Archive for November 20th, 2008
Beowulf Revisited
November 20th, 2008 | 
Author: Are you familiar with the Anglo-Saxon epic tale of Beowulf? Do I hear some of you shouting with joy? Oh wait, that’s moaning. I think Beowulf is every high schooler’s English class nightmare. 
I first remember studying it in high school, but not really understanding a lot of it. (I later had the privilege of teaching it to my high schoolers – thankfully I understood it by that time!) Then in college, I had the horror privilege of studying it again.
Have you ever heard the story told in the Old English? One of my college literature professors, Dr. Dan Hurst, spoke Old English fluently (maybe?) and would entertain us with parts of the story. Even though we couldn’t understand a word he said, the cadence and inflections helped paint the story in a way that the modern English translation doesn’t even touch.
This video featuring Benjamin Bagby comes close…
If you go to YouTube, you can see additional clips of other scenes.
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