Beowulf

De: C. W. Kennedy - translator

Narrado por: Charlton Griffin

Out of the mixture of Latin & Germanic paganism and the Christianity of the Early Middle Ages sprung one of the world's supremely great pieces of literature. J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, delivered a famous lecture to the British Academy in 1936 in which he maintained that Beowulf was a poem all of a piece, not (as had been suggested) a jumble of fragments for pedantic scholars to paw over. The power & beauty of Beowulf enchanted Tolkien so much that he borrowed freely of its imagery & even of some of its plot when he forged his own epic of Middle Earth.

This medieval masterpiece, written in pre-Norman England Saxon, lay forgotten for centuries, rediscovered & printed for the first time early in the 19th century. It has been translated many times since, and the more people read Beowulf, the more they admire it. For good reason. In strikingly beautiful lines, it affirms the ideal of tenderness joined to strength, and of courage ennobled by virtue. It speaks resounding tones of valor, faith, and honor. It¿s a heroic tale of pagan Germanic origin, a saga of a vanishing age retold in the new light of the Christian era. Its author, most likely an educated monk from Northumbria, was certainly influenced by the work of Virgil. The old pagan legends of blood feuds & monsters formed the dark background against which the Christian hero Beowulf would shine forth with deeds of courage & virtue. Of all old Anglo-Saxon poems, Beowulf is the greatest.

This version of Beowulf is organized in 17 parts. Within some sections, there are digressions which do not, strictly speaking, belong to the central plot. These sections, called "lays", have been enhanced by an echo to help the listener detect them. An introduction by Henry Bradley precedes the poem.

To supplement the full text, listen to the SparkNotes Guide for Beowulf.(P)2005 Audio Connoisseur

Good reading, but translation just a bit stilted

Charlton Griffin's audiobooks always present interesting fusions of narration and music, and the same is true here. The music is generally well-chosen and provides an effective, atmospheric backdrop for the story. The poem is divided here into logical chunks, rather than the original short chapters that often seem to have more to do with length than content. Griffin certainly sounds like an Anglo-Saxon bard setting about his business. In terms of the translation used, though, I'd have to give the edge to the one used by Blackstone, old-fashioned in style but not in vocabulary; this one is old-fashioned in both, in a way that interferes with comprehension.

Yee Olde Beowulf

Great story and narration. Story is heavy on the Grendel adventure and proclaims brave nobility. As mentioned in the intro some parts are choppy, but hardly detract from the story when it fires back up. I advise John Gardener's book Grendel as a tasty companion read.

good version of B

this grew to be one of my favorite translations recently though they all have something to commend them. I do like Griffin as a narrator in general and he does a fine job here and that may make a huge difference. one thing that may be of interest is the opening introduction which is about 1 1/2 in length i believe and gives some very good historical info regarding B as well.

There are some very nice lines in this one that keep the alliterative element in the line as well as the natural pause within each line, though it is difficult to do consistently. Basically originally it is a 4 beat line with a natural caesura/pause in the middle and the 3rd beat determines the alliteration that matches the 2 stressed syllables from the 1st half of the line & sometimes matches all 4. "places Made ready / for Much traveled Men."

see also my other B reviews. on to Heaney's

story ok, narration great

The story was ok, but the narration was great. It really made me want to hunker down into a fur clad mead hall.

beowulf!

fun. great for someone unfamiliar with the story. performance is great but blends together at times making it a little difficult to follow