Beowulf

Backlisted

Backlisted Podcast

Arts, Books, Leisure, Hobbies

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 October 2020

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It's our Hallowe'en special ! For this year’s Hallowe’en episode our subject is the Old English poem, Beowulf, composed somewhere in England more than a thousand years ago. The atmospheric tale of supernatural monsters and human heroes has inspired scores of translations over the centuries and we will discuss several, including versions by Seamus Heaney, J.R.R. Tolkien, Michael Morpurgo and the powerful new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley (the 2007 computer-animated film adaptation by Robert Zemeckis and Neil Gaiman also makes an appearance). Andy and John are joined by regular Backlisted Hallowe’en guest Andrew Male, the senior associate editor of MOJO magazine, and Dr Laura Varnam, who first appeared on our last Hallowe’en episode to discuss Daphne Du Maurier’s collection, The Breaking Point. As well as being a Du Maurier expert, Laura is also the Lecturer in Old and Middle English Literature at University College, Oxford and teaches Beowulf to undergraduates. Before that, to put everyone in a suitably spooky mood, we all discuss stories taken from Robert Shearman’s remarkable experiment in storytelling, We All Hear Stories in the Dark.Timings: (may differ due to variable advert length)6'54 - We all hear stories in the Dark by Robert Shearman19'49 - Beowulf* To purchase any of the books mentioned in this episode please visit our bookshop at uk.bookshop.org/shop/backlisted where all profits help to sustain this podcast and UK independent bookshops.* For information about everything mentioned in this episode visit www.backlisted.fm*If you'd like to support the show, listen without adverts, receive the show early and with extra bonus fortnightly episodes, become a Patreon at www.patreon.com/backlisted Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Yellowton Dance, fully by the other song Concert Dance.
0:30.0	Every year I have to look in my scent emails to see if I can find that.
0:37.0	That's a 2020 remix of your eagerly-ed listeners,
0:43.0	as well as spotted it was a bit different to the last version.
0:46.0	Hello, Laura, hello, Andrew.
0:48.0	Hello.
0:49.0	Hello.
0:50.0	It's traditional at this point in down the line,
0:53.0	batlisteds that we ask you where you're calling from, Laura.
0:56.0	Where are you?
0:57.0	I am in my office in University College Oxford on the High Street.
1:02.0	Ah, the College of Percy Bischelli Andy.
1:05.0	Oh, yes.
1:06.0	I've changed my middle name by deed pole to Bisch.
1:10.0	So I'm now and need to be known as Andy Bisch Miller.
1:14.0	Of course.
1:15.0	I've now called up with the Simon Sharma that inspired you to do that.
1:18.0	It's very good, isn't it, though?
1:20.0	I imagine you would change your name to John Bisch-Michinson,
1:23.0	if only I hadn't been here to it.
1:26.0	Yeah, Mask of Anarchy.
1:27.0	What a great, great poem.
	...

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