Odds Bodkin returns to the Riverwalk Music Bar in Nashua, NH for a Friday night performance of his blockbuster story, BEOWULF: The Only One. With an introduction to the 90-minute epic on Celtic harp, and the tale itself accompanied on 12-string guitar, Bodkin’s version of the oldest piece of literature in English tells the chilling, action-packed tale of the Viking hero, Beowulf. Humorous in places, grisly in others, the telling features character voices for Beowulf, Grendel the Beast, Grendel’s Mother, King Hrothgar of the Danes, Unferth the Doubter, Wyglaf the Thane, and others. Based on the original tale by an author lost to the mysteries of time.

Since 1982, professional storyteller Odds Bodkin has combined dramatic voices, vocal effects, narrative and live music to create imaginative experiences for audiences. During those decades he has created hundreds of tales that range from a four hour version of The Odyssey to children’s musicals. Universities and Classical associations invite him to perform his versions of Homer, while schools assemble K-2 and 3-6 graders to experience GOLDEN RULE, his highly-effective shows that teach kindness using stories and conversation with students. Middle and high school audiences sit spellbound when he tells Hercules: The Legendary Bully. Using only 12-string guitars, Celtic harp and folk instruments without electronic effects, he transforms his voice into heroes, giants, villains and animals while playing live music to create vivid, cinematic soundscapes. He also creates realistic effects with his voice––water droplets, wind, galloping hoofs, crashing waves––to add imagery to his tales.

A published children’s author and award-winning recording artist, he has toured Great Britain, performed twice at The White House, been called “a consummate storyteller” by The New York Times for his Off-Broadway shows at Lincoln Center and been a Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival. Museums like the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston hire him to tell stories about works in their collections, while companies and organizations like IBM and Target commission original performances and voice-overs for outreach and educational media. His recordings and books have won Parents’ Choice, Indie, Golden Headset, Storytelling World, Pick of the Lists, Editors’ Choice and Dove awards.

Odds Bodkin’s unique storytelling audios and music recordings are available here as downloads. His epic novel in verse, The Water Mage’s Daughter, a high-fantasy word symphony, is available on Amazon.