Beowulf - "Opening Lines"

One of Europe's 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. In this remarkable one-man tour de force, Benjamin Bagby (co-founder and director of the Sequentia ensemble for medieval music), accompanying himself on an Anglo-Saxon harp, delivers this gripping tale — in the original Old English — as it could have been experienced more than 1000 years ago.




Bagby has been performing the great epic Beowulf at major festivals and venues around the world since 1990. Now we have his remarkable performance on DVD, beautifully filmed by award-winning Swedish director Stellan Olsson.

For more information, go to:
http://www.britishdvdcollection.com/product.asp?item=741952644590

http://www.kochvision.com/Product.aspx?number=KOC-DV-6445

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Benjamin
• Bagby
• Stellan
• Olsson
• Medieval
• Renaissance
• Tolkien

[darris321]

i love how every once in a while I understand what he said 100%

THAT WAS GOOD KING! xD

[tyrelroo]

This is so cool. It makes a bit more sense if you know some German, and then, if you listen to it.. you can pick up some of it, hear the grammar, and know that this is an ancestor to what you speak every day. And if that doesn't turn you on, you should re-evaluate your life.

[UmbraFracta]

@YanSui01 Modern German is, metaphorically speaking, something of a third cousin to this, while Modern English more of a grandchild. If you go back far enough they all share a common ancestor, but German did not "come from this" in any way.

What this does do, though, is reveal that common ancestry by taking us back to the days before English and German had diverged as much as they have now.

[firevorm]

Hwæt We Gardena in gear-dagum þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon

[iamOnimal]

Looks amazing but I'd think that it would get boring after a while. I mean, most of us have no idea what he's saying right?

[curvycom]

51 pages of comments so far, wow!

[curvycom]

@flyfysr This language is Anglo-Saxon much older, as I understand it, because it combines two dialects extant at the time. I read this in UNI in English and Anglo Saxon. I recognize some of the opening text. We had a professor who read a good deal of it to us aloud. This is probably the Seamus Heany Edition, but it could be closer to the first manuscript with less Christian mythology and more pagan.

Please forgive me if I have it all scrambled around. I'm too lazy to Wiki it.

[Antiks72]

@Linfex96 Latin and Greek.

[ghosterdude]

erm....... Q'pla!

[YanSui01]

You can really hear how modern German and English came from in this! :D

[1101millie97]

Love it! Where can I find a full-length version instead of just snippets like this?

[rhall4th]

The audience looks spellbound.