HwÆT, we Gar-Dena in geardagum theodcyninga

Patten lecturer to sing a song of ‘Beowulf’

By Rose Mcilveen

“Lo! We (have heard) about the might of the Spear-Danes’ kings in the early days…”

Those seeking word of the Spear-Danes will have an opportunity to hear the epic tale sung in Old English by vocalist, harpist and scholar Benjamin Bagby on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 8 p.m. in Auer Hall on the Indiana University Bloomington campus.

The audience will be able to keep up with the story through simultaneous supertitles.

On Thursday, March 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the IU Bloomington Fine Arts Auditorium, Bagby will present “Beowulf, the Singer of Tales, and the Genesis of a Performance,” a program that will include a lecture and demonstration.

Bagby’s appearances on the Bloomington campus are part of the 2000-2001 Patten Lecture Series.

Bagby, who earned degrees in voice and German at the Oberlin Conservatory and Oberlin College, is co-founder and co-director of Sequentia, a group of male singers based in Germany, who perform liturgical polyphony. Their performances include Old Icelandic edda, 13th-century mythological and heroic tales in alliterative verse.

Beowulf is the saga of a knight who defeats a monster and his mother with his magic sword and who rules for 50 years. In a fight to the death, he and a dragon are both slain. The 3,200-line poem ends with a prediction that evils will befall Beowulf’s people after his death.

The origin of Beowulf has been lost in time. Scholars of the Old English period believe that it was composed around 800 A.D., but the only surviving manuscript was copied in 1000 A.D. The saga is a mix of pagan and Christian elements. Those of pagan nature are omens, the power of fate, cremation, blood-revenge and praise of worldly glory. The Christian elements are God’s dominion of the world, the devil existing among men, Heaven, Hell, the last judgement and the evil of sin.

http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/patten/

The Patten Lectures are presented in memory of William T. Patten, an IU alumnus who received a bachelor of arts degree in 1893. He set up the foundation that sponsors a series of lectures each year.