ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

On Translating Beowulf

Well hello there! Let me tell you about translating Beowulf in a way that even a 5-year-old can understand!

Beowulf is a really old story, that was originally told in an old language called Old English, which is very different from the English we speak today.

So, when people today want to read and understand Beowulf, they need to translate it into the English we speak now. That means they have to take all the words and sentences from Old English and figure out what they mean in our modern English.

It's kind of like solving a puzzle! The translators have to look at each word and figure out what it means, and how it fits into the sentence. They also have to make sure that the new version of the sentence makes sense and sounds good.

It's not easy work, and sometimes the translators have to make choices about which words to use, and how to structure the sentences. But the goal is to make sure that people today can understand and enjoy the story of Beowulf just like people did a long time ago.

So there you have it, translating Beowulf is like putting together a puzzle to make an old story understandable for modern-day readers.