Description
“Beowulf”, a sprawling, fantastical tale of bravery, heroism, and Anglo-Saxon heraldry, is the most celebrated epic poem in the English language.
The story of the great Geatish fighter Beowulf, who comes to the aid of the beleagued Hrothgar and his men, the poem relates three epic battles: Beowulf’s fight with the monster Grendel, his face-off with Grendel’s vengeful mother and, after serving as King for 50 years, Beowulf’s fateful clash with a fire-breathing dragon.
Francis B. Gummere’s translation of this ancient text has been hailed for over a century and is here brought back to life with a summary of the poem by the English scholar Dr. J.L. Hall.
Panagiotis Argyrou –
Narration 6/10
The narration is painfully slow and with so much emphasis put in the end of every sentence. It gets annoying really fast.
Story 6/10
It’s the classic story of Beowulf who defeats the monster Grendel only to be seduced by his mother whom he’ll impregnate to what will later in the story be a dragon showing up trying to kill him.
However the “poetic” way it’s written and narrated can actually give you a headache after some point, since you are trying to reconstruct the sentences in your head, trying to actually make sense of what is going on.
Overall I didn’t really enjoy this and I would much rather listen to a proper version of the story. This “poem” version would probably be better off remaining a written novel. Personally I didn’t manage to finish this off, despite how short it is, but hey it’s also a matter of personal taste and I might just be judging too hard at the moment because I don’t seem to like the “poem” style narrative.