Beowulf : The Anglo-Saxon Text
| Background: The Anglo-Saxons | | Kennings and Riddles | |The text| | Lesson plans and learning activities |
Background information and links to a modern version of the epic, broken up into episodes.
Listen to Seamus Heaney read excerpts in Modern English. MP3 software required for access.
The British library site presents samples of Old English, Middle English, and Modern English using
Beowulf
and other texts. This page introduces the Beowulf section with a summary of the epic and a brief discussion of kennings. Follow the link at the bottom to activities, including audio files of a scholar reading Old English and practice with the language.
This YouTube video features Benjamin Bagby accompanying himself on an Anglo-Saxon harp in the original Old English. Follow links to the battle scene, Grendel's ambush, more.
This extensive resource offers audio files to help with pronunciation of names. It also has the story in prose, divided by chapters, with explanations and artifacts. Young readers, older students who have trouble reading the poem, and those looking for background information will find this site very helpful.
A review of Stefen Petrucha's graphic novel version of the epic, including a brief discussion of how to use it in the classroom.
A collection of links about the text itself and about Ango-Saxon life.
A scholarly background to the epic.
By comparing a number of translations of Beowulf with each other and with the basic poetic elements of Old English alliterative verse, this lesson asks students to reflect upon the nature of translation not as an act of accurate representation of a literary work but as an act of interpretive re-creation.
Follow the links to hear portions of the epic in Anglo-Saxon.
This article from the New York Times explores the controversy behind J. R. R. Tolkien's translation of the epic.