Beowulf

From the Odyssey to Njals Saga: a voyage round the great myths

8 June 2019 9:00 am

Six remarkable stories shape this book. Tracing the trajectories of the Odyssey to the Icelandic Njals Saga, via the Kosovo…

Aeneas and the shade of Dido by Bartolomeo Pinelli.

Gifts from beyond the grave — from Virgil and Seamus Heaney

19 March 2016 9:00 am

Andrew Motion finds a touching parallel between Virgil’s unfinished Aeneid and Seamus Heaney’s barely finished translation of Book VI

The Green Man on a roof boss in Norwich cathedral

The Green Man's journey from Nazi to sweetcorn salesman

12 March 2016 9:00 am

The other day I visited a psychic medium in Croydon, south-east London. Mavis Grimstick (not quite her real name) boasted…

The best children's books for Christmas

30 November 2013 9:00 am

Animal stories for children are always tricky; as J.R.R. Tolkien observed in his essay on fairy stories, you can end…

Autumn shake-up in Radios 2 and 3 scheduling

5 October 2013 9:00 am

This time round in the autumn shake-up of the schedules it’s Radios 2 and 3 who are on the frontline…