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“Beowulf” perhaps our most widely translated window into our Anglo- Saxon past, has become somewhat clouded over the years. Countless interpretations in multiple styles have been rendered for our perusal. From the notable to the obscure the variety of translation gives us an unusual opportunity, one to criticize and secondly to develop our own ideas on the original intent of the epic. The changes range from stylistic to grammatical; each has its own language, and its own thematic variation. The intent of the following content is to provide criticism relating two separate translations of “Beowulf”. The selections are the Seamus Heaney translation, derived from the 7th edition Norton Anthology, and the McLeod translation a more obscure, nearly entirely Middle English work…attained from the Internet through direct link to the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. On the outset the largely comparable facets of the works may appear to be only in title; however, far more is apparent upon closer inspection. Seamus Heaney’s “Beowulf” was derived by the Irish scholar after he was re