Audio only
Length4h 25m
About this audiobook
"Beowulf" is the longest and most complete surviving poem in Old English. The work probably circulated orally for centuries before being written down by scribes around the year 1000. It consists of 3,182 lines of alliterative verse. The poem’s plot, is straightforward and has the quality of a folktale, following recognisable patterns of myth: A young hero sets out on a sea journey to battle monsters. After dispatching two humanoid horrors in deadly combat, the victorious hero journeys back home to rule his own kingdom until he finally clashes with a dragon who kills him, though he wins glory and fame. But "Beowulf" also alludes to several battles and events in the past and future, at times digressing for several lines to narrate the action of a feud, battle, or heroic event; the poem’s allusive, interlacing quality makes it difficult and complex.
But "Beowulf" is worth the struggle. For generations, teachers and students have enjoyed this tale of dragon slaying and troll combat set against the background of human feuding and warfare among the Danes, Frisians, Jutes, Swedes, and Geats. Legendary heroes like Beowulf and Wiglaf stand toe to toe with figures from history such as Hygelac, Hrothgar, and Ingeld. Though the poem cannot be considered historically accurate in a modern sense, "Beowulf" offers an uncannily familiar window into the alliances, truces, feuds, and political intrigues taking place in the Germanic heroic world. It continues to fascinate readers also because of its expression of such prominent themes as community, religion, violence, and revenge.
(Source: literacle.com)
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.8 (401.2K)
Includes Goodreads, StoryGraph, LibraryThing, Amazon
GenreFairy Tales and Folklore, Horror, General Fiction
Length4 hrs 25 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateSep 27, 2019
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Preface
2The Story
3Abbreviations Used In The Notes
4Bibliography Of Translations
5Glossary Of Proper Names
Show all chaptersShow less
6List Of Words And Phrases Not In General Use
71. The Life And Death Of Scyld
82. Scyld’s Successors — Hrothgar’s Great Mead-Hall
93. Grendel The Murderer
104. Beowulf Goes To Hrothgar’s Assistance
115. The Geats Reach Heorot
126. Beowulf Introduces Himself At The Palace
137. Hrothgar And Beowulf
148. Hrothgar And Beowulf — Continued
159. Unferth Taunts Beowulf
1610. Beowulf Silences Unferth — Glee Is High
1711. All Sleep Save One
1812. Grendel And Beowulf
1913. Grendel Is Vanquished
2014. Rejoicing Of The Danes
2115. Hrothgar’s Gratitude
2216. Hrothgar Lavishes Gifts Upon His Deliverer
2317. Banquet (Continued) — The Scop’s Song Of Finn And Hnæf
2418. The Finn Episode (Continued) — The Banquet Continues
2519. Beowulf Receives Further Honor
2620. The Mother Of Grendel
2721. Hrothgar’s Account Of The Monsters
2822. Beowulf Seeks Grendel’s Mother
2923. Beowulf’s Fight With Grendel’s Mother
3024. Beowulf Is Double-Conqueror
3125. Beowulf Brings His Trophies — Hrothgar’s Gratitude
3226. Hrothgar Moralizes — Rest After Labor
3327. Sorrow At Parting
3428. The Homeward Journey — The Two Queens
3529. Beowulf And Higelac
3630. Beowulf Narrates His Adventures To Higelac
3731. Gift-Giving Is Mutual
3832. The Hoard And The Dragon
3933. Brave Though Aged. Reminiscences
40Beowulf’s Reminiscences
4135. Reminiscences (Continued) — Beowulf’s Last Battle
4236. Wiglaf The Trusty — Beowulf Is Deserted By Friends And By Sword
4337. The Fatal Struggle — Beowulf’s Last Moments
4438. Wiglaf Plunders The Dragon’s Den — Beowulf’s Death
4539. The Dead Foes — Wiglaf’s Bitter Taunts
4640. The Messenger Of Death
4741. The Messenger’s Retrospect
4842. Wiglaf’s Sad Story — The Hoard Carried Off
4943. The Burning Of Beowulf
50Addenda
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