Another Richard Armitage Challenge! Social Distancing Edition #22

Your Favorite Audiobook?

I am a fan of Richard Armitage's narration, performance more accurately, of audiobooks. I believe he is an amazing voice actor.  And in many ways being a good voice actor is more difficult than other forms of acting.  Especially if you are creating an entire cast of characters with just your voice.  I truly think that it's not as valued by the industry and by audiences as it should be.

If you have ever listened to a bad audiobook narration, or even a bad documentary narration, think about the skill of the good actor that can transport you with their voice alone to another world.

With the exception of maybe one audiobook that is not currently available in the US or through another source,  I have listened to every audiobook Richard Armitage has narrated since I discovered his first audiobooks around 2006 inspired by the Robin Hood series and his unforgettable character of Guy of Gisborne.  

From 2006 to today my favorite Richard Armitage audiobook is still The Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell.  

Richard and a microphone (ADR for The Hobbit)

I've listened to the book countless times throughout all these years. The characters really come alive as distinct human beings and it's difficult to remember that it is only Richard in a studio with his voice creating these vivid characters and scenes. 

Below is an excerpt of one of my favorite reviews of Richard's narration of Lords of the North. I love the review because it reflects so well and much more eloquently than I could exactly how I feel:

"One of the reasons why this reading succeeds so brilliantly is that it is a first person narrative. This actor takes on completely the character of the narrator hero; he manages to sound as though he’s wearing the clothes, carrying the swords, sporting the trophy arm rings of this Anglo-Saxon warrior. By his commitment to the hero and his voice, Richard Armitage has connected with the story-telling tradition of the age of Beowulf and earlier, and has shown himself to be a true ‘Skald’ – a bearer of tales of heroes."

Click link below for the entire review:

https://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/the-lords-of-the-north-by-bernard-cornwell-read-by-richard-armitage/

Looking at my 10 CD set, it was produced by BBC Audio in 2007. 

I consider my 10 CD Lords of the North narrated by Richard Armitage set to be a treasure since the audiobook is no longer in the market available for purchase.

It is sad to me that Richard only narrated this one book from Cornwell's Saxon Stories and even more sad that no one seems to know who owns the rights to Armitage's narration of the book. 

I know Armitage fans, including me, have contacted Audible to see if there's a way for them to find who owns the rights to this audiobook and to purchase it. Armitage narrations have been very successful for Audible and you would think Amazon with all their money would have an interest in purchasing this wonderful version of Cornwell's book. 

I'm dusting off one of my old videos below for a small taste of Richard Armitage narrating Lords of the North:

"Fate is Inexorable"

Part 2 - Lords of the North - More Fantasy Casting

FANTASY CAST:  Richard Armitage as Uhtred of Bebbanburg

So in my previous post I explained how I had set a goal, a game if you will, for myself to try and cast some of the characters in Bernard Cornwell's book the Lords of the North  (LOTN) with Scandinavian actors I know from TV series for the Danes/Vikings and UK or other actors for the Saxons.  Of course, Richard Armitage is Uhtred!

If you click on the names of the actors you don't know, you'll find out a bit about them, and maybe it will inspire you to look up some of their work. 

My inspiration is Richard Armitage's reading, or performance, of LOTN. Below a short excerpt:

To continue:

King Alfred - Benedict Cumberbatch

Ivar Ivarsson -  Ulf Friberg

Steapa - Graham McTavish

  

Kjartan the Cruel - Mikael Persbrandt

Father Hrothweard - Eddie Redmayne

 Suggested by a convo I had on Twitter

 I think I'll stop here for now. I must admit the casting of  Sven the One Eyed and Ragnar's sister Thyra has me stumped, and I'm still thinking about actors for other characters. 

Who would you cast if you were the casting director for this TV series?

 

http://www.englandandenglishhistory.com/anglo-saxon-history/alfred-the-great-the-first-english-king-871-ad-to-924-ad

Other pics from Google Images different sources, Richard Armitage pic from RichardArmitagenet.com

Fantasy Casting - Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell

 

by Chels922 - DeviantArt

My favorite of all of Richard Armitage's audiobooks is The Lords of the North. I think the time has come to make this into a television series starring Mr. Armitage as Uhtred.  I'm sending out the call, not for the first time, to producers and directors out there.  It would be a great BBC/HBO series. Sharpe was a big hit, why not Cornwell's Saxon Stories.

For those unfamiliar with The Lords of the North or any of the other novels in the Saxon Stories series, below is the author setting the stage for Uhtred of Bebbanburg's life and times.

I tend to sometimes do some fantasy casting in my mind when reading a book, or in this case, listening to an audiobook. Richard Armitage is Uhtred. But who would I cast for some of the other characters since Richard can't play all the parts if it is a TV series?

As it happens I watch a fair amount of what's called Nordic Noir or Scandinavian Mystery TV series, so I'm familiar with some Swedish and Norwegian actors. I was thinking who would I cast for some of the roles, using UK actors for the Saxon characters and Scandinavian actors for the Danes/Vikings (click on the names to find out more about the actors)? See some of my choices below:

Richard Armitage - Uhtred

 

Peter Eggers -  Guthred

Trond Espen Seim  -   Ragnar

Jodhi May - Hild

Mikaela Knapp - Gisela

Aidan Turner - Finan

 Ewen Bremner - Father Beocca

I have more characters and actors in mind, but I will leave it here for this post for now. What do you think? Who would you cast for The Lords of the North?

Happy Birthday Richard Armitage - Thank You for the Gift of your Voice

Happy Birthday

Today on this special day I want to celebrate and give thanks to Richard Armitage for his wonderful audio books.

Thanks to RA I share my commute to and from work with Damerel, Rule, Sylvester, Guy of Gisborne,  Uhtred of Bebbanburg and a host of intriguing characters.

Richard Armitage's reading or more accurately performance, of Bernard Cornwell's The Lords of the North is a tour de force.  This photo vidlet is only a small taste of Armitage as Uhtred of Bebbanburg.  He creates not just an unforgettable Uhtred but an entire world of characters. No matter how many times I listen to Lords of the North I soon forget that it's only Armitage doing all the voices and I'm soon not in my own humdrum 21st century life but in the midst of a shield wall in 9th Century Britain.

On his 41st Birthday today here is my heartfelt but inadequate tribute to Richard Armitage and his voice work in those marvelous audio books:

For details on how to order the entire audiobook go to RichardArmitageNet.com

http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/career/231.html

Hope you're enjoying your stay here  in the U.S. and feeling all the affection your fans on this side of the pond have for you. 

Feliz Cumpleaños - Happy Birthday

Richard Armitage

When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,

For all the day they view things unrespected;

But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee

William Shakespeare, Sonnet XLIII


Raw materials for all this from RichardArmitageNet.com, Richard Armitage Online, Richard Armitage Central, KnightTemplar, Artists on DeviantArt, the creator Bernard Cornwell

Start of KRA Week 2012 (poem) by Gratiana Lovelace 

http://gratianads90.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/41st-birthday-greetings-to-richard-crispin-armitage-at-the-start-of-kra-2012-poem-82212-gratiana-lovelace-post-255/

http://kingrichardarmitage.rgcwp.com/contributions/king-richard-week-2012/