An entertaining and illuminating collection of weird, wonderful, and downright baffling words from the origins of English—and what they reveal about the lives of the earliest English speakers Old English is the language you think you know until you actually hear or see it. Unlike Shakespearean English or even Chaucer’s Middle English, Old English—the language of Beowulf—defies comprehension by untrained modern readers. Used throughout much of Britain more than a thousand years ago, it is rich with words that haven’t changed (like word), others that are unrecognizable (such as neorxnawang, or paradise), and some that are mystifying even in translation (gafol-fisc, or tax-fish). In this delightful book, Hana Videen gathers a glorious trove of these gems and uses them to illuminate the lives of the earliest English speakers. We discover a world where choking on a bit of bread might prove your guilt, where fiend-ship was as likely as friendship, and where you might grow up to be a laughter-smith. The Wordhord takes readers on a journey through Old English words and customs related to practical daily activities (eating, drinking, learning, working); relationships and entertainment; health and the body, mind, and soul; the natural world (animals, plants, and weather); locations and travel (the source of some of the most evocative words in Old English); mortality, religion, and fate; and the imagination and storytelling. Each chapter ends with its own “wordhord”—a list of its Old English terms, with definitions and pronunciations. Entertaining and enlightening, The Wordhord reveals the magical roots of the language you’re reading right now: you’ll never look at—or speak—English in the same way again.

Featuring numerous updates and additional anthology selections, the 3rd edition of Introduction to Old English confirms its reputation as a leading text designed to help students engage with Old English literature for the first time. A new edition of one of the most popular introductions to Old English Assumes no expertise in other languages or in traditional grammar Includes basic grammar reviews at the beginning of each major chapter and a “minitext” feature to aid students in practicing reading Old English Features updates and several new anthology readings, including King Alfred’s Preface to Gregory’s Pastoral Care

Designed for complete beginners, and tested for years with real learners, Complete Old English offers a bridge from the textbook to the real world, enabling you to learn the grammar, understand the vocabulary and even how to translate such canonical texts as Beowulf and the earliest version of the Lord's Prayer from a critical point in our history. Structured around authentic material, using online audio to aid pronunciation, and introducing both a grammar perspective and a full introduction to essential vocabulary, this course also features: -22 learning units plus maps and verb guide -New edition features key set texts in an Appendix, in a title suitable for classroom or self-study use -Authentic materials - language taught through key texts -Teaches the key skills - reading and understanding Old English grammar and vocabulary -Culture insights - learn about the culture and religion of the Anglo-Saxons -Self tests and learning activities - see and track your own progress Rely on Teach Yourself, trusted by language learners for over 75 years.

Awarded 2019 Best Edition or Translation of an Anglo-Saxon (or Anglo-Latin) Text by the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists St. Æthelwold (904/9 –984), abbot of Abingdon and bishop of Winchester, made the first translation of the Rule of Saint Benedict into English (or, indeed, into any vernacular language) as part of the tenth-century English Benedictine Reform. This movement dramatically affected the trajectory of religious life in early medieval England and influenced the ways in which secular power was conceived and wielded in the kingdom. Æthelwold's translation into Old English reworks Benedict’s Latin text through numerous silent additions, omissions, and instances of explanatory material, revealing an Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical and political reformer intent on making this foundational Latin text more readily accessible to the new monks and nuns of the Reform and to the laity. Presented with related texts composed in Old English, this volume makes Æthelwold’s transformation of Benedict’s Rule available in Modern English translation for the first time.

Old English Tradition contains eighteen new essays by leading scholars in the field of Old English literary studies. The collection is centered around five key areas of research--Old English poetics, Anglo-Saxon Christianity, Beowulf, codicology, and early Anglo-Saxon studies--on which the work of scholar J. R. Hall, the volume's honorand, has been influential over the course of his career. The volume's contents range from fresh insights on individual Old English poems such as The Wife's Lament and Beowulf; new studies in Old English metrics and linguistics; codicological examinations of individual manuscripts; fresh editions of understudied texts; and innovative examinations of the role of early antiquarians in shaping the field of Old English literary studies as we know it today.

"This practical and informative course book is a fascinating, visual volume which leads the student through the development of the language from Old English, through Middle and Early Modern English to the establishment of Standard English in the eighteenth century." "At the core of this substantially expanded second edition lies a series of nearly 200 historical texts, of which more than half are reproduced in facsimile, and which illustrate the progressive changes in the language. The book is firmly based upon linguistic description, with commentaries which form a series of case studies demonstrating the evidence for language change at every level - handwriting, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, grammar and meaning." "Such a wealth of texts, as well as the structured activities and the various case studies, allow the volume to be used not only as a stimulating course text, guiding students through the analysis of data, but also as a comprehensive resource book and invaluable reference tool for teachers and students at all levels."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved