(O K, after the second listen I think I\'ll classify this as 90% \"I got it now\" and 10% \"What the heck was THAT? ) A college professor is an authority on the epic Beowulf, said on that web site to be the oldest surviving epic in British literature.

The professor and his wife are good friends with a psychiatrist, and that\'s a good thing. When the prof nods off to sleep, he starts reciting Beowulf in chapter and verse, and then some. People around his community meet violent deaths. This episode would also be one you wouldn\'t want your sensitive child to listen to...at one point something gets loose in an animal shelter and does terrible things there. (It didn\'t affect me like \"Star Sapphire\" but I remembered it enough to cuddle with our adopted-from-the-Humane-Society poodle/terrier mix dog last night and this morning.)

It\'s probably a good thing that the psychiatrist is a friend, because the professor is one of his clients, and here\'s where you have to listen. The prof apparently had (if I remember this term correctly) what some psychologists call a \"classic triadic\" relationship with his parents (weak father-domineering mother-affected son). No offense meant in advance to anyone reading this, but usually you hear of a relationship like this with prehomosexual boys. The prof is married in this episode, to a very devoted wife, but through the therapy sessions we learn he hated his somewhat abusive mother, and seems to objectify her as the \"sea hag\" (shown as the hyper-buxom she-monster confronting Beowulf above). The prof, when either in his dreams or on the therapist\'s couch, seems to waver between thinking he\'s the personification of Beowulf or of the evil monster Grendel, the sea hag\'s spawn.

What\'s more interesting is that one can\'t tell whether he\'s leading the psychiatrist (who asks \"Who is Grendel in your life?\" to the prof) or vice versa.

This, somewhat like the \"Lauder\" episode above, is a made up play using an existing story. Like the enjoyable Ralph Bell performance, this one is wonderful as a means of showcasing the late, classically talented Arnold Moss reading the Beowulf prose. Just be prepared to listen carefully if you play this or else you may find yourself going \"huh?\" (Or maybe that was just me...)<br>