Dead Language Society Book Club
Periodically, paid members of the Dead Language Society meet to read great works from the history of the English language together.
Our book for Summer 2025 is Beowulf. We're reading it in translation, and I'll be acting as a guide, showing you the deep lore that most people miss on their first read-through. I'll also be bringing in my knowledge of the Old English text to clarify some difficult passages, but don't worry: you don't need to know Old English to participate.
Reading
Any translation will do (even Heaney), as long as it's a verse translation which includes the line numbers, so we're able to stay in sync. Part of the fun will be comparing translations.
Possibilities include:
Heaney
Chickering
Liuzza
Shippey
If you don't have an edition yet, I'd recommend Liuzza since it lines up very nicely with Old English. If you'd like to use another one, but you're not sure if it will work, just pop me an email with which one and I'll let you know if it will work!
Whatever translation you choose, please read the assigned lines before the meeting so that we’re all on the same page.
Logistics
We'll be meeting (probably) five times over the summer and into the fall, roughly once a month:
Meeting 1: Thursday, July 3, 3:30–5:00pm Eastern. Lines 1–399. Watch the recording here.
Meeting 2: Thursday, August 14, 3:30–5:00pm Eastern. Lines 400–1062.
Meeting 3: tbd
Meeting 4: tbd
Meeting 5: tbd
The Zoom link is below the paywall.
If you can't make it on the day, I will be releasing the recordings of the sessions as members-only posts on Substack, and you'll be able to leave any questions in the comments section.
Looking forward to seeing some of you there!