Balder Dead (Version 2): Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Balder Dead (Version 2), credited to Matthew Arnold, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Balder Dead by Matthew Arnold. Read in English by Thomas A. Copeland. The poem begins with the beloved god Balder, thought to be invulnerable, dead at the hands of the inoffensive blind god Hoder, in a game. Loki, whose deceit brought about this catastrophe, is promptly punished with exile, and Odin, Balder's father, sponsors a heroic quest to rescue his son from the land of the dead. This desperate venture unexpectedly meets with partial success, a conditional agreement to release Balder if everyone in the land of the living mourns his death. And even though over every hope hangs the threat of the ultimate end of the reign of the Norse gods, the mother of the gods points out that "much must yet be tried which shall but fail." - Summary by T. A. Copeland

Recording facts

• Recording title: Balder Dead (Version 2)
• Author credits: Matthew Arnold
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 3
• Listed recording duration: 1:13:36

Catalogue topics

• tragedy
• norse mythology
• poetry
• epic poem

Track guide

1. 02 Balder Dead Part 2 — 18:07
2. 01 Balder Dead Part 1 — 20:04
3. 03 Balder Dead Part 3 — 35:23

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.