(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...)

A professor is engrossed in his research on Beowoulf and finds that the boundaries between this earliest work of fiction and his own dreamworld is slowly blurring. Reports in the news of horrific and bloody killings pique his interest and may also have something to do with his dreamworld. Or are they one in the same?

A couple of things: 1. What's a "double Gibson"? (That's what Moss' character orders at movie's beginning.) 2. For some reason this episode's always confused me a bit at the ending...maybe it will be clearer to all of you. 3. Moss, a Shakespearean actor, has times when his training shines through. He also (at times) has his "Homer Simpson" moments when he sounds like he's saying his own version of "dohhhhh..." In this episode it comes when Hammond's psychiatrist character has got Moss's character on the couch and is asking him who he really is. Moss answers something like: "I'm no WHEAAA..." (There's an RMT episode called "The d*mned thing", based on an Ambrose Bierce tale, where Moss plays a man killed by a creature and multiple people have to give their testimony at a legal hearing as to what they believe happened. As they relate their stories Moss makes his unique "Dohhhh..." sounds over and over, and it's almost unintentionally hilarious.) Moss was a GREAT talent regardless...one of the RMT's finest who was there from beginning to end for them.

a Gibson is (aka a dry martini): • ice • 2-1/2 measures of gin • 1-1/2 teaspoons dry vermouth • 2 cocktail onions a double Gibson is double gin, double vermouth.

One more thing on "the bloody legend"...it's a Milt Wissoff and not an Elspeth Eric play. Yet there's a bit of "psychological study" at work in this one as well, obviously. (Weak father/domineering mother/affectations on only son.)

just finished listening to this one. I seem to like tales where there is a killer on the loose and there is nothing anybody could do to stop the killing. This story ended without an explaination of what was coming out of the storm. I guess it is left up to the listener. I look at the ending as an unfinshed story by design or the unability to write a good enough ending to tie into the story. I'm going to say it's by design.

Take one very typical werewolf story, remove everything supernatural, and replace with heaps of psychoanalytic theory. Presto! You now have yourself a Bloody Legend, with a literary conceit (in the form of dramatic readings of Beowulf passages) desperately trying to lend the proceedings a bit of gravitas. Actually, those passages of Beowulf are the most atmospheric and creepy of the entire play, which is otherwise notable only for the unintended comedy of the world's most incompetent mental health professional ("Why, no, it never occurred to me that those gruesome mutilations could have some link with the violent man who comes to in torn, bloody clothing every morning, why do you ask?"). Note to aspiring writers: never interrupt your terrible story to remind people of much better stories. A dreadful mess that still manages to be a tedious bore.

This was an okay story, but I wasn't sure who was causing the deaths - the professor or the psychiatrist. Of course, there is a possible supernatural angle at the end of the story as well. I do like Arnold Moss and he was great in this story, but it just wasn't the best of stories for me.

After reading all the other comments, I feel kind of lame by saying "I liked it..even the ending." I got hooked on CBSRMT in the late 70's and LOVE listening to them again!! Many many thanks!

Martha Saxon, whose husband Dash is working night and day on a new study of Beowulf, asks for psychiatrist Frank Sherby’s help when Dash has nightmares about the epic story, suffers from amnesia and comes home with dirty hands and bloody clothes. When police begin to investigate the carnage that took place in an animal shelter and the murder of two people during a storm, the evidence leads them to Dash, who, if he did commit the crimes, can remember nothing about them.

Right on, you nailed it

This is a good story.