Michael Wood on Beowulf

Last night I watched the BBC programme Michael Wood on Beowulf. I found it entertaining and enjoyable and reasonably informative. It didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, but for something aimed at the general public, it was good. It did use the medium of television quite well, presenting unique footage that made me gasp in delight, something that is difficult to accomplish with an academic article in print.

The programme switched between focusing on the plot of the poem itself and tracing the origins of the poem, which I found to be an interesting and successful approach. Throughout the episode, they would present clips of Julian Glover performing the poem in modern English, with occasional bits of Old English, for a group of re-enactors in a reconstructed Anglo-Saxon mead-hall. The audience in the mead-hall was enthralled, cheering in all the right places. Watching Julian's performance, I wished I could see it in person. Even so, watching it on television was compelling.

The segments in which Michael Wood traced the development of the poem were quite good too. This isn't surprising, since he is a bona fide Anglo-Saxon scholar as well as an experienced television presenter. He visited many sites important in Anglo-Saxon history. He began in East Anglia, where he claims the poem is likely to have been first composed, orally. Of course he went to Sutton Hoo, and presented a good summary of the ship burial and its significance, with obligatory shots of the treasure found in it, including a replica of the famous helmet. The debate over who was buried there was completely glossed over, with no acknowledgement of any debate whatsoever. Wood simply asked a local historian who was buried there and the reply was simply "It couldn't be anybody but Raedwald" without even discussing why the evidence points to him.

The Sutton Hoo segment also included archival footage of Basil Brown, the initial excavator of Sutton Hoo mound 1, talking about the excavation as well as actual footage of the excavation itself. I had no idea that such footage existed. The footage consisted of workmen in the trench with the outline of the ship clearly visible. They only showed a few seconds worth, but I was extremely delighted to see it, and wish they had shown more.

After the trip to Sutton Hoo, Wood went to the British Library to look at the manuscript itself. Now, watching someone on television look at a manuscript does not sound like something exciting, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I will probably never get to see the manuscript myself, so this might actually be the closest I ever come to it. Apparently, the manuscript has never actually been shown on television before. I'm not sure how Michael Wood managed to convince the British Library to let him do so, but I'm glad he did.

Other sites Wood visited include Jarrow, with Bede's World and the church of St. Peter and Paul, as well as Ruthwell and the Neolithic barrow known as Wayland's Smithy. These sites were visited in support of Wood's discussion about the tension between the pagan past and Christian present in the poem. I was surprised by how well this topic was handled and that it was even included in the programme at all. There was an entire segment about The Dream of the Rood, with lines from the poem (in modern English of course) spoken over footage of a tree in the woods. It doesn't sound compelling, but it worked.

Wood also visited Seamus Heaney and talked about his recent translation of the poem. They described how the poem still has resonance and relevance to us today. Finally, Wood went to Malmesbury, which he believes to be the most likely location for the production of the manuscript. He did a good job arguing his case, describing the other texts found in the manuscript and pointing to the fact that no other place in England had a greater number of Latin texts translated into Old English. The entire issue of dating the poem was completely avoided, except for the statement that the manuscript itself was written around the year 1000.

All things considered, I really enjoyed watching the show. There were no real cringe-worthy moments. I always like seeing sites I've visited in historical documentaries. I would recommend it to any Anglo-Saxonist. If I had a copy of it on DVD, or there was one in my university library, I would include it on the reading list of the modules I teach.