Educational Media Reviews Online

The Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf is considered to be the highest achievement of Old English poetry and the earliest surviving European vernacular epic. This product includes the complete text of the poem in both modern and Old English, an Anglo-Saxon dictionary with grammatical reference and audio pronunciation guide, essays and video tutorials by literary experts, as well as teacher's notes and many other features. Medieval music by the group "Tarleton's Jig" provides an interesting backdrop, along with manuscript illuminations which appear behind the various menu choices.

Menu choices include: access to the poem itself in both modern and Old English at any time, as well as an overview of each of the 43 fitts; an Anglo-Saxon dictionary, Sources for Research; Teacher's Notes; an overview of the Anglo-Saxon language; Geneologies of the major characters; Literary Criticism and expert analysis by classic and modern scholars; The Anglo-Saxon Age; Authorship of the poem; and Other Poems of the Anglo-Saxon period. There are some QuickTime videos scattered throughout the product, especially in the Literary Criticism section, where a number of interactive tutorials answer questions. In the Overview section of the "Other Poems" area, a video recreation of the Battle of Maldon has been included from Cromwell Production's War Poets (also reviewed for MC Journal). Finally, the user can actually hear the poem read in Old English in the "Anglo-Saxon Language" section. A bibliography and Internet Index are included in the "Sources for Research", as well as a timeline of events and other important characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon period. "Teacher's Notes" provides writing assignments and classroom exercises, and the "Other Poems" section includes various excerpts from other Anglo-Saxon poems such as "The Battle of Maldon", "The Battle of Brunanburh", the "Finnesburgh Fragment", "Dream of the Rood", the "Wanderer", and the "Seafarer".

This is an excellent product to introduce this poem, as well as the Anglo-Saxon period, to high school and college students. Navigation was somewhat confusing at times, since the Previous button often took the user to someplace different than the previous screen. Besides general and specific search mechanisms, the Help screen is especially interesting, as it provides information on the entire product and how to navigate it.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in learning about Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon period, or the medieval period in general.