Duration 2:25:02; booklet of 12 pp. A 2-CD recording of Beowulf in Old English, in its entirety. The delivery is faster-paced than most. The liner notes intersperse the track-by-track listing (correlated with line numbers) with a summary of the story, divided into three parts: "1. Beowulf and Grendel," "2. Beowulf and Grendel's Mother," and "3. Beowulf and the Dragon." This is followed by a short essay by Eaton with segments on "The Ethical Background," "The Language of the Poem," and "The Present Reading"; in the last of these, Eaton emphasizes his refusal to observe a mid-line pause as most oral readers of Old English insist on doing.

The artwork for the front of the liner notes (visible through the CD case) is Leonard Baskin's portrayal of Grendel's head, reproduced apparently from the original drawing rather than from the book in which it was published (Burton Raffel's translation, illustrated edition of 1971): the liner notes credit the art as "The Head of Grendel from the Leonard Baskin 'Beowulf with the head of the Monster Grendel, 1971' (Private Collection), with apologies" (12).

The summary's first segment, "1. Beowulf and Grendel," begins:

The tale centres upon the 6th c. dynasties of the Geats in South Sweden and the Danes, whose king, Hrothgar, lives on the island of Zealand. The account begins with a brief discussion of Hrothgar's ancestry: note that the Beowulf mentioned in lines 18 and 53 is not the hero of the poem.

Hrothgar builds a magnificent hall, Heorot, which is soon beset by an evil monster called Grendel, who nightly attacks the hall and devours Danish warriors by the dozen. (2)

And its last segment ends:

Wiglaf fetches some of the treasure from the dragon's hoard to show Beowulf, whose dying moments are comforted by the sight. The story ends with universal mourning for the hero and the ceremonial burning of his body. As Beowulf had requested in his dying words a mound is raised on the site of the pyre and named "Beowulf's barrow." (7)

Not in MO2.

BAM.