Odds Bodkin’s audio, BEOWULF: THE ONLY ONE, just won the 2020 Storytelling World Award. The 1 hour and 21 minute tale, told with 12-string guitar, Celtic harp and character voices, was recorded before a live audience.
It is available as a $19.95 mp3 download from Odds Bodkin’s Shop.
Recommended for listeners 12 & up.
It’s been four years now since Kari’s husband built the stage for me. Kari’s restaurant on Harvard Square, Grendel’s Den, had never hosted a performer before, and since I was to be the first, I needed a stage in order to be seen by folks at the tables. This had all come about when Gavin, my son, who, since I perform Beowulf–and Grendel the monster figures prominently in it–pitched the idea to Kari: dine on Scandinavian food and drink, and then hear a classic monster myth from Viking times. Just for adults. No kids.
It worked. Since then I’ve done lots of adult shows in the heated intimacy of Grendel’s Den, and I’ll be back for a fresh season starting on Sunday January 12th at the usual 5 p.m. start time. This year, we open with Beowulf: The Only One, a favorite tale to tell, despite the hard work involved. Hard guitar playing. Hard voice work, especially Grendel, who roars out his emotions, and his mother, who screeches out her vengeful, but intelligible words.
Next, on February 9th, I’ll perform The Odyssey: Belly of the Beast.
Then, on March 8th, it’s Odin and Thor Battle the Frost Giants.
Lastly, on March 29th, I don’t know what I’ll be performing because Kari’s holding an “audience’s choice” contest over winter where ticket buyers for other shows get to vote on the final show. Choices are FALL OF THE TITANS: THE MYTH OF GAIA, INDIA’S ANCIENTS: TALES FROM THE MAHABHARATA AND BEYOND, HEARTPOUNDERS: HORROR TALES or HERCULES IN HELL.
I like them all.
Meanwhile, first up is:
40% Off on Odds Bodkin’s story drives ends tomorrow, December 10th. Check them out. Instant downloads of individual titles always available, too!
Explore a world of myths, folktales, legends and original stories, told with live music, here.
Downloadable Myths, Epics, Folktales and More…Starting at $.99
Original music
The Odyssey: An Epic Telling
The Wise Little Girl: Tales of the Feminine
Beowulf: The Only One
David and Goliath
Paul Bunyan Tall Tales
The Little Proto Dinosaur Trilogy
And many other unforgettable titles by Odds Bodkin. Use PayPal for instant downloads! Great for vacation listening!
11 pages of storytelling products
A SUMMER’S WORTH OF AUDIO STORIES
Smart parents across America are choosing Odds Bodkin’s Master Drive for inspiring vacation travel listening for their kids. The “consummate storyteller” (The New York Times) offers twenty-five hours of vivid tales from around the world, scored live with original acoustic music.
And it all comes on a flash drive. Plug it in and load age-coded folktales, fairy tales, myths and epic stories onto your kids’ devices. They’ll love it.
For Father’s Day: Odds Bodkin’s $174.95 MASTER DRIVE on sale for $99!
For you dads out there, a one-day-only sale of Odds Bodkin’s complete works.
25 hours of storytelling for all ages. Original music. Plus Odds’ 555-page epic work of high fantasy in verse, The Water Mage’s Daughter.
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!
The Collected Works of Odds Bodkin on a flash drive. 25 hours of audio storytelling and music, plus a 555-page epic poem for adult readers, with glossary.
“After sending the email, I wished I had written more. My daughter and I still listen to Little Proto 8 years later ( she’s 18 and I am 61!). We are both thrilled to have more works to surprise and inspire us cross-country…I have tried listening to other books on tape and find my mind wandering after 5 minutes. On the other hand, I am mesmerized by every word and sound on your recordings. I think seeing you perform in person helped fuel our admiration.”
—An Odds Bodkin Listener
Become your own Master of Family Stories! One Master Drive allows you to load any of Odds Bodkin’s storytelling albums onto your children’s media players, or into your car system. All age-coded for appropriate listening, ages four to adult. Includes great tales for teens!
SUPER-FAN CHARLOTTE PEZZO PLANS A CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP WITH HER MASTER DRIVE
At Odds Bodkin HQ we received an order for a Master Drive, but then, very quickly, a follow-up email from the customer wondering why she couldn’t download her purchase. We wrote back explaining what a Master Drive was (a heavily loaded flash drive of Odds Bodkin’s collected works) and offered her a refund, but she wrote back:
Thank you so much for your prompt reply. I want all of his works so I will wait for the flash drive. DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING!
I need it by May 15 at the VERY latest for a long road trip. I will pay more for expedited shipping to ensure it arrives on time if it is necessary. Please advise!!
Thank you and please relay the message about how excited we are to have his entertainment on our road trip. The Odyssey and Proto made our last road trip so much more enjoyable.
It will be so nice to have his whole collection. Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you!!
Smiles,
Charlotte Pezzo
As you can imagine, when Odds saw this email he was delighted, and so he wrote to Charlotte personally to ask whether he could share her letter to let others know about the Master Drive. Charlotte wrote back.
Dear Mr. Bodkin,
I was so pleased to receive this email and find out that they did indeed share my excitement with you.
Yes- it is completely fine to quote me and to use my name. After sending the email, I wished I had written more. My daughter and I still listen to Little Proto 8 years later ( she’s 18 and I am 61!). We are both thrilled to have more works to surprise and inspire us cross-country.
I have tried listening to other books on tape and find my mind wandering after 5 minutes. On the other hand, I am mesmerized by every word and sound on your tapes. I think seeing you perform in person helped fuel our admiration.
Anyway, I now have a year old granddaughter that I can’t wait to share your stories with too.
Thanks again from a lifelong fan!! 🙂
Smiles,
Charlotte Pezzo
Odds Bodkin’s Complete Works: Audios, Epic E-Book, Video and Pure Music
They all come on the MASTER DRIVE, a small electronic gem loaded with magic. An epic poem e-book as long as Homer’s Odyssey, adults only. Symphonic and acoustic musical compositions. A video of The Iliad: Book I. And, of course, this master storyteller’s complete audio collection of spoken-word family tales with music for ages 4 to forever.
A $269 value for $175.
Explore it here at Odds Bodkin’s Shop.
HARPING FOR BEOWULF/Video
I sat in my living room beneath my old tin ceiling this morning and recorded this quick extemporization on my Celtic harp. It’s a lovely instrument that creates an atmospheric music, which fits well while describing how in 1563, the year before Shakespeare’s birth, a scholar named Lawrence Nowell discovered the dusty manuscript of Beowulf in his master’s library. No one had seen it in five hundred years.
I’ll be returning to Grendel’s Den on Harvard Square this Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. to talk about that and then perform BEOWULF: THE ONLY ONE, probably my favorite story to tell these days. The score is on 12-string guitar, with leitmotifs for various characters. It’s a rather bloody and elemental story, and so children aren’t invited to experience it. But adults are.
