News
Coming
shortly "Tales of Moseley Bog".
Follow
the Voles
link to find out more.
Plans are well
underway for the next weekend celebrating the work of J.R.R Tolkien
Middle Earth
Weekend
17th and 18th May 2008 -
11.00am until 5.00pm
at
Sarehole Recreation Ground,
Cole Bank Road, Hall Green,
Birmingham
This popular event, now in
its ninth year, will include all the usual attractions for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien plus new
events and interests for all people of any age from the world of mortals, who appreciate a
festival with an 'old-fashioned' air about it. The organisers are hoping that this
title will give an interesting and magical feel to the weekend which is so full of
interest, variety and surprises. Click on middle earth to
find out more about the weekend and the title.
The theme this year is 'Myths and Monsters' and there
will be dragons patrolling the field and no doubt as targets with the Bowmen of
Swanshurst.
Using giant puppets and live performances Shire
Productions will be performing extracts from Beowulf in the atmospheric Moseley Bog. But
monsters there will be! Should you be interested in joining the company you may
contact them via the email address below.
Beowulf is an Old English epic
poem set in the Dark Ages, possibly written between 500 and 700 A.D. The exact time is
still debated. It was a folk story that would have been passed on by minstrels for many
decades before being written down and the earliest written version in existence is in the
British Museum. This was damaged by fire in 1731. There are two transcriptions made in
1786-87.
Although written in Old English the action takes place in Denmark
and the hero, Beowulf, is Swedish. Given the time period its audience could well have been
Anglo-Saxon Danish settlers who arrived in our islands during the Dark Ages, (a name that
refers to the lack of written information about the period).
Beowulf is part myth and part fact (many of the battles
mentioned actually took place) but it is a story of heroism against the constant dark
forces of evil and follows Beowulf’s life from its transition from young, bold,
warrior to wise, reliable but ageing King.
The hero's name loosely translates from ‘Beo’ for bee and
‘wulf’ for hunter. A bear hunts bees of course (think of Winnie the Poo and his
honey), and the name, therefore, becomes ‘bee-hunter’ or ‘Bear’.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s love of Anglo-Saxon, or Old English started
when he was studying at King Edward’s School in Birmingham. Reading the poem in
modern English and then in the original he grew to love the story and its language,
realising that its dialect was similar to that of his mother’s West Midland
ancestors.
Tolkien had loved stories about dragons as a child, and Beowulf
includes battles against two monsters and a dragon. The tale in the poem of the theft of a
golden cup from the dragon re-surfaces, of course, in The Hobbit as does the
description of Theoden’s Golden Hall in The Lord of the Rings. Beowulf and
the myths and legends of the Northmen were much loved by Tolkien and he greatly regretted
that England did not have such a weighty store of ancient legends of its own.
His love of that period and the dearth of legend in his own
country, inspired Tolkien to create one for himself. Starting with his deeply
imaginative and powerful work, The Silmarillion, which he considered his
life’s work, and including The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the
rest is history of course.
Tolkien made his own translation of Beowulf but this has,
regrettably, not been published.
Anyone wishing to help Shire
Productions on or off stage with acting, set building, costumes etc., can contact us for
further information via the link below.
(Click here for details of Viv's previous work.)
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