John Lesslie Hall (March 2, 1856 – February 23, 1928), also known as J. Lesslie Hall, was an American literary scholar and poet known for his translation of Beowulf.
Born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Jacob Hall, Jr., Hall attended Randolph–Macon College and received a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. He taught English history and literature at the College of William & Mary from 1888 to 1928 (becoming head of the English department and dean of the faculty, and receiving an honorary LLD in 1921); he "was one of the original members of the faculty which reopened the college in 1888".[1] He was also concerned with the history of his native Virginia; he frequently spoke at Jamestown and "compared Jamestown's Great Charter of 1618[clarification needed] and the assembly of 1619 with the Magna ChartaatRunnymede."[2]
In 1889 he married Margaret Fenwick Farland, of Tappahannock, Virginia.[3] Their children were Channing Moore Hall, John L. Hall Jr., Joseph Farland Hall, and Sarah Moore Hall.[4]
Hall's Beowulf follows the text closely, with alliteration:
| Old English verse | Hall's verse[5][6] |
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Ðá cóm of móre under misthleoþum |
’Neath the cloudy cliffs came from the moor then |
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