First Czech translation of Old English classic Beowulf a mammoth task

Beowulf, written by an unknown Christian poet some time between the 8th and 10th centuries, is now regarded as the one of the most important texts in Old English. In Prague, academic Jan Cermak has done the first ever Czech translation of Beowulf, which was a mammoth task. Radio Prague's Ian Willoughby asked Mr Cermak roughly how many years the work had taken.

"That's hard to assess, because in terms of years that elapsed between the commencing and the book coming out it is nine or ten. Regardless of the technical difficulties and other problems on the way, I needed some four or five years to produce the translation as it stands."

Is your translation into contemporary Czech or Old Czech?

"There is no Old Czech in existence that could be used as a target language for the Old English Beowulf, simply because the Czech literary documents only start in the Middle Ages of chivalry, much later than anything comparable with Beowulf. Which means you must look for a compromise for something that would sound archaic and majestic enough, and yet be intelligible, not perhaps put the reader off the track for being abstruse."

Has Beowulf been translated into for instance Polish or Slovak?

"As far as I know there is no Slovak translation as yet; I'm not quite sure about Polish. But for sure most of the neighbouring countries and the Slavonic countries have their Beowulfs."

Who's going to read your translation of Beowulf? Students? Or are you hoping for a wider readership?

"I'm hoping for a wider readership. With that aim we tried to put the book together. It should be both for students of literature, students of English and intellectuals eager to know more about the roots of European literatures."

Has "Lord of the Rings" mania had any influence on sales of the book, or interest among students?

"I don't really know. The links are immediate but more tenuous than they may seem at first sight. Back to your question - I think that to some extent yes. After all those delays and the many years the book took to prepare, this was not a bad time to publish it after all."