Beowulf

Beowulf is the oldest written epic in English literature. In this program, Dr. Robert DiNapoli—teaching fellow in Old and Middle English at the University of Birmingham, England—and Professor John Burrow of Bristol University examine the symbolism and the influence of Christianity in Beowulf and other masterpieces of English and Germanic poetry. The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Dream of the Rood, and The Battle of Maldon are also analyzed. The program is an indispensable aid in teaching this watershed period in Western literature. (31 minutes)

Recently re-translated by Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, Beowulf has caused a sensation in both the U.S. and the U.K. In this program, NewsHour correspondent Elizabeth Farnsworth speaks with Heaney about his attraction to that epic poem, the probable background of the bard who created the original, similarities between Old English and bits of Anglo-Saxon that still crop up in rural Ireland, and the importance of meter and alliteration in driving the poem. A reading of a passage from the new text and the old demonstrates the poetic affinity between them while underscoring the poem’s timeless appeal. (12 minutes)