Storyteller Hugh Lupton kept tradition alive with over one-and-a-half hours of mixed "genuine" lines and passages with a vivid account of his own keeping.

This was accompanied by stunning sounds from percussionist Rick Wilson.

When I first studied Beowulf at university, I could not escape the feeling that disparate sections of old myth had been tacked together with a token Christian gloss.

Lupton's rendition, however, is more rounded and satisfying. He has picked up on suggestions in the original that Beowulf fought the dragon for the wrong reasons, glory and treasure.

Beowulf's earlier battles with Grendel and Grendel's Mother were largely to protect human life and happiness, and he was triumphant. But the old king was charmed by the cup stolen from the dragon and, although he dies protecting his people, it's the treasure he has on his mind at the end.

Gary Bills-Geddes