-
Beowulf
- Narrated by: Royce Pierreson, Roy McMillan - introduction
- Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $13.07
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
This Penguin Classic is performed by Royce Pierreson, star of Line of Duty, Our Girl and The Witcher. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Michael Alexander.
Beowulf is the greatest surviving work of literature in Old English, unparalleled in its epic grandeur and scope. It tells the story of the heroic Beowulf and of his battles, first with the monster Grendel, who has laid waste to the great hall of the Danish king Hrothgar, then with Grendel's avenging mother and finally with a dragon that threatens to devastate his homeland.
Through its blend of myth and history, Beowulf vividly evokes a twilight world in which men and supernatural forces live side by side. And it celebrates the endurance of the human spirit in a transient world.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Beowulf: A New Translation
- By: Maria Dahvana Headley
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Maria Dahvana Headley
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. The familiar elements of the epic poem are seen with a novelist’s eye toward gender, genre, and history - Beowulf has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment, powerful men seeking to become more powerful, and one woman seeking justice for her child, but this version brings new context to an old story.
-
-
Ridiculous
- By Corinna D. Girard on 01-02-21
-
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Terry Jones
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour.
-
-
An absolute delight!
- By Shannon Slee on 07-15-18
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
-
The Canterbury Tales
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you want to understand the daily life and psychology of the late Middle Ages, Ronald Ecker’s classic translation of The Canterbury Tales provides one of the very best means of doing so. Within its audio is to be found a broad range of society - high and low, male and female, rich and poor - who express their innermost beliefs and extravagant fantasies in a series of stories they tell as they make their way to Canterbury Cathedral.
-
-
The book was better
- By Lana Whited on 08-28-20
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
-
The Story of the Volsungs
- The Volsunga Saga
- By: Anonymous
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Originally written in Icelandic in the 13th century AD by an anonymous author, The Story of The Volsungs is a legendary saga based on Norse mythology. The epic describes the legendary history and heroic feats of several generations of mythic Viking families and derives from many sources, including preexisting Edda, or heroic poems, Norse legends, historical events, and orally transmitted folklore. The saga is imbued throughout with themes of power, jealousy, love, vengeance, and fear.
-
-
Passionate, Poetic, Bloody, Heroic, & Tragic Saga
- By Jefferson on 03-28-12
By: Anonymous
-
Njál's Saga
- By: Anonymous
- Narrated by: Gunnar Cauthery
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on events that took place between 960 and 1020 AD, Njál 's Saga is a mesmerizing drama about a multigenerational cycle of violence and retribution, and the feuds and passions that perpetuate it. The eponymous sage Njál, known for his keen legal mind, is one of Iceland's pre-eminent men, along with Gunnar of Hlidarendi, a fierce and formidable warrior married to the diabolical Hallgerd, whose conniving instigates the interminable pattern of romance, action and brutality - until one unforgivable act ends it all.
-
-
censored version
- By Amazon Customer on 01-26-21
By: Anonymous
-
Robinson Crusoe
- By: Daniel Defoe
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widely regarded as the first English novel, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe is one of the most popular and influential adventure stories of all time. This classic tale of shipwreck and survival on an uninhabited island was an instant success when first published in 1719, and it has inspired countless imitations.
-
-
Great story but with moments that made me cringe
- By Tad Davis on 10-25-12
By: Daniel Defoe
-
Beowulf: A New Translation
- By: Maria Dahvana Headley
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Maria Dahvana Headley
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. The familiar elements of the epic poem are seen with a novelist’s eye toward gender, genre, and history - Beowulf has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment, powerful men seeking to become more powerful, and one woman seeking justice for her child, but this version brings new context to an old story.
-
-
Ridiculous
- By Corinna D. Girard on 01-02-21
-
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Terry Jones
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour.
-
-
An absolute delight!
- By Shannon Slee on 07-15-18
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
-
The Canterbury Tales
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you want to understand the daily life and psychology of the late Middle Ages, Ronald Ecker’s classic translation of The Canterbury Tales provides one of the very best means of doing so. Within its audio is to be found a broad range of society - high and low, male and female, rich and poor - who express their innermost beliefs and extravagant fantasies in a series of stories they tell as they make their way to Canterbury Cathedral.
-
-
The book was better
- By Lana Whited on 08-28-20
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
-
The Story of the Volsungs
- The Volsunga Saga
- By: Anonymous
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Originally written in Icelandic in the 13th century AD by an anonymous author, The Story of The Volsungs is a legendary saga based on Norse mythology. The epic describes the legendary history and heroic feats of several generations of mythic Viking families and derives from many sources, including preexisting Edda, or heroic poems, Norse legends, historical events, and orally transmitted folklore. The saga is imbued throughout with themes of power, jealousy, love, vengeance, and fear.
-
-
Passionate, Poetic, Bloody, Heroic, & Tragic Saga
- By Jefferson on 03-28-12
By: Anonymous
-
Njál's Saga
- By: Anonymous
- Narrated by: Gunnar Cauthery
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on events that took place between 960 and 1020 AD, Njál 's Saga is a mesmerizing drama about a multigenerational cycle of violence and retribution, and the feuds and passions that perpetuate it. The eponymous sage Njál, known for his keen legal mind, is one of Iceland's pre-eminent men, along with Gunnar of Hlidarendi, a fierce and formidable warrior married to the diabolical Hallgerd, whose conniving instigates the interminable pattern of romance, action and brutality - until one unforgivable act ends it all.
-
-
censored version
- By Amazon Customer on 01-26-21
By: Anonymous
-
Robinson Crusoe
- By: Daniel Defoe
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widely regarded as the first English novel, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe is one of the most popular and influential adventure stories of all time. This classic tale of shipwreck and survival on an uninhabited island was an instant success when first published in 1719, and it has inspired countless imitations.
-
-
Great story but with moments that made me cringe
- By Tad Davis on 10-25-12
By: Daniel Defoe
-
Paradise Lost
- By: John Milton
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny.
-
-
The most accessible reading of Paradise Lost
- By Tony McClung on 02-21-10
By: John Milton
-
The Pilgrim's Progress (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: John Bunyan
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Plagued by spiritual anguish, devout everyman Christian fears his fate in the sinful City of Destruction. He’s told that only by embarking for the Celestial City can he achieve personal salvation. After his wife and children refuse to join him, he sets forth alone into the unknown. Mocked for his faith, tempted at every turn, and heartened by fellow pilgrims, Christian’s winding journey toward grace unfolds. But as he reaches Mount Zion, his family chooses to follow the same treacherous path, hoping to join Christian in the shining light.
-
-
Best version I have heard
- By Julie Rae Loving on 11-09-19
By: John Bunyan
-
Grendel
- By: John Gardner
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic and much lauded retelling of Beowulf follows the monster Grendel as he learns about humans and fights the war at the center of the Anglo Saxon classic epic.
-
-
Unselfconscious, powerful narration.
- By Stephanie on 01-12-10
By: John Gardner
-
The Iliad & The Odyssey
- By: Homer
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 28 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity.
-
-
Worth the price, worth the time
- By Sam on 12-31-04
By: Homer
-
Hamlet: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hamlet, Shakespeare's most popular, and perhaps most puzzling play, follows the form of a "revenge tragedy", in which the hero, Hamlet, seeks vengeance against his father’s murderer, his uncle Claudius, now the king of Denmark. Much of its fascination, however, lies in its uncertainties. This new full-cast recording - based on the most respected edition of Shakespeare's classic - expertly produced by the Folger Theatre, is perfect for students, teachers, and the everyday listener.
-
-
Loved the voice actors
- By Kenni on 11-25-15
-
A Modest Proposal
- By: Jonathan Swift
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wickedly narrated by David Stifel, and written in 1729, this satiric essay on how to solve Ireland's chronic poverty is perhaps more shocking today than when it was written. In the 1960s, when Peter O'Toole did a public reading of this piece in Dublin, he very nearly started a riot. Newspapers the following day lambasted O'Toole's "shocking bad taste." Whether shocking satire, or Monty-Pythonesque surrealism, this essay has continually managed to offend people for well over 3 centuries. Enjoy! (and Thank You!)
-
-
Mankind crazy thoughts of years ago
- By Val on 07-03-15
By: Jonathan Swift
-
The Importance of Being Earnest
- A Trivial Comedy for Serious People
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Michael Ward
- Length: 1 hr and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A classic comedy by the great Oscar Wilde. The Importance of Being Earnest is his short farce consisting of numerous noms de plume, a case of mistaken identity, an identity left in a case by mistake, and the mistake of revealing ones identity in the presence of a previous employer, which may result post-script in a case for Scotland Yard. Or to put much more simply, of Jack and his attempts to woo Gwendolyn, his would-be bride... even if she does seem to think his name is Earnest.
-
-
comedic delivery
- By Paul G on 10-24-24
By: Oscar Wilde
-
Macbeth: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, is among the most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language. Promised a golden future as ruler of Scotland by three sinister witches, Macbeth murders the king in order to succeed to the throne. Tortured by his conscience and fearful of discovery, he becomes fatally enmeshed in a web of treachery and deceit.
-
-
excellent
- By Laura W. on 05-25-18
-
Le Morte d'Arthur
- The Death of Arthur
- By: Sir Thomas Malory
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 38 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of all the legends of Western civilization, perhaps the glorious adventures of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are the best known. The Quest for the Holy Grail, and the undying illicit love between Sir Launcelot and Queen Guenevere, have provided inspiration for storytellers and poets down the ages, and sparked so many films and books of our own time.
-
-
Brilliant and powerful
- By Tad Davis on 05-19-21
-
The Silmarillion
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien
- Narrated by: Andy Serkis
- Length: 19 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor. Included on the recording are several shorter works. The Ainulindalë is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabêth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age, and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age.
-
-
TIPS when reading this book:
- By Anonymous User on 06-29-23
By: J. R. R. Tolkien, and others
-
Gilgamesh
- A New English Version
- By: Stephen Mitchell - translator
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This brilliant new treatment of the world's oldest epic is a literary event on par with Seamus Heaney's wildly popular Beowulf translation. Esteemed translator and best-selling author Stephen Mitchell energizes a heroic tale so old it predates Homer's Iliad by more than a millennium.
-
-
A defense of this "translation"
- By George on 07-16-08
-
Gulliver's Travels
- By: Jonathan Swift
- Narrated by: Jasper Britton
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lemuel Gulliver, a slightly staid ship’s doctor, relates the tales of his astonishing travels. He encounters the tiny, warring Lilliputians; the giant, sceptical Brobdingnagians; the ludicrously intellectual Laputans; and the idealistic - if rather stolid - Houyhnhnms and their bestial servants, the Yahoos. An immediate best seller when it was first published in 1726, Gulliver’s Travels has remained a favourite ever since. It was an attack on the politics and society of Swift’s day, but it is also a polemical, inventive, surreal, vitriolic, and wonderfully imaginative masterpiece.
-
-
18th century satirical science fiction for adults
- By Mike on 07-30-12
By: Jonathan Swift
Critic reviews
"Alexander's translation is marked by a conviction that it is possible to be both ambitious and faithful [and]...communicates the poem with a care which goes beyond fidelity-to-meaning and reaches fidelity of implication. May it go on...to another half-million copies." (Tom Shippey, Bulletin of the International Association of University Professors of English)
Related to this topic
-
The War That Killed Achilles
- The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War
- By: Caroline Alexander
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few warriors, in life or literature, have challenged their commanding officer and the rationale of the war they fought as fiercely as did Homer's hero Achilles. Today, the Iliad is celebrated as one of the greatest works in literature, the epic of all epics; many have forgotten that the subject of this ancient poem was war - not merely the poetical romance of the war at Troy, but War, in all its enduring devastation.
-
-
Everything is more beautiful because we are doomed
- By Darwin8u on 07-29-15
-
The Iliad & The Odyssey
- By: Homer
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 28 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity.
-
-
Worth the price, worth the time
- By Sam on 12-31-04
By: Homer
-
Beowulf
- By: Robert K. Gordon, translator
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beowulf is considered the finest heroic poem in Old English. It celebrates the character and exploits of Beowulf, a young nobleman and warrior, as he proves his superhuman strength and endurance. He also represents the ideal lord and vassal, rewarding his men generously and accomplishing glorious deeds to honor his king.
-
-
Translator Preferred
- By JerryT on 05-10-05
By: Robert K. Gordon, and others
-
Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea
- Why the Greeks Matter
- By: Thomas Cahill
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best selling history writer Thomas Cahill continues his series on the roots of Western civilization with this volume about the contributions of ancient Greece to the development of contemporary culture. Tracing the origin of Greek culture in the migrations of armed Indo-European horsemen into Attica and the Peloponnesian peninsula, he follows their progress into the creation of the Greek city-states, the refinement of their machinery of war, and the flowering of intellectual and artistic culture.
-
-
Super super
- By Richard on 12-28-03
By: Thomas Cahill
-
Beowulf: The New Translation
- By: Gerald J. Davis
- Narrated by: John Hanks
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The origins, history and authorship of Beowulf are shrouded in uncertainty. This heroic epic probably began, as most do, with a wandering troubadour strumming a stringed instrument, sitting before a hearth-fire, and singing the verses to a spellbound audience arrayed before him. Beowulf is a rousing adventure story, filled with intrepid heroes, monsters and fire-breathing dragons, which can be listened to for the sheer enjoyment of the tale.
-
-
Hard to follow as audio
- By CSterle on 10-14-14
By: Gerald J. Davis
-
Why Homer Matters
- By: Adam Nicolson
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adam Nicolson sees the Iliad and the Odyssey as the foundation myths of Greek - and our - consciousness, collapsing the passage of 4,000 years and making the distant past of the Mediterranean world as immediate to us as the events of our own time.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 05-04-15
By: Adam Nicolson
-
The War That Killed Achilles
- The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War
- By: Caroline Alexander
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few warriors, in life or literature, have challenged their commanding officer and the rationale of the war they fought as fiercely as did Homer's hero Achilles. Today, the Iliad is celebrated as one of the greatest works in literature, the epic of all epics; many have forgotten that the subject of this ancient poem was war - not merely the poetical romance of the war at Troy, but War, in all its enduring devastation.
-
-
Everything is more beautiful because we are doomed
- By Darwin8u on 07-29-15
-
The Iliad & The Odyssey
- By: Homer
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 28 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity.
-
-
Worth the price, worth the time
- By Sam on 12-31-04
By: Homer
-
Beowulf
- By: Robert K. Gordon, translator
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beowulf is considered the finest heroic poem in Old English. It celebrates the character and exploits of Beowulf, a young nobleman and warrior, as he proves his superhuman strength and endurance. He also represents the ideal lord and vassal, rewarding his men generously and accomplishing glorious deeds to honor his king.
-
-
Translator Preferred
- By JerryT on 05-10-05
By: Robert K. Gordon, and others
-
Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea
- Why the Greeks Matter
- By: Thomas Cahill
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best selling history writer Thomas Cahill continues his series on the roots of Western civilization with this volume about the contributions of ancient Greece to the development of contemporary culture. Tracing the origin of Greek culture in the migrations of armed Indo-European horsemen into Attica and the Peloponnesian peninsula, he follows their progress into the creation of the Greek city-states, the refinement of their machinery of war, and the flowering of intellectual and artistic culture.
-
-
Super super
- By Richard on 12-28-03
By: Thomas Cahill
-
Beowulf: The New Translation
- By: Gerald J. Davis
- Narrated by: John Hanks
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The origins, history and authorship of Beowulf are shrouded in uncertainty. This heroic epic probably began, as most do, with a wandering troubadour strumming a stringed instrument, sitting before a hearth-fire, and singing the verses to a spellbound audience arrayed before him. Beowulf is a rousing adventure story, filled with intrepid heroes, monsters and fire-breathing dragons, which can be listened to for the sheer enjoyment of the tale.
-
-
Hard to follow as audio
- By CSterle on 10-14-14
By: Gerald J. Davis
-
Why Homer Matters
- By: Adam Nicolson
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adam Nicolson sees the Iliad and the Odyssey as the foundation myths of Greek - and our - consciousness, collapsing the passage of 4,000 years and making the distant past of the Mediterranean world as immediate to us as the events of our own time.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 05-04-15
By: Adam Nicolson
-
The Inferno of Dante
- A New Verse Translation by Robert Pinsky
- By: Dante Alighieri, Robert Pinsky - translator
- Narrated by: Seamus Heaney, Frank Bidart, Louise Glück, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This critically acclaimed translation was awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry and the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award given by the Academy of American Poets. Well versed, rapid, and various in style, the Inferno is narrated by Pinsky and three other leading poets: Seamus Heaney, Frank Bidart, and Louise Glück.
-
-
A great translation of the epic.
- By craig on 09-14-15
By: Dante Alighieri, and others
-
The Story of the Volsungs
- The Volsunga Saga
- By: Anonymous
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Originally written in Icelandic in the 13th century AD by an anonymous author, The Story of The Volsungs is a legendary saga based on Norse mythology. The epic describes the legendary history and heroic feats of several generations of mythic Viking families and derives from many sources, including preexisting Edda, or heroic poems, Norse legends, historical events, and orally transmitted folklore. The saga is imbued throughout with themes of power, jealousy, love, vengeance, and fear.
-
-
Passionate, Poetic, Bloody, Heroic, & Tragic Saga
- By Jefferson on 03-28-12
By: Anonymous
-
Norse Mythology: A Captivating Guide to Norse Folklore Including Fairy Tales, Legends, Sagas and Myths of the Norse Gods and Heroes
- By: Matt Clayton
- Narrated by: Dryw McArthur
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The stories from Norse mythology linger in our culture today. Four days of our week are named after members of the Norse pantheon (Tyr, Woden (Odin), Thor, and Frigg). Wagner’s Ring Cycle has kept one version of one of the great Norse stories alive in the minds of music lovers. Fans of modern fantasy will find many echoes of the Norse tales as well. Something in these old and puzzling stories still has the power to move and unsettle us and to inspire new acts of creation. This audiobook will give you a brief introduction to some of the best-known myths.
-
-
Good stories.
- By Mario Ramos on 05-16-18
By: Matt Clayton
-
The Legend of Ragnar Lodbrok
- Viking King and Warrior
- By: Christopher Van Dyke
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions love the hit television show Vikings - but how many fans know that its main character, Ragnar, is based on an actual Viking king whose ambitious and terrifying exploits have been legend since the ninth century? The Legend of Ragnar Lothbrok presents fascinating new translations of ninth, 12th, and 13th-century writings - including sagas, poems, and historical accounts - that describe, in vivid detail, the adventures of Ragnar, his sons, and his formidable wives.
-
-
Sages of Ragnar
- By Kristina M McDaniel on 02-17-17
-
Beowulf
- By: Seamus Heaney
- Narrated by: Seamus Heaney
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best seller and Whitebread Book of the Year, Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney's new translation of Beowulf comes to life in this gripping audio. Heaney's performance reminds us that Beowulf, written near the turn of another millennium, was intended to be heard not read.
-
-
Why, oh, why is it abridged?
- By Tad Davis on 09-25-08
By: Seamus Heaney
-
Odin
- Ecstasy, Runes, & Norse Magic
- By: Diana L. Paxson
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Odin: Ecstasy, Runes, and Norse Magic is the first book on Odin that is both historically sourced and accessible to a general audience. It explores Odin's origins, his appearances in sagas, old magic spells, and the Poetic Edda, and his influence on modern media, such as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Each chapter features suggestions for rituals, exercises, and music so that listeners can comprehend and become closer to this complicated god.
-
-
Too Much Wicca
- By Christopher M. on 11-03-21
By: Diana L. Paxson
-
Asian Journals
- India and Japan (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell)
- By: Joseph Campbell
- Narrated by: Fred Stella
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the beginning of his career, Joseph Campbell developed a lasting fascination with the cultures of the Far East, and explorations of Buddhist and Hindu philosophy later became recurring motifs in his vast body of work. However, Campbell had to wait until middle age to visit the lands that inspired him so deeply. In 1954, he took a sabbatical from his teaching position and embarked on a year-long voyage through India, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and finally Japan.
-
-
What a journey!
- By Anonymous User on 08-11-18
By: Joseph Campbell
-
The Song of Roland
- By: Michael A. H. Newth - translator
- Narrated by: Greg Marston, Summe Williams, Julian DouglasSmith
- Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Song of Roland is acknowledged today as the first masterpiece of French vernacular literature and one of the world’s greatest epic poems. Written down around the year 1090, The Song of Roland finely crafted verses tell of the betrayal and defeat of Charlemagne’s beloved nephew at the Pass of Roncevaux in the Pyrenees and of the revenge subsequently sought on his behalf.
-
-
Excellent production
- By Tad Davis on 11-09-11
-
The Greek Way
- By: Edith Hamilton
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on a thorough study of Greek life and civilization, of Greek literature, philosophy, and art, The Greek Way interprets their meaning and brings a realization of the refuge and strength the past can be to us in the troubled present. Miss Hamilton's book must take its place with the few interpretative volumes which are permanently rooted and profoundly alive in our literature.
-
-
...Not as Good as The Echo of Greece
- By The Masked Reviewer on 11-04-16
By: Edith Hamilton
-
Mythology
- By: Edith Hamilton
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its original publication by Little, Brown and Company, in 1942, Edith Hamilton's Mythology has sold millions of copies throughout the world and established itself as a perennial best-seller in its various available formats. Mythology succeeds like no other audiobook in bringing to life for the modern listener the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths and legends that are the keystone of Western culture - the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.
-
-
Good reading of classical myths
- By Kathi on 03-18-13
By: Edith Hamilton
-
Beowulf: A New Translation
- By: Maria Dahvana Headley
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Maria Dahvana Headley
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. The familiar elements of the epic poem are seen with a novelist’s eye toward gender, genre, and history - Beowulf has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment, powerful men seeking to become more powerful, and one woman seeking justice for her child, but this version brings new context to an old story.
-
-
Ridiculous
- By Corinna D. Girard on 01-02-21
-
Greek Mythology
- A Captivating Introduction to Greek Myths of Greek Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters
- By: Matt Clayton
- Narrated by: Dryw McArthur
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This comprehensive collection introduces you to Greek mythology and will also captivate your attention and imagination, so you can relive the tales of the most fabulous Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters.
-
-
Listen before reading the actual works
- By Paul on 07-11-18
By: Matt Clayton
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Beowulf
- By: Anonymous
- Narrated by: Svanur Thorkelsson
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Old English epic poem Beowulf, recorded in its original Saxon dialect for the first time. Performed by Icelandic poet, playwright, professional storyteller and performer Svanur Thorkelsson, Audible’s production gives listeners the opportunity to experience how it might have felt to hear bards recite sections of the 3000-line poem from memory in Anglo Saxon dining halls. Audible’s Beowulf recaptures the heroic style and vast scale of what can be considered ‘England’s first native audiobook’.
-
-
Recorded in Anglo-Saxon, not Modern English
- By Christopher Mclaughlin on 10-15-20
By: Anonymous
-
Beowulf
- By: Seamus Heaney
- Narrated by: Seamus Heaney
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best seller and Whitebread Book of the Year, Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney's new translation of Beowulf comes to life in this gripping audio. Heaney's performance reminds us that Beowulf, written near the turn of another millennium, was intended to be heard not read.
-
-
Why, oh, why is it abridged?
- By Tad Davis on 09-25-08
By: Seamus Heaney
-
Beowulf: A New Translation
- By: Maria Dahvana Headley
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Maria Dahvana Headley
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. The familiar elements of the epic poem are seen with a novelist’s eye toward gender, genre, and history - Beowulf has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment, powerful men seeking to become more powerful, and one woman seeking justice for her child, but this version brings new context to an old story.
-
-
Ridiculous
- By Corinna D. Girard on 01-02-21
-
Beowulf
- By: Stephen Mitchell
- Narrated by: Stephen Mitchell
- Length: 3 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephen Mitchell's marvelously clear and vivid rendering recreates the robust masculine music of the original. It both hews closely to the Old English and captures its wild energy and vitality, not just as a deep "work of literature" but also as a rousing entertainment that can still stir our feelings and rivet our attention today, after more than a thousand years. This new translation - spare, sinuous, vigorous in its narration, and translucent in its poetry - makes a masterpiece accessible to everyone.
-
-
Great translation, weak reading
- By Tad Davis on 10-24-17
By: Stephen Mitchell
-
Beowulf
- By: Anonymous
- Narrated by: Crawford Logan
- Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The oldest long poem in Old English, written about AD 1,000, Beowulf tells the story of a great warrior of southern Scandinavia, in both youth and maturity. The monster Grendel terrorizes the Scyldings of Hrothgar's Danish Kingdom until Beowulf defeats him. As a result, he has to face her enraged mother. Beowulf dies after a battle against a fierce dragon.
-
-
Beowulf lives again!
- By Andrew on 02-13-12
By: Anonymous
-
Beowulf
- By: Douglas Wilson
- Narrated by: Joffre Swait
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
So begins a dark, but sturdy epic full of warriors, dragons, monsters of the deep, mead halls, and mounds of treasure. Beowulf is the great Norse epic poem, and one of the great inspirations for J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. In this bold and truly innovative translation, Douglas Wilson reproduces the alliteration and stresses of the original, though being more dynamic with particular wording.
By: Douglas Wilson
-
Beowulf
- By: Anonymous
- Narrated by: Svanur Thorkelsson
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Old English epic poem Beowulf, recorded in its original Saxon dialect for the first time. Performed by Icelandic poet, playwright, professional storyteller and performer Svanur Thorkelsson, Audible’s production gives listeners the opportunity to experience how it might have felt to hear bards recite sections of the 3000-line poem from memory in Anglo Saxon dining halls. Audible’s Beowulf recaptures the heroic style and vast scale of what can be considered ‘England’s first native audiobook’.
-
-
Recorded in Anglo-Saxon, not Modern English
- By Christopher Mclaughlin on 10-15-20
By: Anonymous
-
Beowulf
- By: Seamus Heaney
- Narrated by: Seamus Heaney
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best seller and Whitebread Book of the Year, Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney's new translation of Beowulf comes to life in this gripping audio. Heaney's performance reminds us that Beowulf, written near the turn of another millennium, was intended to be heard not read.
-
-
Why, oh, why is it abridged?
- By Tad Davis on 09-25-08
By: Seamus Heaney
-
Beowulf: A New Translation
- By: Maria Dahvana Headley
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Maria Dahvana Headley
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. The familiar elements of the epic poem are seen with a novelist’s eye toward gender, genre, and history - Beowulf has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment, powerful men seeking to become more powerful, and one woman seeking justice for her child, but this version brings new context to an old story.
-
-
Ridiculous
- By Corinna D. Girard on 01-02-21
-
Beowulf
- By: Stephen Mitchell
- Narrated by: Stephen Mitchell
- Length: 3 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephen Mitchell's marvelously clear and vivid rendering recreates the robust masculine music of the original. It both hews closely to the Old English and captures its wild energy and vitality, not just as a deep "work of literature" but also as a rousing entertainment that can still stir our feelings and rivet our attention today, after more than a thousand years. This new translation - spare, sinuous, vigorous in its narration, and translucent in its poetry - makes a masterpiece accessible to everyone.
-
-
Great translation, weak reading
- By Tad Davis on 10-24-17
By: Stephen Mitchell
-
Beowulf
- By: Anonymous
- Narrated by: Crawford Logan
- Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The oldest long poem in Old English, written about AD 1,000, Beowulf tells the story of a great warrior of southern Scandinavia, in both youth and maturity. The monster Grendel terrorizes the Scyldings of Hrothgar's Danish Kingdom until Beowulf defeats him. As a result, he has to face her enraged mother. Beowulf dies after a battle against a fierce dragon.
-
-
Beowulf lives again!
- By Andrew on 02-13-12
By: Anonymous
-
Beowulf
- By: Douglas Wilson
- Narrated by: Joffre Swait
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
So begins a dark, but sturdy epic full of warriors, dragons, monsters of the deep, mead halls, and mounds of treasure. Beowulf is the great Norse epic poem, and one of the great inspirations for J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. In this bold and truly innovative translation, Douglas Wilson reproduces the alliteration and stresses of the original, though being more dynamic with particular wording.
By: Douglas Wilson
-
Beowulf: The New Translation
- By: Gerald J. Davis
- Narrated by: John Hanks
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The origins, history and authorship of Beowulf are shrouded in uncertainty. This heroic epic probably began, as most do, with a wandering troubadour strumming a stringed instrument, sitting before a hearth-fire, and singing the verses to a spellbound audience arrayed before him. Beowulf is a rousing adventure story, filled with intrepid heroes, monsters and fire-breathing dragons, which can be listened to for the sheer enjoyment of the tale.
-
-
Hard to follow as audio
- By CSterle on 10-14-14
By: Gerald J. Davis
-
Beowulf the Warrior
- Living History Library
- By: Ian Serrailier
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 1 hr
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beowulf the Warrior is an outstanding modern version of the oldest epic in the English language. Ian Serraillier has retold in verse the story of the hero Beowulf and his three memorable exploits - first, his rescuing of Hrothgar the Dane from the ravages of monstrous Grendel; next, his victory over Grendel's strange and horrible mother; and finally, in Beowulf's old age, his saving of his own people, the Geats, from the horrors of a dragon at the cost of his life. Beowulf's heroism and noble heart communicate to any modern listener.
-
-
Great read
- By Bridget O'Hare on 05-13-20
By: Ian Serrailier
-
Beowulf
- By: Seamus Heaney - translator
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Composed toward the end of the first millennium, Beowulf is the elegiac narrative of the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel and, later, from Grendel's mother. He then returns to his own country and dies in old age in a vivid fight against a dragon. The poem is about encountering the monstrous, defeating it, and then having to live on in the exhausted aftermath.
-
-
Almost perfect
- By Tad Davis on 01-28-13
-
Beowulf
- By: Robert K. Gordon, translator
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beowulf is considered the finest heroic poem in Old English. It celebrates the character and exploits of Beowulf, a young nobleman and warrior, as he proves his superhuman strength and endurance. He also represents the ideal lord and vassal, rewarding his men generously and accomplishing glorious deeds to honor his king.
-
-
Translator Preferred
- By JerryT on 05-10-05
By: Robert K. Gordon, and others
-
The Canterbury Tales: The Prioress's Tale (Modern Verse Translation)
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: Rosalind Shanks
- Length: 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a story from the Canterbury Tales III: Modern Verse Translation collection.
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
-
The Poetic Edda
- By: Anonymous
- Narrated by: Gunnar Cauthery
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Poetic Edda is the most important collection of Norse-Icelandic mythological and heroic poetry, covering the creation of the world and the coming of Ragnarok, The Doom of the Gods.
By: Anonymous
-
Beowulf
- By: Julian Glover
- Narrated by: Julian Glover
- Length: 1 hr and 13 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The epic story of this hero’s battle against dragons, monsters, and their mothers is particularly suited to being recorded as an audiobook given that for the first 300 years of its existence it was only ever spoken. The first known (and indeed the only surviving manuscript) of the poem was written in AD 1,000. It survived Henry VIII’s attempts to destroy it (as a religious artifact) and a catastrophic fire that destroyed many other historical British documents.
-
-
Brilliant Beowulf
- By Darryl on 11-29-15
By: Julian Glover
-
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Terry Jones
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour.
-
-
An absolute delight!
- By Shannon Slee on 07-15-18
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
-
The Canterbury Tales
- A New Unabridged Translation by Burton Raffel
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: uncredited
- Length: 22 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lively, absorbing, often outrageously funny, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is a work of genius, an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for each generation of readers. The Tales gathers 29 of literature's most enduring (and endearing) characters in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of medieval society, from the exalted Knight to the humble Plowman. This unabridged work is based on the new translation.
-
-
Lack of coherant "chapters"
- By Jensophie on 02-24-10
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
-
The Canterbury Tales
- Penguin Classics
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer, Nevill Coghill (Translation)
- Narrated by: Lesley Manville, Daniel Weyman, Derek Jacobi, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer created one of the great touchstones of English literature, a masterly collection of chivalric romances, moral allegories and low farce. A story-telling competition between a group of pilgrims from all walks of life is the occasion for a series of tales that range from the Knight's account of courtly love and the ebullient Wife of Bath's Arthurian legend, to the ribald anecdotes of the Miller and the Cook.
-
-
Modern language retained rhyme structure.
- By Craig L. Seasholes on 11-01-24
By: Geoffrey Chaucer, and others
-
The Twelve Caesars
- By: Suetonius
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Twelve Caesars was written based on the information of eyewitnesses and public records. It conveys a very accurate picture of court life in Rome and contains some of the raciest and most salacious material to be found in all of ancient literature. The writing is clear, simple and easy to understand, and the numerous anecdotes of juicy scandal, bitter court intrigue, and murderous brigandage easily hold their own against the most spirited content of today's tabloids.
-
-
A pleasure to read...
- By Robyn C. Blaber on 03-13-10
By: Suetonius
-
A Tale of Two Cities
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Jerry Trant
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.
-
-
Terrible Narration
- By Amazon Customer on 10-23-20
By: Charles Dickens
What listeners say about Beowulf
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 12-16-22
beowulf a classical masterpiece
Beowulf is a true classic worth hearing from the epics of norse and saxon writings.
This translation is a marvelous achievemnt and the narration is superb.
A truly phenomenal experience.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tad Davis
- 04-10-21
Excellent translation and reading
Of all the translations that are available, my favorite remains the one by Stephen Mitchell. But the audio version of Mitchell’s translation is marred by a weak reading, courtesy of Mitchell himself, who simply doesn’t have the voice for it. Royce Pierreson does have the voice for it, and he does a fine job with Michael Alexander’s (also) excellent translation.
The language is somewhat heightened —dignified, like the story itself — but not in any way archaic or obscure. (One exception: to capture the flavor of Old English, Alexander does, like many translators, preserve some of the kennings of the original: for instance, calling the ocean “the whale-road” or describing Beowulf as “unlocking his word-hoard” when he’s about to speak. (I can’t think of a single translation of the poem that doesn’t keep that last one.) On the whole it goes down smoothly, and the tragic end of the poem comes across with the sadness of an ice-bound ship.
And as always with the Penguin titles, the introduction — here read by Roy McMillan — adds considerable value to the audiobook. The introductions have always been one of the highlights of the Penguin classics, and it was a smart marketing decision to include them.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Geoffrey W
- 05-20-23
Great, faithful rendition!
Wonderful reading. Great story. This was my first listen of Beowulf and I thoroughly enjoyed everything about my experience. I highly recommend this audiobook.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!