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Beowulf
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
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Publisher's summary
New York Times bestseller and winner of the Costa Book Award.
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. In the contours of this story, at once remote and uncannily familiar at the beginning of the twenty-first century, Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney finds a resonance that summons power to the poetry from deep beneath its surface. Drawn to what he has called the "four-squareness of the utterance" in Beowulf and its immense emotional credibility, Heaney gives these epic qualities new and convincing reality for the contemporary listener.
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- Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins
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Most of the great Greek stories and epic tales are initiated over women, which is exactly what happens in the very beginning of The Iliad by Homer. The Trojan War has been waging for nearly a decade, and really erupted when Helen, the wife to Menelaos, was kidnapped and thus launched the "thousand ships" in pursuit of her. This is the reason that the Achaians and the Trojans have been fighting each other for so long. Achilles, who has become hero to the Greeks, is given the present of a slave girl for his excellence in battle.
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The Iliad
- By Barry on 10-08-17
By: Homer
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The Story of the Volsungs
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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.
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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.
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Everything is more beautiful because we are doomed
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The Song of Roland
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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.
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Excellent production
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The Aeneid
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The Aeneid represents one of the greatest cultural and artistic achievements of Western Civilization. Within the brooding and melancholy atmosphere of Virgil's pious masterpiece lies the mythic story of Aeneas and his flight from burning Troy, taking with him across the Mediterranean the survivors of the Greek onslaught. Aeneas, after many travails and adventures, including a love affair with Dido Queen of Carthage and a visit to the underworld to see his father, ends up in Italy.
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An epic in every sense of the word
- By James on 01-06-05
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The Iliad
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One of the foremost achievements in Western literature, Homer's Iliad tells the story of the darkest episode in the Trojan War. At its centre is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, and his refusal to fight after being humiliated by his leader, Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles' close friend Patroclus, he storms back into battle to take revenge - although knowing this will ensure his own early death.
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Slow Start, Strong Finish
- By joshua on 08-09-23
By: Homer, and others
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Mythology: Captivating Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Celtic and Roman Myths of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters
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This audiobook collection includes five captivating books, a huge collection of the best myths and stories of gods, goddesses, monsters, and mortals.
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Not what I expected
- By Wayne Willmore on 12-11-18
By: Matt Clayton
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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.
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Hard to follow as audio
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What listeners say about Beowulf
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- William
- 03-01-21
Brings the ancient story and poem alive
I remember this from high school English mostly only as an example of how unintelligible early English was to a modern speaker. I think we were also exposed to a translation, but am not sure. I did remember it as something about a man defeating a monster, but that was about it.
Beowulf was written sometime between 700 and 1000 AD (which is the date of the only existing ancient manuscript, which itself was almost lost in the 1800s). A modern reader of the original might be able to recognize or guess only a few words. Fortunately, it has been translated many times, some good and some not so good. This is a translation to modern English by Seamus Heaney and is considered one of the best.
Beowulf was, a century or more ago, seen as important only because it was the oldest poem in Old English (or Anglo-Saxon, depending on who you ask) and preserved that language for the modern world. It certainly was not just an older version of modern English which was heavily influenced by French after 1066. However, whatever you want to call it, it was looked down on by scholars even in the 19th century as a relic of a barbaric age and far below the “civilized” influence of Roman and Greek culture. Ancient English was not worth studying, and the philosopher Thomas Case wrote, about a proposal to start a school of Anglo-Saxon English at Oxford, that “We are about to reverse the Renaissance.”
The Renaissance was not reversed but the result was a different renaissance of the study of the ancient language of England and neighboring areas as well as the ancient culture and myths. Indirectly, it influenced the literature of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien.
Beowulf was written in what is now England, but the story is based in what is now Denmark and southern Sweden (and I’ll use those terms from here on). Beowulf traveled from Sweden to Denmark to help the great king Hrothgar whose kingdom is plagued by a monster Grendel. Beowulf kills him with his bare hands and later kills his mother when she came to take vengeance on those who had killed her son. Beowulf then returned to Sweden and eventually became king of the Geats. In his later years, a great dragon appeared and wreaked havoc on his kingdom. Beowulf kills him too, but is mortally wounded and is cremated on a great ceremonial pyle and his ashes buried in a great mound by the sea.
Interesting are the many Christian references found in the poem and it’s not clear if these were a part of the original or were added later as England became more and more Christianized. One of the references is that the great monster Grendel is called a descendant of Cain. There are also references to the Biblical creation narrative, the great flood of Noah, and the devil, hell, and a final judgment. Yet, despite the Christian themes, it is clearly more pagan in origin. If written when and where most scholars believe, that part of England had already begun to observe a form of Christianity that was mixed with Germanic pagan myths.
For me, it is interesting because it heavily influenced the writings of Tolkein and also C. S. Lewis. It's also not a long book. If you are interested, this translation is easily understandable and will bring this ancient poem to life and preserves the structure that makes it poetry. If you have no interest the ancient story of Beowulf, then it is not for you.
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Overall
- shawn ashkenasy
- 01-28-19
good pick. it was worth the cost.
easy listening. loads of fun. made my weekend more fun
the commentary was well placed.
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- Amy Morris
- 02-06-19
Revisiting an old friend.
While I have several stacks of TBR books sitting in my house, I found my self revisiting an old friend while looking for an audio book for at work. As always, Beowulf did not disappoint, and neither did this authors translation.
I can never thank my HS English teacher enough for introducing me to a genre of books that so helped develop my love of reading.
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- kathryn rogers
- 10-09-19
Riveting
One of the best audible books of Beowulf I’ve ever heard. I especially liked the essay at the end by Seamus Haney. Everything he said is true.
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- chetyarbrough.blog
- 11-13-22
BEOWULF AT THE DOOR
Well presented with an insightful appendix. Seamus Hearney explains how he translated Beowulf and some of the difficulties in its translation. George Guidall presented Hearney's translation with the clarity it deserves.
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- Alexander Campbell
- 07-13-22
A very nice reading of a classic
Beowulf is not the easiest story to keep up with, as it has references much different than classical Greek or Roman ones, but the presenter does a great job of throwing you into the gory fights with Grendel, his mother, and the Dragon.
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- ANTHONY J BULLDIS
- 10-29-23
Loved it
At only a few hours long, there is absolutely no reason for anyone not to listen to Beowulf at least once in their life. A fascinating story in its own right as well as a look at what the people of that time valued in their leaders.
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- David Racker
- 12-08-20
Brag much?
While Beowulf is known for how he killed Grendel and his mother, his exploits seem to take only 25% of the word count in this book while the other 75% is him telling others about just how much of an awesome guy he is--and how awesome God is too. I probably could have stopped after the first hour and a half and been good. Especially since the last battle with the dragon seemed like such a troupe (maybe not for back in the 900s, but with the plethora of fantasy novels nowadays, it came off as basic). I think that George Guidall was the good choice of narrator for this story.
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- Gennyfer Hanvey
- 01-10-21
Perfect translation excellent reading
George Guidall brings life to the words of Heaney’s translation. Listen to the essay at the end to get more of a feel for Heaney’s process.
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- thia burke
- 11-13-20
Wonderful Translation and Introduction.
Heaney's translation makes this work so much easier to enjoy than what I tried, and failed, to read in high school.
The introduction is in the last three Audible chapters, not up front. A great way to avoid spoilers.
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