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Beowulf
- Narrated by: Julian Glover
- Length: 1 hr and 13 mins
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Beowulf
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Summary
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 - the marks of the fire are still visible on the manuscript, now safely housed in the British Museum.
But the poem and indeed its mythical original tale date back to the eighth or ninth century and before that to the mythologies of Scandaniavia. It is because this poem is in itself an adaptation of ancient sagas that we have allowed ourselves the only abridgement or adaptation on the website!
Julian Glover’s version takes the poem back to its origins as a spoken tale. He has taken the essence of the poem and, with a scholarly eye to the British Museum’s manuscript, created a truly bardic performance. Beowulf’s battles against Grendel (the monster who takes you in your sleep) and the original lethal female, his mother, who comes to avenge her son’s killing, are faithfully transformed from their singed original to a roaring reality.
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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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- David Diaz Pardo
- 21-11-22
Wonderful narrator
The most extraordinary performance! The epic action springs to life with the richest of narrations.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Joe bog
- 30-01-18
Marvellously exciting and atmospheric reading
I loved this - I have read Beowulf a few times in different translations but have never found it any where near as exciting.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Simon Talbot
- 16-02-20
Beowulf
Truly wonderful and life changing!An amazing poem and an astounding performance by actor Julian Glover.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Paul C. Newman
- 28-11-16
Epic!
This performance is a delight. Very accessible dramatisation with emphasis on clarity whilst not leaving the rhythmic quality of the original wanting. An excellent telling.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- aaa
- 03-04-17
Beowulf
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I would recommend it because it says it in old English and new English.
What does Julian Glover bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
OLDE ENGLISH !!!!!!!!
Any additional comments?
This is a very good story and it is very interesting.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 21-08-23
Absolutely excellent
10/10 everything. A brilliant performance of this ancient tale, I wish it was longer haha
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MR A.
- 06-02-20
Great rendition. Definitely recommended.
Treat yourself. Buy it. The story stands for itself, but credit should be given for the vocal acting which is a great pleasure.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 23-07-22
Wonderful
Perfect mesh of performer and material. Glover makes the old times new, and alive in fire.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Barleyman
- 09-06-18
Always liked this one
This is not a word for word retelling of the Beowulf manuscript, but is probably easier to listen to for that.
If you want an introduction the classic this is a great place to start, if you are knowledgeable about Beowulf leave it alone you will only criticise it.
The performance is great and hopefully you will be left wanting more.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mary S.
- 02-08-21
Lyrical, lucid, fast-paced and colourful.
We looked for a recording of Julian Glover reading this because we had heard about his stage readings,and seen a section of it performed during a TV programme ( Michael Wood: In Search of Beowulf) Julian Glover is amazing. A great verse speaker, he can sometimes be a little wooden in a modern setting or in prose but give him verse or the classics and wham! Beowulf is Star Wars for the Dark Ages and suddenly you see why it survived. My only problem is that it I listen to it at bedtime, I drop off to the sound of skilfully woven style, pace and tone despite all the gore, Grendel and the dramatic bits! I love the little snippets of Anglo Saxon and it helped me when I started to listen to it in Anglo Saxon. My English degree at Uni started with Chaucer and I am making up for it in lockdown.
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1 person found this helpful