List of translations of Beowulf
This is a list of translations of "Beowulf", one of the best-known Old English heroic epic poems. "Beowulf" has been translated many times in verse and in prose. By 2020, the Beowulf's Afterlives Bibliographic Database listed some 688 translations and other versions of the poem, from Thorkelin's 1787 transcription of the text, and in at least 38 languages. The poet John Dryden's categories of translation have influenced how scholars discuss variation between translations and adaptations. In the "Preface to Ovid's Epistles" (1680) Dryden proposed three different types of translation: The  works listed below may fall into more than one of Dryden's categories, but works that are essentially direct translations are listed here. Versions of other kinds that take more "latitude" are listed at List of adaptations of "Beowulf". Translations. There are hundreds of translations or near-translations of "Beowulf", and more are added each year, so a complete list may well be unattainable. Listed here are the major versions discussed by scholars, along with the first versions in different languages.