British poet laureate Armitage took years to research and perfect his retelling of this millennia-old ur-poem, and it was worth the wait. Told in a driving tetrameter rhythm, his free-flowing translation may not please purists, but we are treated to both an introduction AND a translator’s note, which are as accessible and interesting as the text itself, explaining his choices and setting the work in historic context. Hypnotic heroic feats mingle with proto-bromance, featuring the earliest known account of the Great Flood, in this classic myth which is as mesmerizing today as it must have been thousands of years ago.
Gilgamesh by Simon Armitage, (List Price: $25, Liveright, 9781631496684, April 2026)
Reviewed by Doron, Octavia Books in New Orleans, LA