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The Essay Podcast

The Essay

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

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The Essay: Anglo-Saxon Portraits

The Essay: Anglo-Saxon Portraits: Episode 11: The Beowulf Bard

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Anglo-Saxon Portraits

Episode 11

Episode 11: The Beowulf Bard

The Beowulf Bard

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Nobel Prize-winner the late Seamus Heaney's portrait of the great Anglo-Saxon Beowulf bard

Nobel Prize-winner the late Seamus Heaney's exploration of the great bard of the Anglo-Saxon epic, Beowulf, and the role of the court poet or 'scop'.

A series of portraits of significant men and women from the Anglo Saxon era.

Another chance to hear an Essay by the Nobel prize-winner the late Seamus Heaney, recorded before he died in 2013. This is his portrait of the great Beowulf bard and of the court poet in general - known as the "scop" in old English - a man skilled in song and the pure art of story telling.

Producer: Beaty Rubens

First broadcast January 2013.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Portraits of ground-breaking Anglo-Saxon men and women from the era between 550 and 1066AD

Series of portraits of ground-breaking Anglo-Saxon men and women from the era between 550 and 1066AD

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Episode 11: The Beowulf Bard

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