Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley is a thrilling rendition of the centuries-old poem. (Bookshop|Amazon) Headley translates the poem using modern vocabulary and even internet slang, with results that are, as one reviewer put it, nothing short of electrifying. One way to enjoy this fresh take on one of the oldest works in English literature is to listen to the audio version read by actor JD Jackson. (Bookshop|Amazon) Or check out this free chapter-by-chapter reading by Neil Gaiman, Laurie Anderson, Bill T. Jones, and others. (You surely don’t want to miss Alan Cumming on the moment when Beowulf rips Grendel’s arm out of its socket.) This is part of a complete episode.
More from this show
A member of the ski patrol at Vermont’s Sugarbush Resort shares some workplace slang. Boilerplate denotes hard-packed snow with a ruffled pattern that makes skis chatter, death cookies are random chunks that could cause an accident, and...
A resident of Michigan’s scenic Beaver Island shares the term, boodling, which the locals use to denote the social activity of leisurely wandering the island, often with cold fermented beverages. There have been various proposed etymologies...