Attention)

Ludovica Koch, 1987

Oïu! (Hey!)

Joan Kowalski, 2016

What!

Sung-Il Lee, 2010

Now

Ruth P. M. Lehmann, 1988

Wahrlich (Verily)

Martin Lehnert, 1939

What ho!

William Ellery Leonard, 1923

Allora
(So)

Escoitade!
(Listen!)

Hoj!
(Ho!)

Ecco
(Here)

Lyss!
(Listen!)

Hört!
(Hear!)

Fürwahr:
(Verily:)

Traun!
(Truly!)

Affè!
(In faith)

Ja
(Yes)

Wahrlich!
(Verily!)

Attenzione
(Attention)

Oïu!
(Hey!)

Wahrlich
(Verily)

¡Oíd!
(Listen!)

Patiešām!
(Indeed!)

Ecoutez!
(Listen!)

Отже
[Otzhe]
(So)

Kuulkaa!
(Listen!)

Traun
(Truly)

Co'efeito
(Indeed)

Høyr!
(Right)

¡Oíd!
(Listen)

Näe
(See)

Voorwaar
(Verily)

Hei!
(Hey!)

Res
(Indeed)