108 Beowulf (aka Need a Hero? Get a Grip…)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Arts, Books

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 September 2017

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The poem called Beowulf (ca. 850 CE) was composed in Old English during what is known as the Middle Ages. Telling the tale of a hero who fights two monsters and a dragon, the three-thousand-line poem is traditionally viewed as one of the few bits of brightness in an otherwise dark age. Set in Scandinavia, the poem offers a tantalizing window into a culture undergoing a transition, as the Anglo-Saxon speaker embraces the newly adopted religion Christianity while nevertheless expressing nostalgia for the heroic days of yore. Jacke Wilson takes a look at the classic poem Beowulf and the questions it raises today. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate . The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:07.0	Hello, I'm Jack Wilson.
0:11.0	Have you ever felt like you're...
0:14.0	Oh, I forgot.
0:15.0	There's some music.
0:17.0	Guess what's coming.
0:18.0	Have you ever felt like there's something missing from our world?
0:22.0	Like we're waiting for something.
0:25.0	There's something Bonnie Tyler might be able to tell us we need.
0:30.0	Tell us Bonnie, Bonnie, channel our uncertainty and on we and frustrations and tell us what we're looking for. Where long the good man gone and where are all the gone?
0:48.0	Where the streets-wide hurts the least to fight the rising on.
0:57.0	Isn't there a white night upon the time
1:01.0	it's cheap?
1:03.0	Late at night, I'm pushed and I turn and I dream.
1:06.0	I'm what I'm name.
1:08.0	I'm made a hero.
1:10.0	I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night.
1:15.0	He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight.
1:21.0	I'm a hero. I'm holding on for the hero to the morning life.
1:25.0	He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be good and it's gotta be longer than life.
1:34.0	A hero!
1:38.0	A hero!
	...

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