Beowulf

Rating:
Summary: Beowulf is good for lay people who wish to learn Old English
Review: If you are a lay person trying to learn Old English, then buy this tape. Stop racking your brain trying to pronounce the unpronouncable.
Most the books on Anglo-Saxon are written by eggheads who went to Yale for other eggheads who are going to Harvard. The writers never think that other people have other reasons for learning Anglo-Saxon.
I have one book on Old English that actually says that "this is pronounced like the Welsh 'LL', but not like the Scotish 'LL'". Isn't that nice. But the book never tells how to pronounce the Welsh "LL". Who knew that Welsh is different than Scotish? Not me. Who are these books written for? Bloody eggheads!
There is no one dumber than a moron with a Phd.
Hearing it spoken is so much easier. His reading is good, lively.
This tape will give the modren day Heathen a good idea on how to speak to the Gods in their own tongue.
Writing rituals in Anglo-Saxon is one thing, but speaking Old English out loud is damn hard!
Beowulf is actually a recording of Old English Poems plus selections from Beowulf, so this tape is a bit misleading.
Anyway, I think this is great for any Asatru Folk wishing to speak directly to Wodan.

Rating:
Summary: MEDIOCRE
Review: If you are a serious student of Old English, this tape is a must have. Spoken material is extremely hard to find, and Bessinger's diction is excellent. What would make this tape even more useful, would be printed, dual language translations of all the recitations. Somebody at Harper Collins should really think about this.

Rating:
Summary: Good for students
Review: If you are a serious student of Old English, this tape is a must have. Spoken material is extremely hard to find, and Bessinger's diction is excellent. What would make this tape even more useful, would be printed, dual language translations of all the recitations. Somebody at Harper Collins should really think about this.

Rating:
Summary: Great Tape, but only a small fraction of Beowulf is here.
Review: J.B. Bessinger's readings of Beowulf and selction of other Old English poetry is wonderful. However...this tape actually contains only about 15 percent of Beowulf, and only about 40 percent of "The Dream of the Rood". Still, what IS on the tape is just great.

Rating:
Summary: No notes or translation provided
Review: One limitation of this recording is that no notes, transcription or translation is provided. Unless you already understand Old English, you'll find this recording euphonious but incomprehensible.

Rating:
Summary: Hwaet we Gar-Dena in gear-dagum theod-cyninga...
Review: The beauty of Old English is heard in this rendition: the language of my ancestors, the birth-right of everyone with British blood. I found myself hating the Normans for their invasion. This is really a great thing that Harper Collins has done. With a translation of the poems (my favorite is Seamus Heaney's), this takes on a life of its own. The fact that it only has some of the poem is only slightly irritating. If you can't handle not hearing all of it, you could always read the rest yourself. For the lover of Old English like me, this is a must.

Rating:
Summary: MEDIOCRE
Review: This tape is mostly other Old-English (Anglo-Saxon) Poems The Beowulf is abridged by more than 70%. It only contains selected readings But still is read dramaticly with much enthusiasm which compensates for its incompletness. ....