What makes an epic epic? Plus: Anglo Saxons like it hot (or not), and a hashtag blessed translation

Episode 8: Epic, bruv

Live episode from the most famous of burial grounds: plus, Grendel strikes the hall, and Hwaet's first special guest 

Episode 9: Sutton Hoo

Translation nerdery PLUS: Unferth gets salty, and an Anglo-Saxon's ABCs

Episode 7: So, a monster walks into a bar....

PLUS: What do a stag and a king have in common? 

<p>Beowulf appears to be a poem glorifying war - but is that all it is? PLUS: Where Hereot got its name, a thorny problem, and Hrothgar goes off on one </p>

Episode 6:  A War on Wars

Beowulf comes before the king: PLUS, a question of faith, and a new year's greeting

Episode 5: No weapons please

Beowulf leaves the beach: plus, why there's nothing wrong with failure, and lazy translators get a beating

Episode 4: To Heorot!

Beowulf arrives: plus, a catastrophic fire, a charred manuscript, and woodpeckers

Episode 3: The making of a hero

The monster Grendel arrives: plus, kennings, oral tradition, and how bards became too clever for their own good

Episode 2: Something wicked this way comes

A time for stories

Hwaet! Episode 1

Beowulf. Resung. Reheard.

<p>Welcome to Hwaet! - the podcast that literally nobody was asking for but, in 2021, the year that just keeps on giving, here it is for you now: all 3,182 alliterative lines of Beowulf, recited in the original Anglo Saxon, with (very) crude translation and historical notes by your ill-educated but extremely passionate guide, Olivia Bell. Let's begin.</p>

Hwaet!

Share

Hwaet!

Episode 8: Epic, bruv

More episodes

View all episodes

9. Episode 9: Sutton Hoo

7. Episode 7: So, a monster walks into a bar....

6. Episode 6: A War on Wars

5. Episode 5: No weapons please

4. Episode 4: To Heorot!

3. Episode 3: The making of a hero

2. Episode 2: Something wicked this way comes

1. Hwaet! Episode 1