Beowulf

by

Read by Tad E.

English · 1910 · 2h 45m · Legends & Fairy Tales, Poetry, Fantasy

4.2 (126 reviews)

In this Old English epic, the warrior Beowulf travels to aid a Danish king whose hall is under attack by a deadly monster. His fight begins a story of courage, reputation, and the dangers that follow a hero through a lifetime.

The poem moves from the feasting hall and its code of loyalty to battles against supernatural foes. Its world is shaped by kinship, gift-giving, and the pursuit of lasting fame, while the narrator’s reflections on age and mortality give the heroic action a somber edge.

Francis Barton Gummere’s translation presents the anonymous Anglo-Saxon poem in English verse, preserving its formal, legendary character. Listeners can expect a foundational work of early English literature: a tale of monsters and warriors, told with the weight of an older world.

Chapters

Select a chapter to play

Prelude-Section 2 9:57 Read by Tad E.
Sections 3-5 9:33 Read by Tad E.
Sections 6-8 9:35 Read by Tad E.
Sections 9-11 11:34 Read by Tad E.
Sections 12-14 9:34 Read by Tad E.
Sections 15-17 10:42 Read by Tad E.
Sections 18-20 10:23 Read by Tad E.
Sections 21-23 13:33 Read by Tad E.
Sections 24-26 12:54 Read by Tad E.
Sections 27-29 17:17 Read by Tad E.
Sections 30-32 12:27 Read by Tad E.
Sections 33-35 15:03 Read by Tad E.
Sections 36-38 10:30 Read by Tad E.
Sections 39-41 12:46 Read by Tad E.

Reviews

Poor delivery


(2 stars)

I found the delivery of the narrator to be too fast and not have enough pauses and emphasis. I had to stop the book and start over in the alternative version available here

Monotone


(3 stars)

The reader was incredibly monotone, and I honestly didn’t understand the majority of this book due to the monotonous reader, and there were a lot of recording errors.

poor recording


(1 star)

Good reader but his S and some T sounds are piercingly sharp. Had to stop listening after a few minutes. A somewhat common but avoidable error in recording methods.


(3.5 stars)

For a volunteer reader this was done pretty well. There are some issues with pacing and pronunciation, but nothing so bad that it detracts from the story. The audio quality is good and there is very little background noise, which is also nice.

Fair. Tough read in any format.


(4 stars)

The reader did a fair job. I was hoping this story would be easier to handle in audio format. It is still difficult to process. Most normal folks will still need to read a version with notes.

good story


(3.5 stars)

Great story, although I read it once, listened to it, and then read a simplified version to make sure I reaaally got what was going on. narrator was fine.

very good


(4 stars)

it's a great book. as for the speaker, he is mostly clear but could have slowed down in some sections


(4 stars)

the reader has a good grasp of pronunciation for the names and old English terms.