A well–received feature is the grouping by codex to emphasize the great importance of manuscript context in interpreting the poems. The full contents of the Exeter Book are represented, summarized where not translated, to facilitate appreciation of a complete Anglo-Saxon book. The introduction discusses the nature of the legacy, the poet's role, chronology, and especially of translations attempt a style acceptable to the modern ear yet close enough to aid parallel study of the old English text. A check–list of extant Anglo-Saxon poetry enhances the practical usefulness of the volume. The whole thus adds up to a substantial and now widely–cited survey of the Anglo–Saxon poetic achievement.

    This magnificent new edition, which includes relevant shorter texts and key illustrations, is designed specifically to help those who, while already enjoying some acquaintance with Old English, come to " Beowulf " for the first time.

    

    

    First, all textual variants are fully glossed. Variants prove useless to the reader unless he can translate them, and even the most experienced scholar might have difficulty with entries such as Trautmann's coinage *'swinsað'. Second, glossary entries record the word’s meanings in the language as a whole, not just in the immediate context, so that readers can see the possible range of denotations and connotations, appreciate word play and puns, and escape some of the danger of contextual glossing becoming a form of covert editorial interpretation. Third, glossary entries record literal meanings in so far as possible, especially in compounds. (One editor glossed Elene 651a 'dareð-lacende' as 'warrior', thus dropping two vivid images, the spear and its 'player', from the reader's consciousness.) To facilitate diction studies, the glossary cross-references second elements of compounds, and notes which elements occur only in poetry. ("Preface")

    Original texts are given with translations on the facing page. Each riddle gives a vivid glimpse into Old English daily life; birds and beasts, weapons and tools, men and women all speak to us from a thousand years ago.