'In a world rights deal, the Tolkien Estate has signed with HarperCollins to publish for the first time Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is truly exciting news! Not only do we get Tolkien's translation of Beowulf and commentary by J.R.R. Tolkien but it will also include "Sellic Spell", an unpublished short story by J.R.R. Tolkien, re-creating the (lost) folk-tale underlying the Norse Hrólfs saga kraka and Tolkien's prose work that was to serve as the background for Beowulf. The original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Library and will now be published for the very first time.'
And now those who know Old English will especially be in the luck, and will have a chance to compare the Tolkien's translation to other existing ones to see which does a better justice to the original. But even comparisons of different translations should be interesting. I wonder how long the Sellic Spell is...
