Opening Lines of Beowulf In Old English

Hillsdale College Professor of English Justin A. Jackson reads the opening lines of "Beowulf" in its original Old English.

[mariananesi]

I had a college professor who could speak old English. I was thoroughly impressed.

[pedrogaleano]

A native Spanish speaker, it took me an approximate of 6 years to get a grasp on Shakespeare's language. This will take me six decades

[inyourface]

time travel would be a real pain in the ass

[clemandax]

I looked into the Canterbury Tales and was surprised how much I could understand, especially if I listened and read it at the same time, so I decided to see how much harder Beowulf is to understand, and I can’t understand a word. And people think Shakespeare’s hard.

[MyMarina]

I studied Old English at university...it is utterly fascinating, rich to almost the sphere of music while it also has a colourful imagery and complexity. I understand Tolkien now. It really is incredibly bewitching...I think my peers and I may have been taking it a little far with our attempts at chat up lines though...

[ashmckinlay]

it sounds so familiar yet so different. certainly parts that are understandable though, and phonetically it sounds quite similar to traditional west country English and lowland Scots, which would make sense. really well made piece, it's almost like hearing through a real time portal to ango Saxon England. I would suggest to anyone who found this interesting to research the frisian language as well as that split off at the stem of what we now call old English and as such retains features of old English that modern English has now lost/replaced.

[PitbullTerror]

for some reason i'd like to hear him yell 'You shall not pass!' in this old english

[bondfall]

I wish there was a full recording of this. His voice is hypnotic. I love the story of Beowulf and i would love to hear this read to me as a I drift off to sleep.

[TheSeanoops]

God this language is so beautifully dichotomous. The words exude romance and strength, I love it. Hearing this gives me chills!

[genevievestockmann]

He looks like the sort of man who could speak old english, and I mean that as a huge compliment.

[AnglicanXn]

JRR Tolkien used to begin his class on Beowulf (or perhaps Anglo-Saxon) by striding into the classroom, loudly reciting these opening lines. I heard a recording of it, and it is marvelous. Prof Jackson is superb; I really enjoyed hearing him recite.
It is interesting to see some words in this that Tolkien used in TLTR in speaking of Rohan and its people.
I had to read The Canterbury Tales in Middle English my first year of college; it was a challenge but not nearly as overwhelming as this would be.

[jeanettefriedman]

Let us remember the might of kings. Thank you, Dr. Jackson. He is equally fascinating reading Hebrew in the Bible study course. I was lucky enough to attend an intimate performance in Norfolk, VA. of a bard reciting Beowulf, with his lyre, which all bards carried with them .He also used spoons as percussive accompaniment. Not all the lines, but certain sections have specific accompaniment, and the words are sung.
The specific songs helped the bards remember the words, and what came next in the narrative. That is how people like Hal Holbrook and Julie Harris remembered where they were in their 1.5 hour monologues as Mark Twain and Emily Dickinson. The Greek playwrights used song and imagining verses adorning the different pillars of the auditorium, left to right, to remember long passages. It is not impossible, and even 100 years ago, there were people in the Norse countries would could recite substantial pieces of Beowulf in the Old English. People back then would have recognized them and appreciated them.
It is remarkable how moving it was, and how you almost had those words on the tip of your tongue. It felt like a distant cousin raised in a far away country telling a tale. The actor was such a great communicator, with voice and body language, and so educated in the language, he held us spellbound, and we often didn't need the modern English banner on the proscenium to follow along.
Of course, we already knew the story. It was in two acts, also, to give the bard a chance to eat dinner and ease his sore throat with the king (probably lucky people backstage with him for 20 minutes). I purchased the DVD of his performance, and I still watch it occasionally. It remains magical. As proof, I offer the fact that my 16 year old daughter went along with me, and got a real thrill out of it.
You can hear the famous swimming contest, see the slaughter in the great house, you can visualize the fight with Grendel and the severing of his arm, his sinister mother, and the final encounter with the dragon.
Later in the week, I asked if she would like to see my copy of Seamus Heaney's translation, considered the best one yet. It has the Old English on one page, and the English facing on the other, with short footnotes. That was exciting for her. I pointed out the compound alliterative noun images and the rhythms used. She is still entranced by this experience.
But then, we are an unusual family. I am a Mensan with advanced degrees in Music and English Literature, and " 'satiably curious!" on a host of subjects, while she is studying Forensic Biology, and also has a curious mind. She will be an autodidact too, because of her wonderful, inquiring mind. She is also a champion at Minecraft, which is totally uninteresting to me!

[blankblank]

I just discovered this video. I may be a few years late to the party but I thoroughly enjoyed the reading.

It's amazing how different our language is today.

[nycsocal]

I understood "That was a good king" 👍 😅 Amazing performance of these lines. Old English sounds awesome.

[DancingTillIDie]

Wonderful. I need to learn Olde English. Bless you Hillsdale College for supporting this.

[MrShepperson]

Now, speak it back with a French accent like you are a mercenary from Bordeaux trying to chat up a Saxon women and you basically have English...

[willbest]

I'd never heard that before. I'll bet he had some fun learning to speak it.

[alanc]

Thank you, Hillsdale. Who in the world are the 88 people who gave this a thumbs down? How did they even find this vid?

[joesfotos]

Loved the story. Well told. Could almost understand a word or two of the Old English intro afterward. Must have made an impression on my 79 years old mind- - 95% on quiz!

[galrjkldd]

Seriously? why does everyone want to set this to music? it's musical enough as it is. The added music just gets in the way.