Beowulf » (Unabridged, 3 CDs, 3.5 hrs)

The author has decided to remain anonymous because this was the only way she felt completely free to explore a woman's secret life. As she writes in the afterword to the novel, "That doesn't mean this is a memoir; it's many things to me, fiction and nonfiction, fantasy and fact, a quilt pieced together not just from my own stories but those of my friends." She was also inspired to embrace anonymity by the book that inspired her own, an anonymous and very daring Elizabethan manuscript entitled "A Woman's Worth.

It's never been easy to be a hero. When Beowulf arrives at Hrothgar's hall, he discovers that the hall is beset by Grendel, an evil creature that kills and pillages with impunity. Beowulf, in heroic fashion, bests Grendel in combat, then follows Grendel back to his lair to finish the job.

But Beowulf couldn't have counted on meeting Grendel's mother.

And then, later, there's this dragon.

But why are you reading about it? This story was meant to be told, to be repeated aloud. Listen as J.B. Bessinger, Jr. reads Beowulf and many other Old English poems, including Caedmon's Hymn. Listen to poems about love, war, faith, and heroism from centuries past.

Contents include: Caedmon's Hymn, The Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer, The Battle of Brunan Burg, A Wife's Lament, and selections from Beowulf: lines 1-125, lines 195-225, lines 702-852, and lines 3137-3180.