Benjamin bagby s work as a composer also contributes to his recreations of the ancient epics, such as beowulf, the icelandic edda and german music from the 10th and 11th centuries on their recent recording lost songs of a rhineland harper. Benjamin bagby, performer of beowulf gray captures both the. Tolkien, author of the lord of the rings, delivered a famous lecture to the british academy in 1936 in which he maintained that. While it is set in scandinavia in the early sixth century, the poem was composed in england somewhere between the seventh and the end of the tenth century. In a spectacular oneman performance recalling the ancient traditions of oral storytelling, benjamin bagby plays the anglosaxon harp and sings in old english, no less the legendary epic of beowulf, the heroic geat warrior who comes to the aid of a troubled king and battles the vicious grendel, emerging victorious only to later fight the trolls mother and a monstrous dragon. Bagbybeowulf benjamin bagby is so consummate a raconteur that he could probably tell you a. The mead hall was the big feasting hall of the king and sometimes even served as a living quarter for the king and his noblemen in medieval times in scandinavia. 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 grendels avenging mother, and finally with a dragon that threatens to devastate his homeland. The epic begins following the great scandinavian hero beowulf in the 6th century. Beowulf and grendel lines 672702 at this point in the story, beowulf s arrival at the danish king hrothgars court has been celebrated with a big feast, and as night approaches the danes leave the haunted drinking hall to sleep elsewhere. Page 31 the inner freedom from the practical desire, the release from action and suffering, release from the inner and the outer compulsion, yet surrounded by a grace of sense, a white light still and moving, erhebung without motion, concentration without elimination, both a new world and the old made explicit, understood in the completion of its partial ecstasy, the resolution of its. Aug 04, 2012 benjamin bagby beowulf koncert odbyl sie w synagodze w 1996 roku w ramach festiwalu muzyki dawnej piesn naszych korzeni w jaroslawiu. In addition to reseaching and writing more than 70 program books for festivals and concert series, and writing or coauthoring, with barbara thornton more than 25 cd booklets. The beowulf dvd benjamin bagbys legendary performance of the anglosaxon epic beowulf, recorded live in helsingborg, sweden january, 2006, will be on sale at the concerts.
I missed benjamin bagby s beowulf when he performed at the international congress for medieval studies a few years ago, so i jumped at the chance to buy the dvd. And while such credentials translate to one of the most important works ever composed in old english, there is no general consensus as to when this epic poem was actually composed, with dates ranging from 7th to 11th century ad the original manuscript was possibly. He first fights the hellish grendel, then struggles with grendels no less fearsome mother in her hall beneath the cold waters of the mere. The complete book, free the tale of beowulf sometime king of the folk of the weder geats translated by william morris and a. Beowulf, in any case, is something of a mixture, more akin to the odyssey, which incorporates some refinements of textual literature than the iliad in this respect, although many would agree with benjamin bagby that the voice of the illiterate bard is still alive in it, and so would i. Beowulf is the greatest surviving work of literature in old english, unparalleled in its epic grandeur and scope. The critics notebook by the editors the new criterion. It is no secret that virgil selfconsciously styled his epic aeneid after homers odyssey and iliad. Since 1990, benjamin bagby has been performing the great epic beowulf at major festivals and venues around the world. Beowulf recounts the story of the valiant warrior of geats who comes to the aid of his neighbor, king hrothgar whose mead hall is being attacked by a dreadful creature called grendel. May 10, 2012 grendel, however, by john garner, first published in 1971, turned out to be one of the strangest books i have every read. British dvd collection provides the following information about this video.
Benjamin bagby, thursday, september 29, 2011 on vimeo. Beowulf by joshua gray overdrive rakuten overdrive. May 16, 20 benjamin bagbys beowulf recitation uses voice, gestures, and anglosaxon harp to bring the ancient epic poem to life. Beowulf blank verse students write their own blank verse from the university of aberdeen in scotland. Bagby s beowulf performance, filmed by stellan olsson in sweden, became available in 2007. This remarkable performance is presented on dvd, beautifully filmed by the awardwinning swedish director stellan olsson.
On 22 april 2014, benjamin bagby performed a version of beowulf as part of a series of concerts curated by american composer david lang. Interview with benjamin bagby and a discussion with beowulf scholars john miles foley, thomas cable, and mark amedio. Flexible mock trial structure where student teams choose both the crime and the defendant based on characters and events in beowulf from. Gendebien room, skillman library brown bag lunch provided, while supplies last arrive early vocalist, harper and scholar benjamin bagby has been an important figure in the.
A verse adaptation with young readers in mind by joshua gray available from rakuten kobo. Awardwinning swedish director stellan olsson captures benjamin bagby s bardic telling of the epic medieval poem in this filmed performance of the oneman show that has kept audiences captivated since 1990. Last year i went to an original language reading of the first part of beowulf by benjamin bagby at the british library with heaneys subtitles and it was amazing. I have the sense that this new text may well encourage very young listeners, years later after their bedtime stories are a distant memory, to recall this tale with pleasure and to discover a vibrant curiosity to know more about the doings of hrothgar, grendel and beowulf. On a goofy side note, while i was working on these socks my four year old daughter picked up the word and now, whenever she wants to get my attention, she says, hwaet, mommy, hwaet. Arriving at heorot they find the king of heorot hrothgar, who is terrified by the monster known as grendel and beowulf vows to vanquish this evil from the world.
Listen to the beowulf being read in original old english. Oct 18, 2018 last night i attended a performance of beowulf, sung in old english and accompanied by an anglosaxon harp, given by benjamin bagby at the british library, in london. More than fifty years later, he must face his final challenge in the shape of a huge dragon. Beowulf is the first english literary masterpiece and one of the earliest european epics written in the vernacular, or native language, instead of literary latin. The oldest and greatest anglosaxon epic, beowulf is a tale of dragons, ogres, conquests and extraordinary feats that were once part of. Bagbys performance of beowulf was listed among the ten best classical music events of 2014. The 6string harp used by benjamin bagby was built by rainer thurau wiesbaden, germany, based on the remains of an instrument excavated from a 7th century alemannic noblemans grave in oberflacht south of stuttgart. From reading books about the history of the english language, we like to believe we know a. In a beseiged land, beowulf must battle against the hideous creature grendel and his vengeance seeking mother. Beowulf a verse translation with young readers in mind. Experience beowulf in anglosaxon with benjamin bagby. Benjamin bagby beowulf watch online movieon movies. Beowulf marches with his fourteen warriors to denmark to defeat an ancient evil.
Beowulf by stellan olsson stellan olsson 857692005307. Beowulf battle scene performed by benjamin bagby excellence. Tolkien enthusiasts, medievalists, and anyone interested in great storytelling will. Benjamin bagby will perform the hildebrandslied and other songs at book. Benjamin bagby was a participant in that meeting, where he also performed his version of beowulf. Strings and things the music show abc radio national. Beowulf performed in an ancient bardic tradition the.
This adaptation of the beowulf epic, written for a younger audience, preserves the anglosaxon verse feel of the origina. Beowulf and grendel lines 672702 at this point in the story, beowulfs arrival at the danish king hrothgars court has been celebrated with a big feast, and as night approaches the danes leave the haunted drinking hall to sleep elsewhere. Appears in 7 books from 19022005 page 34 beowulf of the morning after his contest in swimming. Beowulf wins fights and helps a neighbouring town rid of the thief who disturbed the dragon who causes fire and devastation. Now we have his remarkable performance on dvd, beautifully filmed by the awardwinning swedish director stellan olsson. Benjamin bagby beowulf koncert odbyl sie w synagodze w 1996 roku w ramach festiwalu muzyki dawnej piesn naszych korzeni w jaroslawiu. Jul 26, 2010 beowulf, in any case, is something of a mixture, more akin to the odyssey, which incorporates some refinements of textual literature than the iliad in this respect, although many would agree with benjamin bagby that the voice of the illiterate bard is still alive in it, and so would i.
Apr 27, 2017 beowulf is commonly known as the oldest surviving long poem in old english, consisting of an impressive 3182 alliterative lines. Jan 15, 2017 benjamin bagby beowulf watch online movieon movies. The remarkably intact pieces of oak clearly show a thin, hollow corpus with no soundholes. Benjamin bagby born february 20, 1950 is an american singer, composer, harpist, and. Benjamin bagby news newspapers books scholar jstor october 2018 learn how and when to remove this template message. They know that grendel, the monster, will come to attack the hall in the night. Seldom noted, however, by the modern reader is the vast expanse of history that separates the two, and the. Beowulf, a young warrior of the geats, comes to the aid of hrothgar, king of the danes, in his time of need. Argument hrothgar, king of the danes, lives happily and peacefully, and bethinks him to build a glorious hall called hart. Benjamin bagby sings in the original old english of the poem, accompanying himself on the anglosaxon harp.
Beowulf, a dvd release of a performance of beowulf by benjamin bagby in the original old english. What we know of beowulf survives in a single untitled manuscript source dating to the early. He also recorded harp accompaniments to go with portions of the reading of the story. Beowulf died trying to kill the dragon, he is hailed a hero, the dragons remains sink into the lake and beowulf is cremated with a temple being built to remind them his true bravery. And while such credentials translate to one of the most important works ever composed in old english, there is no general consensus as to when this epic poem was actually composed, with dates ranging from 7th to 11th century ad the original manuscript was. Bagby s performance of beowulf was listed among the ten best classical music events of 2014. The epic in performance, with benjamin bagby, voice and anglosaxon harp, at buttenweiser hall, 92 street y january 23.
Arriving at heorot they find the king of heorot hrothgar, who is terrified by the monster known as grendel and beowulf vows to. This short clip from the dvd of bagbys performance features high tension as the hero waits for grendel to attack the hall after a feast. Grendel, however, by john garner, first published in 1971, turned out to be one of the strangest books i have every read. After returning home beowulf becomes king of the geats and rules peacefully for decades until a firebreathing dragon threatens the peace of his.
The result is a mesmerizing glimpse into a longgone world, a chance to thrill to the story of beowulf and grendel in something of the same way that listeners did, more than a thousand years ago. A verse adaptation with young readers in mind ebook. The language arrived in britonpreviously inhabited by celtic speakerssometime in the fifth century, though whether the anglosaxon invasion was a hostile takeover by germanic mercenaries or a slow population drift that introduced a. The manuscript was written by roger avary and neil gaiman. It is the beowulf story told from the point of view of grendel, a seeming invincible monster and probably one of the first serial killers in english literature.
As you can hear in the beowulf reading above from the telegraph, its a thick, consonantrich language that may put you in mind of j. After a very short while i stopped needing the subtitles altogether because he was so expressive that everything made sense. Performed by internationally renowned composer, singer, and harpist, benjamin bagby. Rent beowulf 2007 starring benjamin bagby on dvd and bluray. The tone of this novel reminded me of joyce carol oates novel. It contains numerous extra features, including interviews with noted anglosaxonists and the performer. Germanic paganism and the christianity of the early middle ages sprung one of the worlds supremely great pieces of literature. Beowulf unabridged beowulf unabridged audiobook, by c. One of europes greatest epics the story of king hrothgar, the monster grendel and the hero beowulf has been passed down in written form for hundreds of generations. Beowulf is a major epic of anglosaxon literature, probably composed between the. List of translations and artistic depictions of beowulf. Beowulf, a computer animated film directed by robert zemeckis and created through motion capture, a technique similar to that used by zemeckis in the polar express.
Beowulf is an epic poem that is both one of the most important works in english literature, and a great adventure story. But a little after, one grendel, of the kindred of the evil wights that are come of cain, hears the merry noise of hart and cannot abide it. Beowulf is commonly known as the oldest surviving long poem in old english, consisting of an impressive 3182 alliterative lines. Benjamin bagbys beowulf recitation uses voice, gestures, and anglosaxon harp to bring the ancient epic poem to life. Benjamin bagbys legendary performance of the anglosaxon epic beowulf part i recorded live in helsingborg, sweden. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Benjamin bagby, vocalist and harpist, cofounder and director, sequentia. Last night i attended a performance of beowulf, sung in old english and accompanied by an anglosaxon harp, given by benjamin bagby at the british library, in london. His version of beowulf, which he has been touring around the world since the.