Written down around the year 1000, Beowulf is one of the most important epic poems in history. Professors Mary Channen Caldwell of Music and David Wallace and Caroline Batten of English discussed the epic with Benjamin Bagby, who presents the text with his voice and a harp.
Caldwell organized the roundtable working with the Penn Live Arts team, faculty in the English Department, and staff at the Libraries, including Lynne Farrington, director of programs, and Mary Tasillo, director of the Common Press, who hand-printed the programs.
“I was newly taken aback by how noisy the epic is: clashing swords, wailing women, noisy footsteps, flashing waves, harps and minstrels and scops,” she said. “There’s an entire sound world unveiled in Beowulf that spills out in wondrous ways throughout the text.”
(The above are excerpts from the article written by Louisa Shepard in Penn Today)
Featured image: Assistant professor of music, Mary Channen Caldwell (Eric Sucar)