Recommendation: Beowulf Live!

[nebroadwe]

Many several moons ago, I saw Benjamin Bagby perform part of the Old English poem Beowulf and enjoyed every moment of it: he does great narration and fantastic characters (including an amusingly drunken Unferth -- I hadn't realized his confrontation with Beowulf could be that funny :-). I was disappointed that the show I attended didn't include a recitation of the dragon-fight and looked forward to the always rumored but never realized DVD that might include it. Well, that rumor has been realized at last. Hurrah! The Bagby's Beowulf website includes two clips, the first from the performance filmed for the DVD. In this excerpt (lines 673-703), Beowulf and company prepare to battle Grendel for the first time, placing their trust in God (I love the emphasis Bagby tosses into Beowulf's speech here, that God will grant the victory "swa HIM gemet þince!" -- as HE sees fit). The second is from another filmed performance and begins at line 424; there's a nice contrast here between Beowulf's youth -- note the bravado with which he imagines Grendel hauling off his corpse, should he lose -- and Hrothgar's age. Find yourself a good side-by-side translation (I recommend Howell D. Chickering's -- you don't want something as dynamic as Seamus Heaney's or Burton Raffel's here, because Bagby brings his own dynamism to the performance) and sit down for an enjoyable few minutes. (Better still, see the whole performance! Get the DVD or, if you have the opportunity, catch one of Bagby's shows live. You won't regret it.)