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Beowulf. Traducción Y Comentario www.ArchivoTolkien.org 1 ArchivoTolkien.org Contenido NOTA DEL EDITOR DIGITAL ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 PREFACIO ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 10 INTRODUCCIÓN A LA TRADUCCIÓN ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 14 BEOWULF ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 19 NOTAS SOBRE EL TEXTO DE LA TRADUCCIÓN ........................................................................................................................................................................ 78 NOTA INTRODUCTORIA AL COMENTARIO ................................................................................................................................................................................ 89 COMENTARIO QUE ACOMPAÑA LA TRADUCCIÓN DE BEOWULF .................................................................................................................................... 92 SELLIC SPELL (UN CUENTO MARAVILLOSO) .......................................................................................................................................................................... 199 Introducción ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 199 § I SELLIC SPELL: EL TEXTO FINAL ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 201 § 2 UNA COMPARACIÓN ENTRE LA FORMA MÁS ANTIGUA Y LA FORMA FINAL DEL RELATO ........................................................................ 214 § 3 SELLIC SPELL: EL TEXTO EN INGLÉS ANTIGUO ............................................................................................................................................................. 221 EL LAY DE BEOWULF ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 226 THE LAY OF BEOWULF .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 227 I Beowulf and Grendel ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 227 II Beowulf and the Monsters ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 229 EL LAY DE BEOWULF ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 232 I Beowulf y Grendel ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 232 II Beowulf y los Monstruos ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 234 www.ArchivoTolkien.org 2 La traducción de Beowulf de J. R. R. Tolkien, acabada en 1926, fue un trabajo temprano de carácter muy peculiar. Sin embargo, contiene elementos que después Tolkien usaría en sus obras de la Tierra Media, como el dragón, que presagia al Smaug de El Hobbit. A partir de la atención que Tolkien presta al detalle se hace patente el sentido de la inmediatez y claridad de su visión. Es como si entrara en el pasado imaginado, y se irguiera junto a Beowulf y sus hombres cuando sacuden sus cotas de malla al asegurar su nave en la playa de la costa de Dinamarca, escuchara la creciente cólera de Beowulf por las provocaciones de Unferth, o mirara con asombro la terrible mano de Grendel colgada del techo de Heorot. Esta edición también incluye un extenso comentario de Christopher Tolkien sobre las notas de las conferencias que dio su padre sobre el poema y Sellic Spell, un «cuento maravilloso» escrito por Tolkien en el que se sugiere cómo podría haber sido un cuento popular sobre Beowulf sin conexión con las «leyendas históricas» de los reinos del Norte. www.ArchivoTolkien.org 3 J. R. R. Tolkien Beowulf. Traducción y comentario ePub r1.0 Titivillus 06.07.15 www.ArchivoTolkien.org 4 Título original: Beowulf. A traslation and comentary J. R. R. Tolkien, 2015 Autor de Beowulf: Anónimo Traducción: AA. VV. Prefacio e Introducción a la traducción: Eduardo Segura Beowulf, Comentario y Lay de Beowulf: Nur Ferrante y Óscar E. Muñoz Comentario y Sellic Spell: Martin Simonson Editor digital: Titivillus ePub base r1.2 www.ArchivoTolkien.org 5 NOTA DEL EDITOR DIGITAL Texto de Beowulf: La traducción es en prosa, pero está numerada cada cinco líneas como si fuese poesía. Para poder localizar con facilidad las líneas señaladas en el Comentario se ha mantenido la línea cortada tal como está en el original. En esta edición digital las referencias vienen señaladas por el número de línea de la traducción, por lo cual no se ha considerado necesario numerar las páginas como en ediciones de otros libros. Tamaño de fuente: En las secciones donde se alternan textos originales con textos de Christopher, según criterio de este último su aportación «aparece en letra más pequeña y se puede distinguir con facilidad». Se ha mantenido así en esta edición. Inglés Antiguo: Tolkien utiliza caracteres especiales en algunas palabras. Por compatibilidad con los lectores que no los reconocen se ha incorporado una fuente incrustada que simula dichos caracteres. Esta fuente es similar a Times New Roman, por lo que se recomienda usar una fuente serif en el lector para evitar diferencias entre letras. Texto de tamaño fijo: Utilizado en tablas de versos para evitar que al aumentar el tamaño de letra del lector el texto salte de página, se corte o se salga de pantalla. www.ArchivoTolkien.org 6 www.ArchivoTolkien.org 7 Imagen de solapa www.ArchivoTolkien.org 8 Beowulf Traducción y comentario Incluye Sellic Spell J. R. R. TOLKIEN Editado por Christopher Tolkien www.ArchivoTolkien.org 9 PREFACIO Puesto que sería muy fácil que el carácter y propósito de este libro pudiesen ser mal entendidos, ofrezco aquí una explicación que espero sirva también como justificación. Es un hecho bien conocido que existe una traducción en prosa de Beowulf al inglés moderno realizada por J. R. R. Tolkien. Y a la luz de su reputación y eminencia en el campo de la investigación sobre la literatura y la lingüística del inglés antiguo, el hecho de que haya permanecido inédito durante tantos años ha llegado incluso a ser motivo de reproche. Soy responsable de ello. Y la razón o explicación principal es bastante sencilla. La traducción estaba terminada hacia 1926, cuando mi padre tenía treinta y cuatro años. Ante él se abren dos décadas como profesor de anglosajón en Oxford, dos décadas de ulterior estudio de la poesía en inglés antiguo junto con un arduo programa de conferencias y clases y de reflexión, más concretamente sobre Beowulf. Sobrevive gran cantidad de escritos sobre el poema que procede de sus conferencias de aquellos años, incluido mucho de lo que es su interpretación sobre el detalle del texto. Evidentemente no había una relación de correspondencia unívoca entre las conferencias y la traducción, pero se puede ver de qué modo concuerdan los cambios hechos a la traducción (y hay muchos) en momentos distintos con la discusión de las preguntas que surgían en sus conferencias. En otros casos no alteró la traducción a la luz de su visión posterior y revisada. No parecía haber una manera evidente de presentar un texto que en cierto sentido estaba completo, pero que a la vez se hallaba evidentemente «inconcluso». Publicar simplemente lo que parece haber sido su última elección para la traducción de una palabra, una frase o un pasaje y dejarlo así parecía engañoso y erróneo. Alterar la traducción con el fin de acomodarla a una opinión posterior era imposible. Es cierto que habría sido posible adjuntar mis propias notas explicativas, pero parecía mucho mejor incluir en este libro fragmentos reales de las conferencias en las que expuso sus puntos de vista sobre los problemas textuales concretos. Fue su intención explícita que la serie de conferencias sobre Beowulf que he utilizado en este libro fuese un «comentario textual»,
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