Listen free for 30 days
-
Beowulf
- A New Translation
- Narrated by: Seamus Heaney
- Length: 2 hrs and 15 mins
- Abridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £16.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- By: Simon Armitage - translator
- Narrated by: Simon Armitage
- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the mysterious Green Knight arrives unbidden at the Round Table one Christmas, only Gawain is brave enough to take up his challenge.... This story, first told in the 1400s, is one of the most enthralling, dramatic and beloved poems in the English tradition. Now, in Simon Armitage, the poem has found its perfect modern translator. Armitage's retelling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight captures all of the magic and wonderful storytelling of the original while also revitalising it.
-
-
Armitage's Triumph
- By Pagespinner on 07-11-17
-
Four Quartets
- By: T. S. Eliot
- Narrated by: Ralph Fiennes
- Length: 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterly new recording by Ralph Fiennes. Four Quartets is the culminating achievement of T. S. Eliot's career as a poet. While containing some of the most musical and unforgettable passages in 20th-century poetry, its four parts, 'Burnt Norton', 'East Coker', 'The Dry Salvages' and 'Little Gidding', present a rigorous meditation on the spiritual, philosophical and personal themes which preoccupied the author.
-
-
Revelation
- By Susan Bittleston on 06-10-19
-
Seamus Heaney II Collected Poems (published 1979-1991)
- Field Work; Station Island; The Haw Lantern; Seeing Things
- By: Seamus Heaney
- Narrated by: Seamus Heaney
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Volume two of the definitive collection of Seamus Heaney reading his own work, recorded in 2009 by RTE. Volume two contains four collections published between 1979 and 1991: Field Work, Station Island, The Haw Lantern and Seeing Things.
-
-
A real shame the poems are not listed
- By J D on 15-05-20
-
Crow
- From the Life and Songs of the Crow
- By: Ted Hughes
- Narrated by: Ted Hughes
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his remarkable debut The Hawk in the Rain (1957) to his death in 1998, Ted Hughes was a colossal presence in the English literary landscape. He was also admired as a performer of his own work. Crow is one of his most significant collections, focusing on the central figure of the crow - predatory, mocking and indestructible. Crow is read here by the author in its entirety and with narrative links not included in the published text.
-
-
Masterpiece to Listen to and Read
- By Charlie on 19-03-17
-
The Thought-Fox and Other Poems
- By: Ted Hughes
- Narrated by: Ted Hughes
- Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his remarkable debut The Hawk in the Rain (1957) to his death in 1998, Ted Hughes was a colossal presence in the English literary landscape. He was also admired as a performer of his own work. In this 1994 recording, The Thought-Fox and Other Poems, he reads a selection of poems from The Hawk in the Rain, Lupercal, Wodwo, Crow, Moortown, Cave Birds, Season Songs, Earth-Numb and New Selected Poems.
-
-
it's that Bob Dylan thing
- By robmunro on 06-02-21
-
Roman Mythology: Captivating Roman Myths of Roman Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Mythological Creatures
- By: Matt Clayton
- Narrated by: Randy Whitlow
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you're looking for a collection of Roman myths that speaks to all ages then keep listening....Feats of strength and skill, monsters, magic, divine interventions, and the overcoming of impossible odds by larger-than-life figures all feature in this audiobook. The Roman myths contained in this collection will be brought to life so all the details are more than merely a bunch of dry facts. Not only does this audiobook offer captivating stories for you to enjoy, but it also gives you impressive knowledge about history.
-
-
Useful Book
- By Emma Clara on 15-09-18
-
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- By: Simon Armitage - translator
- Narrated by: Simon Armitage
- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the mysterious Green Knight arrives unbidden at the Round Table one Christmas, only Gawain is brave enough to take up his challenge.... This story, first told in the 1400s, is one of the most enthralling, dramatic and beloved poems in the English tradition. Now, in Simon Armitage, the poem has found its perfect modern translator. Armitage's retelling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight captures all of the magic and wonderful storytelling of the original while also revitalising it.
-
-
Armitage's Triumph
- By Pagespinner on 07-11-17
-
Four Quartets
- By: T. S. Eliot
- Narrated by: Ralph Fiennes
- Length: 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterly new recording by Ralph Fiennes. Four Quartets is the culminating achievement of T. S. Eliot's career as a poet. While containing some of the most musical and unforgettable passages in 20th-century poetry, its four parts, 'Burnt Norton', 'East Coker', 'The Dry Salvages' and 'Little Gidding', present a rigorous meditation on the spiritual, philosophical and personal themes which preoccupied the author.
-
-
Revelation
- By Susan Bittleston on 06-10-19
-
Seamus Heaney II Collected Poems (published 1979-1991)
- Field Work; Station Island; The Haw Lantern; Seeing Things
- By: Seamus Heaney
- Narrated by: Seamus Heaney
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Volume two of the definitive collection of Seamus Heaney reading his own work, recorded in 2009 by RTE. Volume two contains four collections published between 1979 and 1991: Field Work, Station Island, The Haw Lantern and Seeing Things.
-
-
A real shame the poems are not listed
- By J D on 15-05-20
-
Crow
- From the Life and Songs of the Crow
- By: Ted Hughes
- Narrated by: Ted Hughes
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his remarkable debut The Hawk in the Rain (1957) to his death in 1998, Ted Hughes was a colossal presence in the English literary landscape. He was also admired as a performer of his own work. Crow is one of his most significant collections, focusing on the central figure of the crow - predatory, mocking and indestructible. Crow is read here by the author in its entirety and with narrative links not included in the published text.
-
-
Masterpiece to Listen to and Read
- By Charlie on 19-03-17
-
The Thought-Fox and Other Poems
- By: Ted Hughes
- Narrated by: Ted Hughes
- Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his remarkable debut The Hawk in the Rain (1957) to his death in 1998, Ted Hughes was a colossal presence in the English literary landscape. He was also admired as a performer of his own work. In this 1994 recording, The Thought-Fox and Other Poems, he reads a selection of poems from The Hawk in the Rain, Lupercal, Wodwo, Crow, Moortown, Cave Birds, Season Songs, Earth-Numb and New Selected Poems.
-
-
it's that Bob Dylan thing
- By robmunro on 06-02-21
-
Roman Mythology: Captivating Roman Myths of Roman Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Mythological Creatures
- By: Matt Clayton
- Narrated by: Randy Whitlow
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you're looking for a collection of Roman myths that speaks to all ages then keep listening....Feats of strength and skill, monsters, magic, divine interventions, and the overcoming of impossible odds by larger-than-life figures all feature in this audiobook. The Roman myths contained in this collection will be brought to life so all the details are more than merely a bunch of dry facts. Not only does this audiobook offer captivating stories for you to enjoy, but it also gives you impressive knowledge about history.
-
-
Useful Book
- By Emma Clara on 15-09-18
-
Richard Burton Reads the Poetry of Thomas Hardy
- By: Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: Richard Burton
- Length: 40 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Burton, the multi-award winning actor, reads the finest work of Thomas Hardy.
-
-
Applause, plus Names of Poems
- By Simon Jude on 02-01-20
-
Tales from Ovid
- By: Ted Hughes
- Narrated by: Ted Hughes
- Length: 2 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his remarkable debut The Hawk in the Rain (1957) to his death in 1998, Ted Hughes was a colossal presence in the English literary landscape. He was also admired as a performer of his own work. Tales from Ovid, Ted Hughes' masterful versions of stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses, includes those of Phaeton, Actaeon, Echo and Narcissus, Procne, Midas and Pyramus and Thisbe as well as many others.
-
-
Great Re-Telling (Just not complete)
- By Will Hughes on 15-09-20
-
Beowulf
- By: Julian Glover
- Narrated by: Julian Glover
- Length: 1 hr and 13 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The epic story of this hero’s battle against dragons, monsters, and their mothers is particularly suited to being recorded as an audiobook given that for the first 300 years of its existence it was only ever spoken. The first known (and indeed the only surviving manuscript) of the poem was written in AD 1,000. It survived Henry VIII’s attempts to destroy it (as a religious artifact) and a catastrophic fire that destroyed many other historical British documents.
-
-
Beowulf
- By aaa on 03-04-17
-
Pride and Prejudice
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Rosamund Pike
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of Jane Austen’s most beloved works, Pride and Prejudice, is vividly brought to life by Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike ( Gone Girl). In her bright and energetic performance of this British classic, she expertly captures Austen’s signature wit and tone. Her attention to detail, her literary background, and her performance in the 2005 feature film version of the novel provide the perfect foundation from which to convey the story of Elizabeth Bennet, her four sisters, and the inimitable Mr. Darcy.
-
-
Loved Rosamund
- By Marilize on 12-12-15
-
Spoon River Anthology
- By: Edgar Lee Masters
- Narrated by: Patrick Fraley, Edward Asner
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a cemetery in a mythical small town in Illinois, the dead speak about their lives. Each free-verse monologue stands as an epitaph for the person speaking, yet the play is ultimately about life, not death. Featuring 50 performers with specially commissioned original music, this is the only audio version of this landmark classic available.
-
I, Claudius
- By: Robert Graves
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
- Length: 5 hrs and 8 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The politics of empire-building and the hypocrisies, back-stabbings, and corruptions of Rome's first family come to light. First published in 1934, the book retains a marvelously modern and often comic tone, and is written in the form of Claudius' autobiography. This is gripping stuff, read by one of our finest actors, who also starred as Claudius in the classic television series.
-
-
Shame it's abridged.
- By Mary Carnegie on 11-04-16
-
What on Earth Have I Done?
- Stories, Observations, and Affirmations
- By: Robert Fulghum
- Narrated by: Robert Fulghum
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Fulghum's new book begins with a question we've all asked ourselves: "What on Earth have I done?" As Fulghum finds out, the answer is never easy and, almost always, surprising. For the last couple of years, Fulghum has been traveling the world, from Seattle to the Moab Desert to Crete, looking for a few fellow travelers interested in thinking along with him as he delights in the unexpected.
-
On Writers and Writing
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Margaret Atwood
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is the role of the writer? Prophet? High priest of art? Court jester? Or witness to the real world? Looking back on her own childhood and writing career, Margaret Atwood examines the metaphors which writers of fiction and poetry have used to explain - or excuse! - their activities, looking at what costumes they have assumed, what roles they have chosen to play. In her final chapter she takes up the challenge of the title: if a writer is to be seen as "gifted", who is doing the giving and what are the terms of the gift?
-
-
Disappointing
- By TDP on 22-02-21
-
Monsignor Quixote
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Cyril Cusack
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Promoted to the rank of Monsignor, Quixote and his friend Sancho, the ex-mayor of El Toboso and an avid Communist, set off on their travels in the rusty old car the call Rocinante. Together, they roam through modern-day Spain in a brilliant picaresque fable that, like Cervantes' classic, offers enduring insights into our life and times. Cyril Cusack reads Grahame Greene’s moving, hilarious novel about a Catholic priest and his friend, a Marxist mayor.
-
-
Not one for misophonia sufferers
- By EEL on 12-11-19
-
Macbeth (Dramatised)
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Anthony Quayle, Robert Hardy, Ian Holm, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A ruthlessly ambitious Scottish lord siezes the throne with the help of his scheming wife - and a trio of witches. Anthony Quayle, Robert Hardy, Ian Holm, Stanley Holloway, and Jill Balcon star in an unabridged performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth.
-
Mythos
- By: Stephen Fry
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Greek myths are amongst the greatest stories ever told, passed down through millennia and inspiring writers and artists as varied as Shakespeare, Michelangelo, James Joyce and Walt Disney. They are embedded deeply in the traditions, tales and cultural DNA of the West. You'll fall in love with Zeus, marvel at the birth of Athena, wince at Cronus and Gaia's revenge on Ouranos, weep with King Midas and hunt with the beautiful and ferocious Artemis.
-
-
Boring version of the Greek myths
- By IoBB on 22-08-19
-
The Silmarillion
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Martin Shaw
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The complete unabridged audiobook of J.R.R Tolkien's The Silmarillion. The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien’s world. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them such as Elrond and Galadriel took part.
-
-
Great but with random audio glitches...
- By Allpressto on 28-08-17
Summary
Seamus Heaney’s new translation of Beowulf is a work that is both true to the original poem and an expression of something fundamental to Heaney’s own creative gift.
One of the great classics of English literature, it tells the story of a hero who wins glory and learns wisdom and is then called upon to face a final test against the monstrous.
There are obvious parallels to be found in the history of the 20th century, and Heaney’s Beowulf cannot fail to be read partly in the light of his Northern Irish upbringing. But it also transcends such considerations, revealing psychological and spiritual truths that are both permanent and liberating.
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Beowulf
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- P.
- 20-09-19
Buyer beware! Audible version heavily abridged!
Beowulf is an epic Old English poem of bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. The fight between Beowulf and Grendel is rightly famous, and soon followed by the fight with Grendel’s trollish mother. The last part of the poem tells of Beowulf many years later, aged and weary, and his final battle with a wyrm that threatens his homeland. Beowulf’s heroism in going to face his doom, battling against impossible odds is remarkable.
Seamus Heaney’s translation is good. Some parts are excellent, and the book of his translation is worth reading, along with other prose translations by Swanston and Tolkien.
But beware this audible recording. It is so heavily abridged that parts of the story make no sense. Unferth isn’t mentioned until the mere where Grendel’s mother lived, and Beowulf’s cutting off of Grendel’s head from his corpse is omitted. And other parts are chopped too.
I really think Audible should clearly state on the info for this recoding that it’s abridged, so that buyers can make informed choices!!
42 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- L D Wilkes
- 19-11-16
Beowulf
This is the version translated and read by Seamus Heaney. I've had the book for years but never ventured in. I will now after hearing of Beowulf's brave exploits and heroic qualities. Heaney read well and the translation loses nothing of the sense of ancient history and myth. A really great introduction to a wonderful take. I listened on my walk to work and was often moved to tears.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- L. J. W. Cych
- 28-09-19
Marvellous reading by Heaney
Enjoyed this immensely but be aware the book is abridged in parts in the adaptation.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- E P
- 15-06-19
Pure joy
This is wonderful, a pure joy. A recording to be cherished and played over and over again. Seamus Heaney’s voice stays with you long after the recording is over
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- EEL
- 11-01-17
Abridged and declaimed
This recording is significantly abridged from the printed text and also differs in small details within the lines that are represented.
While it may be heretical to say so, I'm not sure that Heaney is the best reader of his own text: he appears to have gone for a kind of epic declamatory style that becomes rather monotonous. Of course it's always interesting to hear the author reading their own work, but I'd be interested to hear it in a rendering by an accomplished actor.
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LW
- 03-07-19
Origin story / the hero’s journey
Important to read even better to listen to, we’re lucky to have this text at all. Beautifully read by Seamus Heaney.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Elke M Huismans
- 05-12-17
Beautiful. Honour without irony. Grave and just.
Better than reading it; lovely to listen to Heaney read it himself. Enjoyed it very much.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- H. Cadbury
- 02-05-17
Beautiful poem read by one of the greatest poets
Such a pleasure to be able to hear the late, great Seamus Heaney read his version of this classic tale. Wonderful.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 12-08-21
Better than I remember
We did Beowulf in school but this is much better than I remember. Seamus Heaney's rendering and read by the author himself, brilliant.
-
Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 10-06-21
accent difficulty
my problem as an englishman but to follow a testing script with Mr Heaney's accent was immediately too difficult