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Old English

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The Old English period spans from the fifth century up to the Norman Conquest

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in 1066.

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Old English evolved in a land which was full of people of mixed ethnic origins,

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migrants, raiders, mercenaries, temporary settlers, and long-established clans and

ГВ
families. The society was not very numerous but it was highly heterogeneous, and

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highly scattered, with people living in small communities, and groups continually

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on the move. These are ideal conditions for a proliferation of dialects. A dialect
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requires three elements to become established: there needs to be a group of people

ТИ
living together closely. There needs to be an element of isolation. And it takes time
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for ways of speaking to change.
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According to the Venerable Bede (who was an Anglo-Saxon monk, theologian
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and historian), the first arrivals at the British Isles were Britons (= Celts), and they

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gave their name to the land. The Picts then arrived in the north of Britain, from
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Scythia via northern Ireland, where the resident Scots would not let them stay. The
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Scots themselves arrived in Britain sometime later, and secured their own
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settlements in the Pictish regions. Then in AD 43, Emperor Claudius sent an

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expedition which rapidly established a Roman presence in most of the island.

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The two watershed events

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The Romans ruled most of the British island until the early 5th century, when
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Rome was sacked by the Goths, and military garrisons were withdrawn. Attacks on
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the Britons by the Picts and Scots followed. The Britons appealed to Rome for help,
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but the Romans, preoccupied with their own wars, could do little. The attacks
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continued, so the Britons came to a decision of which we learn in Bede’s

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‘Ecclesiastical History’. Bede became the first to give an account of the island’s
history, and he is the earliest literary source for the linguistic and historic events
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which shaped the nation.

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In 449 one of the Celtic groups actually invited the Anglo-Saxons to help them

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in their wars with their Celtic cousins the Picts and the Scots. The British warlord

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King Vortigern had been ‘unable to prevent or repel the cruel and frequent incursions

ЛИ
of the northern nations’, according to Bede. So, he looked for help from abroad.

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The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a series of annalistic chronicles, arranged by

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year, written primarily in Old English between the 9th and 12th centuries, so The

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Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us the names of the leaders of the incomers: Hengist

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И
and Horsa (meaning stallion and horse). It also reports that 6 years later there was a

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battle in which Vortigern was killed, and Hengist took over, forcing the Britons out

ТИ
of the region. Hengist conquered Kent, founded the kingdom of Kent. The Saxons
И
populated Essex, Sussex, and Wessex; the Jutes populated Kent, the Isle of Wight,
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and part of Hampshire; and the Angles populated East Anglia, Mercia, and

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Northumbria.
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Germanic people in Kent may have been responsible for the naming of the

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Saxon peoples. Those to the south came to be called the South Saxons (hence

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ТЕ
Sussex) and to the west the West Saxons (Wessex), with those in between the Middle

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Saxons (Middlesex). But those to the north came to be known as East Saxons
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(Essex), which might suggest that the naming took place at a time when the arrivals
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on the east coast had moved along the Thames until they could be seen to be ‘east’
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of the other groups. These names are the names of the people, not the place they
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lived in.
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The Anglo-Saxons rapidly spread throughout central, southern, and north-

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eastern England. The paths taken by the Anglians followed the major rivers. There
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was no movement at that time into Cornwall, Wales, Cumbria, or southern Scotland,
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where the British were still dominant.

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There was a period in English history, ranging from the late 6th century until
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the 9th century, which is called The Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It is defined by the
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existence of seven independent kingdoms in England. The word Heptarchy means

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“rule by seven” in Greek. The established kingdoms were Kent, Wessex,

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Northumbria, and Mercia. These were rich kingdoms. And also East Anglia, Essex,

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and Sussex. This was a time of political and cultural evolution in England, with the

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emergence of powerful kings, the establishment of trade, and the emergence of

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Christianity.

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The Heptarchy was not homogenous; the 7 kingdoms were diverse, each with

ГВ
its own unique characteristics. The kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, and East

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И
Anglia were Angle-dominated; Wessex, Sussex, and Essex were primarily inhabited

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by Saxons. And Kent was influenced by Jutes.

ТИ
The ethnolinguistic backgrounds of the kingdoms led to variations in
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language, customs, and traditions. The dialects spoken in the kingdoms evolved into
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Old English as a distinct Germanic language.

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Danelaw

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Danelaw refers to the part of north-eastern England that was ruled by the
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Vikings, or the Danes from 878 until the whole of England came under Viking rule
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in 1013. The region derived its name from the Old English Dena lagu (“Danes’ law”)
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meaning the body of law established by the Danish invaders and settlers in northeast
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England in the ninth and tenth centuries or that its legal practices were of Danish
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origin.
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In ~750–1100 AD Northern Germanic peoples from Scandinavia began

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arriving in the Atlantic Archipelago, first as invaders known as “Vikings,” then as

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colonists and settlers. These Scandinavian invaders were also referred to as Danes,
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Norsemen, the Great Heathen (ˈhiːðən) Army, sea wolves, sea rovers.
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For the early part of the 9th century, those raids were uncoordinated, sporadic
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and would end up in the Danes being paid to return to their homeland – a tribute that
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would become known as Danegeld, a tax levied to provide protection money.

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Typically, areas of wealth such as monasteries were targeted, and Christian

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contemporary sources labelled the invaders ‘Heathens’.

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Every time, the Vikings would make land, raid and pillage, and would then

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depart with their coffers full. However, in 865, usual custom was disrupted. A

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sizeable Viking force – estimated to be around some 3,000 men – landed on the Isle

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of Thanet in Kent. And they had no intention of accepting a payment of Danegeld;

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their aim was to seize the Archipelago. The Vikings had organised themselves into

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a fleet of many ships, led by powerful Norse leaders such as Halfdan Ragnarsson,

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Bjorn Ironside and Ubba, struck north from Thanet and cut a swathe across East

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Anglia. After so many years of lucrative raids, the Vikings decided they could take

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as much of the land as they could by force and to reap as many riches the land could

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offer.

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The Norse Sagas give a reason for the invasion, which revolved around the
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Norsemen’s famous hero, Ragnar Lothbrok. The invasion was in revenge for

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Ragnar’s death at the hands of King Ælla, who had executed Ragnar in 865 by
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throwing him in a snake pit.

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Scandinavian settlements were established in many areas of what is now

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Northern England, Scotland, and Ireland. A large area of Eastern England, from

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London to Scotland, was governed by Danish kings from 878 until 954. In the 9th
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and early 10th centuries, there were skirmishes between the Danish and Anglo-Saxon
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inhabitants of the Archipelago. It was actually by a very slim margin that King
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Alfred of Wessex successfully defended the English throne against the Danes.
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Alfred the Great (849–99) became king of Wessex in 871. When he came to
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the throne, the Danes had already conquered much of Northumbria, parts of Mercia,
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and East Anglia, and threatened to subdue Wessex. Alfred began to win back
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Danish-occupied territory by capturing the former Mercian town of London (886).

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He stole the military initiative from the Danes by reorganizing his forces into a
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standing army, building a navy, and establishing a network of burgs (fortified or

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walled towns). He forged close ties with other English peoples free from Danish
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rule, and provided his successors with the means to reconquer the Danelaw and
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secure the unity of England.

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For Old English, two main dialect groups are distinguished: West Saxon and

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Anglian. West Saxon is the dialect in which the bulk of Old English manuscript

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material was written. West Saxon is very poorly documented until the literary

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activity of King Alfred in the late 9th century. In the literary tradition instigated by

А
Alfred, early West Saxon is represented in the Parker manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon

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Chronicle until 924 and the Alfredian translations of the Orosius and Pope Gregory’s

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Cura Pastoralis / Pastoral Care.

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Alfred was dedicated to learning and he sought to promote educational reform

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in Wessex. Alfred assembled a court of scholars to grapple with the illiteracy. For

ТИ
Alfred, learning was essential as it resulted in the acquisition of wisdom. And
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wisdom was about living according to God’s principles. The scholars assisted Alfred
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in learning Latin so that he could translate Latin books into English. Alfred translated

Е
Pope Gregory’s Pastoral Care, St. Augustine’s Soliloquies, and Boethius’s
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Consolation of Philosophy. Late West Saxon is attested in the works of Ælfric, those

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of Wulfstan and others.
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The Anglian dialect group is subdivided into two: Northumbrian and Mercian.

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The Northumbrian dialect is identified by rune inscriptions on Ruthwell Cross, the

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most famous and elaborate Anglo-Saxon monumental sculpture, and further found
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in three 8th-century poems (Caedmon’s Hymn, Bede’s Death Song and the Leiden
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Riddle) and in three 10th-century texts (the glosses on the Lindisfarne Gospels, part
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of the Rushworth Gospels and the Durham Ritual).

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In the Mercian dialect from before 900, there are charters from Mercian kings.
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There is the 9th-century gloss of the Vespasian Psalter, the 10th-century partial gloss
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of the Rushworth Gospels and others.

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ТВ

The fourth Old English dialect is Kentish. The material from Kentish is
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limited to the Kentish Glosses.

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An important ruler and an overlord of a huge empire. Cnut (kəˈnjuːt) was King
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of England from 1016, Denmark from 1018, and Norway from 1028. The famous
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legend of Canute taking his flattering courtiers down a peg by showing that the sea

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would not retreat at his command was first told by Henry of Huntingdon in his

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Historia Anglorum – History of the English People in 1130.

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Having invaded England in 1013 with his father, Sweyn, king of Denmark, he

А
was acclaimed king on Sweyn's death in 1014 by his Viking army. Canute defeated

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king of the English Edmund (II) Ironside, surnamed for his staunch resistance to the

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invasion led by the Canute, … so Edmund was defeated at Ashington, Essex, and

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Cnut became king of all England.

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Cnut succeeded his brother Harold as king of Denmark in 1018, compelled

ТИ
king of Scotland King Malcolm to pay homage by invading Scotland in about 1027,
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and conquered Norway in 1028.
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Under Canute's rule English trade improved, and he gained favour with his
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English subjects by sending soldiers back to Denmark. Given that there was no

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political or governmental unity within his empire, the empire disintegrated on his
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death.
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The early centuries of Christian Anglo-Saxon England
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The period from 597 to about the second half of the eighth century is the
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period of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity, the period in which

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Christian culture takes root and Christian institutional structures are developed.
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Е.

The year 597 was the year when the Roman missionary Augustine and his
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followers first landed in Kent, sent by Pope Gregory the Great to convert the people.
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In 597, Augustine and his fellow missionaries arrived in Kent on the Isle of Thanet
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and proceeded to Canterbury. With Christianity becoming more entrenched, the rest
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of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms slowly converted to the new faith. By the end of the
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7th century, Christianity had spread across Britain. The monastery at Lindisfarne
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was the preeminent centre of Christianity in the kingdom of Northumbria, but it

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vandalized by the Danes in 793. Undefended monastic schools and monasteries, as

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treasure houses, like Jarrow, were a prime target for the Danes. The monasteries did
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not have a chance of survival, so they were attacked and destroyed. Eventually

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monastic schools shifted to Wessex.

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It is the coming of Christianity that is profoundly influential in this period.

ЛИ
Christianity brought written literature and it brought learning.

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To what extent Christianity transformed the life of ordinary people at this time

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is a good question but the period certainly saw major intellectual developments. The

Т
seventh and eighth centuries are when many of the most celebrated works of Anglo-

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Latin literature were produced. A substantial body of Latin compositions by writers
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was produced, ranging from saints’ lives, books of religious instruction and

ТИ
commentaries on scripture to academic riddles. A particular focal point of
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intellectual life in the period was the monasteries of Northumbria. The Venerable
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Bede (d. 735) was a monk at the monastery of Jarrow in Northumbria, England. He

Е
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was the author of numerous works on church history, including the History of the

С
English Church and People. He described how Christianity came to England.

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Viking linguistic influence
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The days of the week in English calendar have their roots in Norse mythology.
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Т
Tuesday was named after the god Tyr (tjʊə; tɪə), Wednesday after Odin, Thursday
О
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after Thor, and Friday after the goddess Frigg.

ВА
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Such words as window, berserk, fjord, saga, ugly (inspiring fear), egg, steak,
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law, die, bread, down, fog, muck, lump, scrawny, ski, ransack, bag, irk, freckle, gift,
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take, sky, the pronoun ‘they’ have Old Norse origin.

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Toponyms with elements such as -by (Grimsby, Appleby, etc.), -thorp, -throp
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(Northrop, Scunthorpe, etc.), -kirk, kirk-, kir- (Ormskirk, Kirby, Kirkham, etc.), and
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many others derive from Scandinavian roots.

ТВ

Words with velar consonants (bank, rig, scar, garden, skirt, skin, sky, score,
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scant, scrub, scathe, and skill).

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From around 860 onwards, Vikings stayed, settled and prospered in Britain,

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becoming part of the mix of people who today make up the British nation.

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The final Viking invasion of England came in 1066, when Norwegian Harald

ЛИ
Hardrada marched to Stamford Bridge with his forces and was defeated. William the

А
Conqueror was of Viking descent: his great-great-great-grandfather was a Viking

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who had invaded Normandy in 911. The final successful invasion of England in

ГВ
1066 was again launched by a Viking.

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ТИ
Hello, in this section I’m going to talk about Old English grammar.
И
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Old English was a synthetic or inflected language with a relatively free word order.

Ч Е
Old English was highly inflected, having distinct forms for noun declensions and
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verbs conjugations. To build grammar forms OE used inflections, or grammatical

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endings, sound interchanges (especially vowel interchanges) in the root, prefixes to
ДИ

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form verbs and suppletive forms (for pronouns, adjectives and verbs).
ТЕ

Й
Н
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In OE parts of speech fell into the nominal group or nomina (the noun, the adjective,
Т
О
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the pronoun, the numeral), the verb, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and
ВА
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the interjection.
КО

According to Rastorgueva, inflected parts of speech had grammatical categories

Е.
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displayed in correlations and oppositions of grammatical forms. These correlations

ВС

and oppositions were formal and semantic. Grammatical categories are divided into
.
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nominal categories, found in nominal parts of speech and verbal categories found in
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the finite verb.

ТВ

The five nominal grammatical categories in OE were the number, case, gender,
degrees of comparison, and the category of definiteness/ indefiniteness (OE weak
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adjectives were used with demonstrative pronouns and weak forms of these
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adjectives corresponded to the meaning of definiteness; strong forms of OE

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adjectives corresponded to the meaning of indefiniteness).

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ЛИ
Each part of speech had its own inventory of categories and categorial forms.

А
The noun had only two grammatical categories: number and case, while the adjective

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had the maximum number of categories — five.

ГВ
The number fell into singular and plural.

Т
И

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The case system was divided into Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, and

ЕН
Instrumental.

ТИ
И
OE had an elaborate system of declensions. All in all, the number of declensions
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Ч
were 25. Nouns were grouped according to the stems. Old English nouns are divided

Е
into stem classes distinguished on the basis of their original Proto-Germanic stem
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suffixes, which means you can’t guess a stem class, you need a glossary or

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dictionary.
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И
ТЕ

Й
Gender in Old English is grammatical, not natural as in Modern English. There were
Н
М

3 genders in Old English: masculine, feminine, neuter. Gender depends partly on the
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stem class:
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• ɑ-stems are masculine (earm = arm) or neuter (scip = ship; bearn = child);
КО

• ō-stems are feminine (sceamu = shame; lār = instruction);

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• i-stems are masculine (mere = sea), feminine (cwēn = woman) or neuter (spere
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= spear);
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• u-nouns are masculine (sumor = summer) or feminine (hand = hand).

ТВ

Morphology
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In the stages of Germanic prior to Old English, it is feasible to look upon nouns and

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verbs as consisting of a root, a stem suffix determining the inflectional class, and an

КО
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inflectional ending. Old English inflectional classes were distinguished on this basis.

ЛИ
What do I mean by strong and weak declension?

А
Н

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There were two major types of stems: vocalic (strong) and consonantal (weak).

ГВ
If the original stem suffix ended in a vowel ɑ, ō, i, u, the declension was strong;

Т
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ɑ

В
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ō strong declension

ТИ
И
I
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Ч
e.g. gar ‘spear’, fugol ‘bird’, cyning ‘king’, tungol ‘star’, giefu ‘gift’, geoc ‘help’

Е
РС
if the original stem suffix ended in -n preceded by ɑ, ō, i, the declension was weak.
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ɑ
ДИ

И
ō + n weak declension
ТЕ

Й
Н
М

I
Т
О
О

e.g. eage ‘eye’, blostma ‘flower’, draca ‘dragon’, hæte ‘heat’, sceaða ‘enemy’
ВА
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Which is strong: fugol ‘bird’ or draca ‘dragon’?

КО

The declension of fugol is strong, while the declension of draca was weak.
Е.
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There are a few minor declensions with stems ending in -nd or -r, as well as
С

athematic stems.
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e.g. fæder ‘father’, hond ‘hand’, monn ‘man’, sunu ‘son’

ТВ

Gender in Old English is grammatical, not natural as in Modern English.

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Can you guess the gender of earm (arm), hand (hand), and scip (ship)?
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earm (masculine)
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• scip (neuter)

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• hand (feminine)

КО
УД
Gender depends partly on the stem class:

ЛИ

А
• ɑ-stems are masculine (earm = arm) or neuter (scip = ship; bearn = child);

РС
• ō-stems are feminine (sceamu = shame; lār = instruction);

ГВ

Т
• i-stems are masculine (mere = sea), feminine (cwēn = woman) or neuter (spere

В
= spear);
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• u-nouns are masculine (sumor = summer) or feminine (hand = hand).

ТИ
И
In these examples, earm and scip belong to a-stems, but earm is masculine, while
ВЕ

Ч
scip is neuter.

Е
РС
And hand is an example of u-stem, which could be either masculine or feminine, but
КУ

С
hand is feminine.

К
ДИ

И
Nouns exhibit a two-term number contrast: singular and plural.
ТЕ

Й
A Celt se wealh – three Celts þrī wēalas
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М

Т
О

Let’s have a brief look at Old English numerals.

О

ВА
С

The three numerals an (one), twegen (two) and þrī (three) had 3 genders, 2 numbers.
КО

There were 5 cases in OE. We’ll focus on the four major cases:
Е.
ДА

• The Nominative Case indicates the subject of the sentence.

ВС

• The Accusative Case indicates the direct object of a sentence.

.
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КИ
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• The Genitive Case denotes possession.

ТВ

• The Dative Case indicates the indirect object of a sentence.

Е

Number and case together are expressed by one inflectional ending. There are thus
Н

at most 8 different endings for any given noun.

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Let’s decline the strong masculine noun stan ‘stone’ in Old English. Study the table

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with me.

КО
УД
The genitive plural ending is always -a and the dative plural -um. Mind the Russian

ЛИ
Dative: коМу, чеМу

А
Н

РС
You might wonder what se, þæs, þone are? These are demonstrative pronouns that

ГВ
function as the definitive article.

Т
Compare the endings of strong masculine, neuter and feminine nouns in OE. I

В
УН
highlighted the word þæt for you. The modern word ‘that’ comes from the neuter

ЕН
demonstrative ‘þæt’.

ТИ
И
Old English pronouns fell into personal, demonstrative, interrogative, indefinite.
ВЕ

Ч
OE personal pronouns had 3 persons, 3 numbers in the 1st and 2nd persons (2 numbers

Е
РС
in the 3d person) and 3 genders in the 3d person.
КУ

С
К
The personal pronouns of the 1st and 2nd persons were formed by suppletion.
ДИ

И
How to pronounce I ‘ic’ in OE? We don’t have audiobooks or resources to rely on.
ТЕ

Й
Н
М

It could be pronounced as /ik/ or later as /it͡ʃ/. There are some alternative forms, for
Т
О
О

example, in Northumbrian ih, ich.

ВА
С

Have a look at the first personal pronoun paradigm. There were 3 numbers: singular,
КО

plural, and dual.

Е.
ДА

Personal pronouns had 3 persons, 3 numbers

ВС

Personal pronouns are used reflexively in Old English even more often than in
.
Р

КИ

Modern English. For example, the sentence, ic me ne ondred, translated literally

С

could be interpreted as 'I me/myself dreaded not' but a more accurate translation is
ТВ

'I was not afraid'.

Е

Demonstratives function in the same way as the definite article ‘the’ or the
Н

demonstrative pronouns ‘that’ and 'those'. In fact, the modern word ‘that’ comes
И

from the neuter demonstrative ‘þæt’. Additionally, demonstratives function as noun

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determiners and though agreement with the OE noun also indicated the case,

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number, and gender of a noun.

КО
УД
Relative Pronouns

ЛИ

А
A relative pronoun introduces a relative clause and can be represented by 'þe' alone,

РС
a demonstrative and 'þe', or a demonstrative alone. For example,

ГВ
'Fæder ure þe eart on heofenum - Our father who art in heaven' and

Т
И
'Þæt bearn nis wis se þe stanas ete - The child who eats stones is not wise'.

В
УН

ЕН
If the relative pronoun 'þe' is paired with a demonstrative, the form the relative

ТИ
pronoun takes depends on a noun it is linked to. For example, if the relative pronoun
И
is linked to a feminine subject, it would be 'seo þe', while if it was linked to a plural
ВЕ

Ч
direct object, it would be 'þa þe'.

Е
РС
КУ

С
Adjectives in Old English had inflectional endings based on their case, number,

К
gender, and whether they were weak or strong.
ДИ

И
Adjectives could be either strong or weak, and this depended on whether the
ТЕ

Й
adjective followed a demonstrative pronoun or possessive adjective.
Н
М

Т
О
О

For example,
ВА
С

'Þæt wæs god cyning - That was a good king' and

КО

'se goda cyning onfeng him - the good king received him'.
Е.
ДА

ВС

The adjective is god or goda. The inflection in the first example is zero, whereas in
С

the second example it is -a. What affects the inflection?

.
Р

КИ

Old English Weak Adjectives are preceded by a a demonstrative pronoun, such as

С

'se' or 'þes', or the possessive pronouns 'min', 'þin', 'ure', 'eower'

ТВ

For example, Se haliga abbod. Haliga is a weak adjective.

Е

Strong Adjectives are not linked to a noun with a demonstrative pronoun:

Н
И

Halig abbod. Saint/ Holy abbot.

ЧЕ

13
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
Strong adjectives were used predicatively or attributively without any determiners.

С
С

КО
Here you can see Weak adjectives declension

УД
ЛИ
Let’s take the weak masculine adjective declension.

А
Strong adjectives declension

РС
ГВ
Let’s compare the weak and strong adjectives declension. For sure, the the Dative

Т
plural forms are the same and Genitive plural godra, except for the weak alternative

В
form godena.
УН

ЕН
ТИ
Degrees of Comparison
И
The regular formation of a comparative of Old English adjectives is by adding -ra to
ВЕ

Ч
the stem. The comparative is declined according to the weak declension. The

Е
superlative normally ends in -ost and may be declined both strong and weak
РС
КУ

С
depending on whether or not they are associated with a demonstrative or possessive

К
ДИ

pronoun.
И

И
ТЕ

Й
For example, wīs – wīsra - wisost
Н
М

he wæs manna wisost - he was wisest of men

Т
О
О

ВА

Such adjectives as eall (all), manig (many), oÞer (other) were always strong.
С
КО

Ordinal numerals and the adjective ilca (same) wre weak.

Е.

A number of adjectives which originally had different suffixes containing an i, have

ДА

ВС

i-mutation of the root vowel in the comparative and the superlative.

.
Р

For example, sceort - scyrta - scyrtest 'short'.

КИ
С

The adjective god had suppletive forms.

ТВ

Now let’s look at other examples of adjectives in the comparative and superlative
Е

that had palatal mutation of the root vowel.

Н
И

The Verbal Group

Н
ЧЕ

14
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
The forms of the verb were synthetic in Old English.

С
С

КО
Verbs agreed with their subject, and they followed regular patterns called

УД
conjugation, and were inflected for person, number, tense and mood. The tense

ЛИ
system had only one opposition: present vs. preterite (past), and grammatical

А
strength was related to how verbs changed to form the preterite.

РС
ГВ
Verbs fell into strong, weak, preterite-present, two suppletive (gan, beon) verbs and

Т
irregular verbs.

В
УН
There were two main types of verbs in Old English: Strong verbs and Weak verbs.

ЕН
ТИ
Weak verbs originally consisted of a root + a stem suffix, and the past tense is
И
expressed by adding a dental suffix -de in the singular and -don in the plural to the
ВЕ

Ч
stem suffix.

Е
РС
Modern English verbs which form their past tense using -ed, like started, waited,
КУ

С
washed, descended from Old English weak verbs. There are 3 classes of weak verbs,

К
ДИ

И
and which class a verb is in depends on the ending of the base form of its verb. This

И
ТЕ
base form is known as the infinitive.

Й
Н
М

Stem classes. Weak verbs

Т
О
О

Let’s start with a Class 1 weak verb Fremman.

ВА
С

Class I weak verbs had an infinitive ending in -an or -rian

КО

Е.

nerian (rescue), hieran (listen), sendan

ДА

ВС

Class II weak verbs had an infinitive ending in -ian (except -rian, which is Class I)
.
Р

КИ

andswarian (answer), timbrian (build)

С

Class III weak verbs were unpredictable; they combined features of Class 1 and
ТВ

Class 2 weak verbs: they had an infinitive ending in -an and no vowel before the
Е

dental suffix.
Н

There were four Class 3 verbs in Old English:

И

Н
ЧЕ

15
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
habban – ‘to have’, libban – ‘to live’, secgan – ‘to say’ and hycgan – ‘to think’

С
С

КО
Let’s first conjugate a Class 1 weak verb hieran.

УД
ЛИ
Old English Strong verbs have no stem suffix, and the past tense is expressed

А
through ablaut alternations in the root (changing root vowel).

РС
In modern English, irregular verbs (sing – sang; run – ran) descended from strong

ГВ
verbs.

Т
И
There are 7 ablaut classes for the strong verbs in Old English.

В
УН

ЕН
Let’s conjugate a class 1 strong verb bitan.

ТИ
И
Let’s compare the conjugation patterns of the weak verb hieran and the strong verb
ВЕ
singan. Mind the dental suffix to form the preterite of the weak verb and the ablaut

Ч Е
alternations in the root to form the preterite of the strong verb.
РС
КУ

С
In addition, in Old English there was a class of so-called (ˈpretərɪt) preterite-present

К
verbs:
ДИ

И
ТЕ
a number of verbs for which a new consonantal preterite developed in Germanic

Й
Н
М

because the old vocalic preterite had acquired a present meaning.

Т
О
О

The verbs were inflected in the Present like the Past tense of strong verbs: the forms
ВА
С

of the 1st and 3rd p. sg were identical and had no ending — yet, unlike strong verbs,
КО

they had the same root-vowel in all the persons; the pl had a different grade of ablaut
Е.

similarly with strong verbs (which had two distinct steins for the Past: sg and pl). In
ДА

ВС

the Past the preterite-presents were inflected like weak verbs: the dental suffix plus
С

the endings -e, -est, -e.

.
Р

КИ
С

This class includes the modals scæl 'shall', mæg 'may ', cunn 'can', mōt 'must', and a
ТВ

few more, some of them semi-modals: witan 'know', ꝥurfan 'need', durran ‘dare’,
Й

munan 'remember', dugan 'avail', agan 'own'. They were used like modal verbs.
Е Н
И

Н
ЧЕ

16
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
The Old English verb cunnan meaning ‘to know, be familiar with’ (that survived in

С
С
Modern English as can) had the following forms for the 1 p. sg and pl in the present

КО
УД
indicative

ЛИ
Ic cann, We cunnon

А
Н

РС
And the ‘preterite form in the 1 p. sg

ГВ
Ic cūðe, We cūðon

Т
И
The verb witan had a sophisticated conjugation pattern.

В
УН

ЕН
Iċ wāt / Iċ wiste eall be þām.

ТИ
И
I know/ knew all about that.
ВЕ

Ч
Furthermore, there is a small group of highly frequent, but very irregular verbs: beon

Е
/ wesan 'be', willan ‘wish, will’, don 'do', gan 'go'.
РС
КУ

С
These verbs are irregular as they do not follow the same conjugation patterns as

К
ДИ

И
weak or strong verbs, and some are a blend of older verbs meaning their present and

И
ТЕ
past tense look very different.

Й
Н
М

One of the most commonly used verbs in any language is the verb for 'to be'.
Т
О
О

In Old English, 'to be' is what's called a suppletive verb, and uses forms from at least
ВА
С

three different roots. There were two distinct present stems, for which both 'wesan'
КО

and 'beon' are infinitive forms. They have slightly different uses.
Е.
ДА

ВС

The verb 'wesan' was employed to express the present form of 'to be', and was the
С

most commonly used form of the verb.

.
Р

КИ

However, 'beon' tended to be used to express habitual truths.

С
ТВ

For example, examine 'he is wiga - he is a warrior' and 'wiga biþ strang - a warrior
Й

is strong'. The 'habitual truth' that warriors are strong is highlighted by 'beon'.
Е

Willan
Н
И

Don
ЧЕ

17
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
Gan used suppletion to form the ‘preterite.

С
С

КО
Old English had 2 non-finite forms: the infinitive and the participle.

УД
ЛИ
The infinitive had two forms which corresponded to the Nominative case (beran)

А
and to the Dative case / the inflected infinitive (to berenne).

РС
The present participle is formed by adding -ende to the Present tense stem:

ГВ
fremmende, lufiende.

Т
И
The past participle of the weak verbs has the dental suffix (it ended in -d/ t);

В
УН

ЕН
that of the strong verbs had an -en suffix attached to the past plural ablaut stem.

ТИ
И
Past participles could be marked by a prefix ge- and could be strong or weak.
ВЕ

Ч
Weak Past participles: gefremed, gelufod, strong Past participles: gedrifen.

Е
РС
Why would they use inflected infinitives?
КУ

С
К
An inflected infinitive was a form of the infinitive used to express purpose,
ДИ

И
obligation, or that an action is expected to happen.
ТЕ

Й
It had the preposition to and the -enne ending.
Н
М

Т
О
О

Word order
ВА
С

Word order in Old English was freer than in Modern English. But for a number of
КО

aspects of word order, there were strong preferences.

Е.
ДА

Study the . A quantifier (eall) should come first. Then goes a demonstrative (se,
ВС

þæs, þone) or possessive pronoun (min, his, þīn), then a numeral (an), then oꝥer,
.
Р

then an adjective.
КИ
С

For example,
ТВ

● ealle his leofan halgan ‘all his dear saints’ (all = quantifier)
Е

ealle his leofan halgan ‘all his dear/ beloved saints’ (all = quantifier)
Н
И

Н
ЧЕ

18
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
When linguists say that Old English word order was SOV (subject – object – verb)

С
С
they explain it in the following way:

КО
УД
A constituent (a phrase or a clause) is preposed to the first constituent position, and

ЛИ
the finite verb is preposed to second constituent position.

А
Н

РС
To put it simply, a constituent, for example, an adverbial modifier put at the

ГВ
beginning of an Old English sentence triggers inversion.

Т
What are these two things in question?

В
УН

ЕН
þæt is mid undēadlīċnysse, and mid gesælðe ‘that is immortality and with happiness’

ТИ
The quote was taken from the Sermon on the Beginning of Creation. The Homilies
И
of the Anglo-Saxon Church
ВЕ

Ч Е
Old English allowed omission of a subject when that subject had no semantic role.
РС
КУ

С
For example, in sentences with weather verbs, the subject could be left out

К
In Old English the negative adverb is commonly ne and it is in a position to the
ДИ

И
immediate left of the finite verb:
ТЕ

Й
Н
М

he ne andwyrde ðam wife æt fruman 'he didn't answer the woman at first'.
Т
О
О

Very often it is cliticized on to the finite verb, yielding nolde (ne wolde) 'not wanted'
ВА
С

he nolde beon cyning 'he didn't want to be king' (lit. 'he notwanted be king').
КО

Double or triple negation is also possible in Old English: if another negative adverb
Е.
ДА

ВС

is added, ne is maintained in its usual position:

С

heo ne geendað næfre 'it never ends' (lit. 'she not ends never');
.
Р

КИ
С

Take 'Ne geseah næfre nan mann god'. A completely literal translation would be 'has
ТВ

not seen never no man God', but a more accurate translation would be 'no one has
Й

ever seen God'.

Е Н
И

Let’s recap the wordstock of Old English.

ЧЕ

19
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
The Old English wordstock is thought to range from 30,000 to 100,000.

С
С

КО
Most of the Old English vocabulary is from common Germanic stock.

УД
ЛИ
According to Prof. Rastorgueva, the Old English vocabulary was almost purely

А
Germanic except for a small number of borrowings. Old English consisted of native

РС
words of a Proto-Germanic origin or words that formed from native roots and

ГВ
affixes.

Т
The three main layers in the native OE words are common Indo-European words,

В
УН
common Germanic words and specifically OE words.

ЕН
ТИ
Indo-European words refer to nature, plants, animals, parts of human body, relations
И
and kinship, basic verbs, adjectives and pronouns.
ВЕ

Ч
For example, trēow (tree), mōdor (mother), ic (I), þæt, hammer (Old Slavonic

Е
РС
камы), bēon, mōna
КУ

С
К
The common Germanic layer includes words which are shared by most Germanic
ДИ

И
languages, but do not occur outside the group.
ТЕ

Й
For example,
Н
М

Т
О
О

hand, findan, fox, macian, sand, eorþe, sinȝan, ȝrēne

ВА
С

The third layer is not numerous as it includes words with roots that are found only
КО

in English.
Е.
ДА

For example, wimman (woman), hlāford, weard (ward), brid, clipian

ВС

Borrowing from Celtic would include toponyms such as Kent, Bernicia, York, Ouse
.
Р

КИ

(uːz), Avon, Thames, Dover, Llanelly.

С

These toponyms are compounds. They can have a Celtic component and a Latin
ТВ

component, a Celtic component and a Germanic component.

Е

There are very few Celtic loan words in English that are not place names.
Н
И

Н
ЧЕ

20
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
For example, cursian, bratt (cloak), dun (dark coloured, neutral brownish gray to dull

С
С
grayish brown), cradol (cradle), binn (crib), loch (lake), coomb (valley)

КО
УД
Romanization of Britain and the arrival and development of Christianity left their

ЛИ
mark on Old English wordstock. Take such domains as trade, measurements,

А
building, domestic life, military affairs, place names

РС
ГВ
Religion, learning, nature, health, food, clothing

Т
The Scandinavian invasions of the 9th and 10th centuries have left their mark on the

В
УН
vocabulary.

ЕН
ТИ
The days of the week in English calendar have their roots in Norse mythology.
И
Tuesday was named after the god Tyr (tjʊə; tɪə), Wednesday after Odin, Thursday
ВЕ

Ч
after Thor, and Friday after the goddess Frigg.

Е
РС
Such words as window, berserk, fjord, saga, ugly (inspiring fear), egg, steak, law,
КУ

С
die, bread, down, fog, muck, lump, scrawny, ski, ransack, bag, irk, freckle, gift, take,

К
ДИ

И
sky, the pronoun ‘they’ have Old Norse origin.

И
ТЕ

Й
Toponyms with elements such as -by (Grimsby, Appleby, etc.), -thorp, -throp
Н
М

(Northrop, Scunthorpe, etc.), -kirk, kirk-, kir- (Ormskirk, Kirby, Kirkham, etc.), and
Т
О
О

many others derive from Scandinavian roots.

ВА
С

Some Scandinavian loanwords are recognizable from the velar consonants in

КО

environments in which native Anglo-Saxon words would have palatals: bank, rig,
Е.
ДА

scar, garden, skirt, skin, sky, score, scant, scrub, scathe, and skill.
ВС

С
.
Р

КИ

Hello, in this section, I’m going to talk about Old English phonetics.
С
ТВ

The Old English period spans from the fifth century up to the Norman Conquest in
Й

1066.
Е

Old English falls into Early Old English, Old English, and the final phase of Old
Н
И

English, which is Late Old English.

Н
ЧЕ

21
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
Pre-historic Old English begins with the Germanic settlement of Britain in the

С
С
fifth century. The first period is also called pre-written since it covers a time span

КО
УД
from the Germanic invasion till the beginning of writing in the seventh century.

ЛИ
It was the stage of tribal dialects of Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians, that

А
were losing contacts with the continental tongues. The tribal dialects were used to

РС
facilitate oral communication.

ГВ

Т
Old English or Anglo-Saxon extends from the 8th c. till the end of the 11th.

В
centuries and can be called Written OE. The tribal dialects changed into local or
УН

ЕН
regional dialects defined by growing divergence.

ТИ
И
Old English is defined by the establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
ВЕ

Ч
In writing West Saxon gained supremacy over the other dialects (Kentish,

Е
Mercian and Northumbrian) which was driven by the rise of the kingdom of Wessex
РС
КУ

С
to political and cultural prominence.

К
ДИ

И
And Late Old English refers to the final phase of Old English, which covers the

И
ТЕ
period from approximately 900 to the start of Middle English, or Early Middle

Й
Н
М

English, around 1150 AD. During this time, Old English experienced significant
Т
О
О

changes, particularly in terms of grammar and vocabulary.

ВА
С

Henry Sweet was a prominent philologist who made significant contributions

КО

to the study of Old English. He suggested a periodization of Old English based on

Е.

morphological phenomena, breaking the language down into three periods: the
ДА

ВС

period of full endings, the period of reduced endings, and the period of lost endings.
С

Sweet's periodization was influential in the study of Old English, but it has been
.
Р

КИ

criticized for being too focused on morphology. Nonetheless, his work on Old
С

English, including his textbooks ‘The Anglo-Saxon Reader’ and ‘The Anglo-Saxon
ТВ

Primer’ remain important in the field.

Е Н
И

Н
ЧЕ

22
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
The first period, which he called Old English, lasted from the 5th century to

С
С
the 11th century. The basic difference in grammar was that Old English was an

КО
УД
inflected or synthetic language.

ЛИ
Take moon as it was pronounced and spelled back in Old English.

А
Н

РС
mōna is an Old English word for moon. It is an -n stem feminine noun, in the

ГВ
Nominative sg

Т
mōne is an example of vowel reduction and levelling of inflections or endings

В
УН
in Middle English nouns.

ЕН
ТИ
stānas is an example of a strong masculine noun in the Nominative plural
И
and mind the plural ending for ston, that is stones, in Middle English.
ВЕ

Ч Е
By the way, the “real-life academic ‘model” for Higgins in Bernard Shaw’s
РС
КУ

С
play Pygmalion was Henry Sweet and he is mentioned in the preface to the play, but

К
allegedly the basis for Higgins’ grand lifestyle was that of a professor of Sanskrit at
ДИ

И
Oxford University, Professor Wilson.
ТЕ

Й
So let’s circle back to Old English. The development of Old English was
Н
М

affected and shaped by the Roman conquest, Germanic invasion, Christianity, and
Т
О
О

the Viking invasion. So Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, is in fact the group of dialects
ВА
С

imported by the immigrants from the continent in the 4th – 6th centuries, who drove
КО

back the native Romano-Celtic population to Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall.

Е.
ДА

ВС

For Old English, two main dialect groups are distinguished: West Saxon and
С

Anglian.
.
Р

КИ

Remember that with the arrival and development of Christianity, monasteries

С

and monastic schools were founded all over the country and teaching as well as
ТВ

religious services were conducted in Latin. The cutting-edge English monasteries

Е

were in Northumbria, but during the Viking invasion, the Northumbrian culture was
Н

almost wiped out. English culture shifted to Wessex.

И

Н
ЧЕ

23
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
West Saxon is the dialect in which the bulk of Old English manuscript material

С
С
was written. West Saxon is poorly documented until the literary reform of King

КО
УД
Alfred. In the literary tradition launched by King Alfred, early West Saxon is

ЛИ
represented in the Parker manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

А
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the earliest history written in English, originated

РС
under the impetus of King Alfred's educational reforms. A core set of annals was

ГВ
composed which were subsequently maintained and added to by generations of

Т
И
scribes until the middle of the 12th century.

В
УН

ЕН
The Parker Chronicle, also known as the A-version, is the oldest manuscript

ТИ
surviving. It was started in the late ninth century at about 890-891 and continued
И
into the eleventh century. It originated somewhere in Wessex, probably Winchester,
ВЕ

Ч
but moved to the cathedral priory (ˈpraɪərɪ) of Christ Church, Canterbury by the end

Е
РС
КУ

of the eleventh century.

С
К
When we talk about the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it’s not just one document or
ДИ

И
manuscript. The nine known "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" manuscripts are the
ТЕ

Й
following:
Н
М

Т
A-Prime The Parker Chronicle (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge)
О
О

ВА

A Cottonian Fragment (British Museum)

С
КО

B The Abingdon Chronicle I (British Museum)

Е.
ДА

C The Abingdon Chronicle II (British Museum)

ВС

D The Worcester Chronicle (British Museum)

.
Р

КИ

E The Laud (or "Peterborough") Chronicle (Bodleian (bɒdˈliːən; ˈbɒdlɪ-),

С

which is the principal library of Oxford University)

ТВ

F The Bilingual Canterbury Epitome (British Museum)

Е

H Cottonian Fragment (British Museum)

Н
И

I An Easter Table Chronicle (British Museum)

ЧЕ

24
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
Most of them are located at the British Museum, except for A-Prime which is

С
С
housed at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and The Laud or Peterborough

КО
УД
Chronicle which is kept at Bodleian, the principal library of Oxford University.

ЛИ
You might wonder when you study those manuscripts what ‘Cotton MS’

А
stands for. It refers to manuscripts from the Cotton library, a collection of

РС
manuscripts assembled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton in the 17th century. These

ГВ
manuscripts are designated with "Cotton MS" followed by a specific identifier, such

Т
И
as Anglo-Saxon Chronicle B (Cotton MS Tiberius (taɪˈbɪərɪəs) A VI).

В
УН

ЕН
West Saxon had ‘prevalence over the Anglian dialect group. It was spoken in

ТИ
the area covering England south of the Thames and the Bristol Channel, except
И
Wales and Cornwall.
ВЕ

Ч Е
The Anglian dialect group falls into two: Northumbrian and Mercian. The
РС
КУ

С
Northumbrian dialect is identified by Ruthwell Cross and three 8th-century poems

К
(Caedmon’s Hymn, Bede’s Death Song and the Leiden Riddle) and in three 10th-
ДИ

И
century texts (the glosses on the Lindisfarne Gospels, part of the Rushworth Gospels
ТЕ

Й
and the Durham Ritual). Northumbrian was spoken from the Humber north to the
Н
М

rive Forth, hence the name North-Humbrian.

Т
О
О

In the Mercian dialect from before 900, there are charters from Mercian kings.
ВА
С

There is the 9th-century gloss of the Vespasian Psalter. Mercian was chiefly spoken
КО

in the kingdom of Mercia, in the central region from the Thames to the Humber.
Е.
ДА

ВС

The fourth Old English dialect is Kentish. The material from Kentish is
С

limited to the Kentish Glosses, and a few charters. The dialect was spoken in Kent,
.
Р

КИ

Surrey and in the Isle of Wight.

С

OE was a typical Old Germanic language, with a purely Germanic vocabulary,

ТВ

and few foreign borrowings.

Е Н
И

Н
ЧЕ

25
Ы
Й
С
К
 М
ГО

О
OE was an inflected or “synthetic” language with a well-developed system of

С
С
morphological categories. Remember, Henry Sweet called OE the “period of full

КО
УД
endings”.

ЛИ
The earliest written records of English are inscriptions on hard material made

А
in a special alphabet known as runes. Linguists believe the origin of this word can

РС
be traced back to the Indo-European root ru, meaning mystery or secret.

ГВ

Т
The Germanic peoples used a runic alphabet to identify combs or helmets,

В
make calendars, encode secret messages, mark funeral monuments, and cast spells.
УН

ЕН
In casting a spell, the writing of the runes was accompanied by a chanted prayer or

ТИ
curse, also called a rune, to make the magic work.
И
ВЕ
The direct descendants of Old English rūn are the archaic verb round, meaning

Ч Е
"whisper, talk in secret," and the obsolete noun roun, which means "whispering,
РС
КУ

С
secret talk."

К
Old English was first written in the runic alphabet, known as futhark. Futhark
ДИ

И
is a phonetic alphabet consisting of runes. Later Old English used extra letters to
ТЕ

Й
cope with the range of sounds. The names of individual runes begin with the sound
Н
М

Т
the rune describes, e.g. the m-rune is called maðr or mannaz, meaning 'man' or
О
О

'human being', and the s-rune is called sól, meaning 'sun'.

ВА
С

The third rune, Thorn in Old Norse is connected to thurs, a malevolent entity
КО

or demon or troll or jötunn in the Icelandic and Norwegian rune poems. In Old
Е.
ДА

ВС

English, the shape of the rune dictated the meaning, and so it is “thorn”. It has the
С

sound value of a voiceless dental fricative /θ/. In New English, we have a digraph
.
Р

КИ

th.
С

Futhark takes its name from the sequence of the first six runes that make up
ТВ

the alphabet. Each rune is more than just a letter as it carries a concept and a symbolic
Е

meaning.
Н
И

Н
ЧЕ

26
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ГО

О
A fascinating artefact with inscriptions in Old English, futhark specifically,

С
С
and Old Latin, is the so-called Frank’s Casket or Auzon Casket. The Franks Casket

КО
УД
is a rectangular richly carved whalebone box, illustrating mythological and religious

ЛИ
scenes. which was discovered in Auzon, Haute Loire, France in the nineteenth

А
century. The inscriptions and pictorial fields and panels are executed in high relief.

РС
All the runes belong to the Anglo-Saxon twenty-eight letter futhark.

ГВ
The picture in the shows the panel with the Adoration of the Magi alongside

Т
И
the Germanic legend of Wayland (Weland) the Smith. Wayland, in Scandinavian,

В
УН

ЕН
and Anglo-Saxon legend, was a smith of outstanding skill. He might have been even

ТИ
a lord of the elves. Legend goes Wayland's smithing skill aroused the covetousness
И
of a tyrannical Swedish king, who had Wayland taken captive and hamstrung so he
ВЕ

Ч
would not run away. The king forced Wayland to work in the smithy for years. In

Е
revenge, Wayland gained trust of the king’s children and murdered the king’s two
РС
КУ

С
young sons and crafted their skulls into drinking bowls, which he sent to their father.

К
Then Wayland revealed his acts to the defeated king and escaped by magical flight
ДИ

И
through the air.
ТЕ

Й
Н
М

One of the panels features the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus; the
Т
О
О

capture of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. by the Roman Emperor Titus.

ВА
С

It was used as a family workbox at Auzon, France. The casket is also known
КО

as the Auzon casket. It was dismantled and one panel was separated and later was
Е.

bequeathed to the National Museum of Bargello in Florence. The casket was

ДА

ВС

presented to the British Museum by one of its benefactors, Sir Augustus Franks,
С

hence the name.

.
Р

КИ
С

According to runologist Ralph reif Elliott, the main runic inscription on the
ТВ

front is a riddle in Old English relating to the origin of the casket. It goes,
Й

‘The flood lifted up the fish onto the mountainous bank;

Е Н

the whale (sometimes translated as the king of terror) became sad, where he
И

swam onto the shingle.’

ЧЕ

27
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ГО

О
This is a riddle. This is then answered with the solution "Whale’s bone."

С
С
Which means the casket was made from the bone of a beached whale.

КО
УД
Whale's bone. Or in Old English Hronæs ban.

ЛИ

А
Magic.

РС
Here I enclosed the solution and put the word Mægi in the circles for you.

ГВ
Beowulf, the heroic poem, is the highest achievement of Old English

Т
И
literature. The literary monument describes events dating back to the early 6th

В
УН

ЕН
century, and, while the date of its composition is uncertain, some scholars believe

ТИ
that it was composed sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries. Although
И
originally untitled, the poem was later named after the Scandinavian hero Beowulf,
ВЕ

Ч
whose exploits and character provide the poem’s theme. Beowulf is a fictional,

Е
archetypal hero. There is no evidence of a historical Beowulf.
РС
КУ

С
Most of the story comes from the perspective of a narrator who relates the

К
ДИ

И
story to an audience just like a bard. The poem describes the adventures of the

И
ТЕ
legendary hero Beowulf, who slays the monsters Grendel, Grendel's mother, thereby

Й
Н
М

protecting the Danes and earning fame and glory.

Т
О
О

Prince Beowulf of the Scandinavian Geats returns to his father’s kingdom a

ВА
С

hero and soon becomes king himself, ruling for 50 years in peace until a frightful
КО

dragon appears. In the fight, both the dragon and Beowulf are slain.
Е.
ДА

All in all, there are 3,182 lines in the poem. Studying Beowulf allows readers
ВС

to analyze Old English grammar and syntax.

.
Р

КИ

Let me read some lines from the Prologue to you.

С

Hwæt! Wé Gár-Dena in géardagum Listen! We of the Spear-Danes in the

ТВ

days of yore,
Е

þéodcyninga þrym gefrúnon· of those clan-kings heard of their glory.

Н
И

Н
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28
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О
hú ðá æþelingas ellen fremedon. how those nobles performed

С
С
courageous deeds.

КО
УД
Translation goes…

ЛИ

А
Lo/ Listen! the Spear-Danes’ glory through splendid achievements

РС
The folk-kings’ former fame we have heard of,

ГВ
How princes displayed then their prowess-in-battle.

Т
И

В
You can study the translation into Russian to let it all sink in.
УН

ЕН
Let’s analyze these lines.

ТИ
И
What is hwæt?
ВЕ

Ч
hwæt -- interrogative pronoun; accusative singular neuter of <hwā, hwā,

Е
РС
hwæt> who, what – Lo, listen, hark!
КУ

С
К
wē -- 1st person pronoun; nominative plural of <ic> I -- we
ДИ

И
Gār-Dena -- proper noun, masculine plural; genitive of <gār-Dene> spear-
ТЕ

Й
Danes -- of Spear-Danes
Н
М

Т
О
О

in -- preposition; <in> in, into -- in

ВА
С

gēardagum -- noun, masculine; dative plural of <gēar-dæg> lit. year-day --

КО

days of yore
Е.
ДА

þēodcyninga -- noun, masculine; genitive plural of <ðēod-cyning> lit. people-

ВС

king -- of folk-kings'
.
Р

КИ

þrym -- noun, masculine; nominative singular of <þrymm> glory, renown –

С

prowess
ТВ

gefrūnon -- strong verb, class III; 1st person plural preterite of <gefrīnan,
Е

gefrān, gefrūnon, gefrūnen> learn, hear of -- heard. Mind that the subject ‘we’ is
Н

displaced.
И

Н
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29
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ГО

О
hū -- adverbial conjunction; <hū> how -- how

С
С

КО
ðā – functions as the definite article; the demonstrative pronoun in the

УД
nominative plural of <se, sēo, ðæt> the -- the

ЛИ

А
æþelingas -- strong noun, masculine; nominative plural of <æðeling>

РС
nobleman, prince -- princes

ГВ
ellen -- noun, neuter; accusative singular of <ellen> valor, courage -- deed(s)

Т
of valor

В
УН

ЕН
fremedon -- weak verb, class I; 3rd person plural preterite of <fremman,

ТИ
fremede, fremed> do, perform – wrought
И
Beowulf uses displacement ‘we gefrunon’ to add more prominence to a
ВЕ

Ч
specific word or phrase.

Е
РС
КУ

С
Beowulf is a vital text for understanding the evolution of English language

К
and literature. Firstly, Beowulf is the oldest surviving piece of Old English literature
ДИ

И
and provides insights into the Anglo-Saxon culture, language, and literary
ТЕ

Й
techniques. Beowulf reveals aspects of Anglo-Saxon culture, such as their social
Н
М

hierarchy, religious beliefs, and warfare strategies. The poem showcases such
Т
О
О

literary devices as alliteration, imagery, and metaphors, especially kennings, a kind

ВА
С

of metaphor considered artful in Anglo-Saxon poetry. It is a picturesque metaphoric

КО

compound in Old English that stands for a simple noun.

Е.
ДА

An example of a kenning in Beowulf is ‘hron-rade’ – whale-road meaning the

ВС

sea.
.
Р

КИ

heofones wynne ("joy of the sky") – i.e. the dawn

С

uht-sceaða ("twilight-scather") – i.e. the dragon.

ТВ

And no let’s move on to discuss the Old English alphabet and some rules of reading
Е

Old English letters.

Н
И

The OE alphabet consisted of 24 letters.

Н
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30
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К
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ГО

О
When some linguists claim that is consisted of between 24 and 33 letters, that

С
С
depends on whether the alphabet includes the Latin alphabet plus additional symbols

КО
УД
from the Anglo-Saxon Futhark runic alphabet or solely the Futhark alphabet.

ЛИ
The Latin alphabet used in Old English included the following 24 letters:

А
Н

РС
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

ГВ
Additionally, Old English incorporated several extra letters from the Futhark

Т
alphabet, such as:

В
УН

ЕН
Thorn (Þ, þ)

ТИ
Eth/Edh (ð) (ɛð) a character of the runic alphabet (ð) used to represent the
И
voiced dental fricative as in ‘this, brother’
ВЕ

Ч Е
Ash (æ)
РС
КУ

С
Insular G (ᵹ) or yogh the letter ȝ used in the writing of Middle English to

К
represent a palatal fricative/ spirant or a velar fricative.
ДИ

И
ТЕ
Ethel (œ) the ligature representing the sound like the French heur

Й
Н
М

Wynn or wyn (Ƿ ƿ) (wɪn) a character (ƿ) representing the sound (w) in Old
Т
О
О

English and early Middle English manuscripts, based on a rune with the same
ВА
С

phonetic value.
КО

Over time, these extra letters gradually disappeared from common usage,
Е.
ДА

leaving only the 26 letters of the modern alphabet.

ВС

OE writing was based on a phonetic principle: every letter indicated a separate

.
Р

КИ

sound. Some OE letters indicated two or more sounds, even distinct phonemes, e.g.
С

yogh stood for four different phonemes; some letters, indicating distinct sounds
ТВ

stood for positional variants of phonemes — a and æ.

Е

A set of consonants, s, f and Þ stood for two sounds each: a voiced and
Н

voiceless consonant.
И

Н
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31
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ГО

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Rules of Reading in Old English

С
С

КО
In general, the sound meaning of the majority of OE letters, correspond to the

УД
sound meanings of corresponding Latin letters.

ЛИ

А
E.g. OE etan [etan], OE faran [faran], OE oxa [oksa] etc.

РС
However, there are some exceptions and following rules should be observed

ГВ
for letters indicating more than one sound. Let’s start with vowels.

Т
И
1. The letter æ renders the sound [æ]. In OE manuscripts we come across the

В
УН

ЕН
ligature or the vowel combination / two ‘graphemes ae, instead of æ. ǣ with a

ТИ
macron renders the corresponding long vowel.
И
When reading an Old English text, you come across a diacritic. A diacritic
ВЕ

Ч
mark is a symbol (a dot, line, or squiggle) added to a letter or character to distinguish

Е
РС
it from another of similar form, to give it a particular phonetic value. A macron is a
КУ

С
diacritic mark used to indicate that a vowel has a long sound rather than a short one.

К
ДИ

И
2. The ligature œ stands for the sound [œ], like the French sound eu in heure
ТЕ

Й
3. The sound meaning of the letter y, corresponds to the French u
Н
М

Т
О
О

OE fyllan (to fill)

ВА
С

ӯ with a macron renders a long vowel, e.g OE fӯr (fire).

КО

å a with a ring diacritic was found before n, m and was spelled either as a or
Е.
ДА

o, for example: mann, monn, land, lond (land)

ВС

Now let’s look at the Old English Vowel System

.
Р

КИ

Let me give you some examples of how allegedly the Old English vowels
С

were pronounced. Some of the examples indicated by a macron are long vowels.
ТВ

y
Е

i
Н
И

e
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32
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ГО

О
a

С
С

КО
æ

УД
ЛИ
o

А
u

РС
o

ГВ

Т
Now Old English consonants. They fell into voiced and voiceless.

В
УН
The letters f, s and Þ, ð stood for voiced fricatives between vowels and also

ЕН
between a vowel and a voiced consonant; otherwise they indicated corresponding

ТИ
И
voiceless fricatives;
ВЕ

Ч
For example, OE fyllan [fylan] (to fill), oft, but ofer [over] (over), selfa (self),

Е
РС
Ras OE rās [rās] (rose), but risan [rīzan] (to rise)
КУ

С
К
OE Þæt [θæt] (that), but OE oÞer [oðer] (other).
ДИ

И
The letter ȝ yogh represented four different sounds:
ТЕ

Й
Н
М

1) word initially before consonants and back vowels and medially after n,
Т
О
О

represented the voiced stop [g];

ВА
С

e.g. OE ȝōd [gōd] (good),

КО

OE ȝōs [gōs] (goose),

Е.
ДА

ВС

OE sinȝan [siŋgan] (to sing)

С

2) word initially ȝ before front vowels represented the voiced palatal spirant/
.
Р

КИ

fricative [j]
С
ТВ

e.g. OE ȝeard [jæard] (yard), OE ȝeonȝ [jeoŋg] (young).

Й

3) After back vowels and after the consonant r, the letter ȝ represented the
Е

voiced guttural spirant [ɣ]

Н
И

e.g. OE beorȝ [beorɣ] (mountain)

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33
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ГО

О
OE daȝas [daɣas] (days).

С
С

КО
4) The letter ȝ also represented soft, palatal [g‘], which gradually developed

УД
into a soft affricate [ʤ].

ЛИ

А
Double g was represented by the letters cȝ, e.g. OE secȝan [seggan] (to say).

РС
The letter c stands for two sounds:

ГВ
1) hard, velar [k];

Т
И

В
2) soft, palatal [k’], which gradually became the affricate [tʃ];
УН

ЕН
e.g. OE macian [makian] (to make);

ТИ
И
OE ceosan [k’eozan] (to choose).
ВЕ

Ч
The diagraph cg in Old English forms represented the modern sound /dʒ/.

Е
РС
Some linguists claim that the Old English digraph cg was pronounced as the affricate
КУ

С
[ʤ], but we don’t know exactly when the affrication process was completed,

К
ДИ

И
probably by the ninth century. The velars /k/ and /g/ developed into the affricates /tʃ/

И
ТЕ
and /dʒ/, there is no agreement on how and when the development occurred.

Й
Н
М

The words 'bridge', 'fledge', 'midge', and 'ridge', were spelt brycg(e), flycg(e),
Т
О
О

mycg, and hrycg. There’s a strong likelihood that the use of cg to indicate the voiced
ВА
С

affricate was common finally in Old English.

КО

The letter f stood for a voiceless fricative as in wif, or a voiced fricative

Е.
ДА

intervocally as in wifum.
ВС

The letter yogh or g represented 4 sounds: a voiced stop gar, a voiced palatal
.
Р

КИ

spirant/ fricative geard, a voiced guttural spirant bugan, and a soft, palatal [g‘], which
С

gradually developed into a soft affricate [ʤ].

ТВ

The letter h was pronounced initially as in hlude, medially and finally as in

Е

cniht. It stands for [x] between a back vowel and a consonant, and also initially
Н

before consonants and for [x’] next to front vowels.

И

Н
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34
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ГО

О
For example, niht [x’] night but hlǣne lean

С
С

КО
The letter n stood for [n] in all positions except when followed by [k] or [g];

УД
in this case it indicates the sound [ŋ];

ЛИ

А
e.g. OE sinȝan [siŋgan] (to sing).

РС
The letter r stood for a rolled r as in rof.

ГВ
The letter s stood for a voiceless fricative as in segl or a voiced fricative as in

Т
И
ceosan.

В
УН

ЕН
The digraph sc stood for the palatal [ʃ] as in æsc or [sk] as in ascian.

ТИ
И
The thorn stood for a voiceless fricative as in þær or a voiced fricative as in
ВЕ
cweþan.

Ч Е
In OE a dynamic stress was used. In disyllabic and polysyllabic words the
РС
КУ

С
accent fell on the root-morpheme or on the first syllable. Word stress was fixed.

К
ДИ

For example, cyning – cyninge

И

И
ТЕ
hlaford – hlaforde

Й
Н
М

According to Prof. Rastorgueva, compound words had two stresses, the

Т
О
О

primary and secondary stress, the primary stress being on the first root morpheme.
ВА
С

For example, cumbolġehnāst “banner-clash” > “battle”

КО

In words with prefixes, verb prefixes were unaccented while in the nouns and
Е.
ДА

ВС

adjectives the stress fell on the prefix.

С

risan – a’risan (arise)

.
Р

КИ
С

‘to-weard, ‘or-eald (toward, very old)

ТВ

‘mis-daed (misdeed)
Е

The Old English vowel system evolved from the prehistoric system through a
Н

series of sound changes. The most conspicuous and pervasive of these is called i-
И

umlaut/ i-mutation/ palatal mutation.

ЧЕ

35
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К
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ГО

О
Mutation is the change of one vowel to another through the influence of a

С
С
vowel in the succeeding syllable. Palatal mutation is the fronting and raising of

КО
УД
vowels through the influence of [i] or [j] in the following syllable. The vowel was

ЛИ
fronted and made narrower to approach the articulation of [i].

А
Take the Old English ān meaning ‘one’, where ā is a back vowel in the root.

РС
And take the Old English ǣnig ‘any’ derived from the same root with the root

ГВ
mutated to a narrower and more front sound under the influence of [i] in the suffix.

Т
И

В
So [a:] shifts to [ᴂ:]
УН

ЕН
The sounds [i] and [j] were common in suffixes and endings, and so palatal

ТИ
И
mutation was the most comprehensive process. It led to the emergence of new
ВЕ
vowels such as the labialized [y] and [y:] that arose through palatal mutation from

Ч Е
[u] and [u:] as in mūs and mȳs, related words such as ʒemōt (meeting, assembly)
РС
КУ

С
and OE mētan (it was derived from the noun-stem with the help of the suffix -j-);

К
and variants of morphemes with an interchange of root vowels in grammar forms
ДИ

И
(mūs sg and mȳs pl).
ТЕ

Й
Traces of palatal mutation are found in mouse – mice, foot – feet, blood –
Н
М

Т
bleed, long - length.
О
О

ВА

In Old English, mutations affected different vowels.

С
КО

The vowel [æ] became [e]

Е.
ДА

Gothic mats became OE mete (NE meat)

ВС

The diphthong [eo] was transformed into [ie]

.
Р

КИ

Gt/OE feor transformed into OE fierra (NE far, farther)

С
ТВ

o changed into e, for example, OE dohtor shifted to OE dehter (daughter)

Й

i-umlaut was not the only source for Old English short /æ/. In prehistoric times, West
Е

Germanic short /a/ became Old English and Frisian /æ/ through the so-called Anglo-
Н
И

Frisian fronting. The fronting of the vowels occurred in two stages, known as First
Н
ЧЕ

36
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С
К
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ГО

О
Fronting and Second Fronting. The former affected long vowels, while the latter

С
С
affected short vowels. The Second Fronting affected short a instead of long ā unless

КО
УД
followed by the nasals /n, m/.

ЛИ
Old English had 4 diphthongs which could be either long or short: /ea/, /eo/, /ie/, /io/.

А
Remember that length was indicated by a macron.

РС
ГВ
The short versions of the diphthongs evolved out of West Germanic simple vowels

Т
through various diphthongization processes, of which the most important are

В
breaking and back umlaut.
УН

ЕН
The short diphthong /ie/ developed from the short /ea/ and /io/ (by breaking) through

ТИ
И
i-umlaut.
ВЕ

Ч
Breaking and back umlaut both involve the same kind of diphthongization, but are

Е
distinguished according to their conditioning environment:
РС
КУ

С
breaking is conditioned by following consonants, back mutation is conditioned by

К
ДИ

И
unstressed a or u in the following syllable.

И
ТЕ

Й
Due to breaking, /æ/ changes into [ea], /e/ into [eo], /i/ into [io] (usually spelled
Н
М

<eo>) if followed by /x/ (spelled <h>), /l/ + consonant, or /r/ + consonant.

Т
О
О

For example, Gothic haldan shifts to OE healdan 'hold' (through fronting and
ВА
С

breaking)
КО

Or ald - eald
Е.
ДА

ВС

In ald, the vowel a is sort of broken into two vowels before l + consonant, in this
С

case ‘d’.
.
Р

КИ
С

Back ‘umlaut involves the same sort of process but it’s triggered by a back vowel in
ТВ

the following syllable, with a single consonant intervening.

Й

Before h (word finally), before certain consonant clusters as lc, lh, h + C or r + C,

Е

[e] shifts to [eo]

Н
И

herte > heorte (NE heart)

ЧЕ

37
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С
К
 М
ГО

О
melcan > meolcan (NE to milk)

С
С

КО
selh > seolh (NE seal). There’s a nice looking seolh reading a book.

УД
ЛИ
feh > feoh (NE livestock, cattle)

А
Thus, due to back umlaut the Old High German ebur corresponds to the OE eofor.

РС
Check the photo of an ‘eofor’. You don’t want to find yourself confronted by a wild

ГВ
eofor in the forest.

Т
И
Diphthongization, also referred to as vowel breaking, is a sound change in which a

В
УН

ЕН
monophthong (simple vowel) transforms into a diphthong (two adjacent vowel

ТИ
sounds) or even a triphthong (three adjacent vowel sounds).
И
In the examples,
ВЕ

Ч Е
j [æ:] > [ea:] jar → ȝēar (NE year)
РС
КУ

С
j [e] > [ie] Gt giban → ȝiefan (NE give)

К
ДИ

И
the diphthongization is triggered by the palatal j.

И
ТЕ

Й
After the palatal consonants k’, sk’ and j short and long e and ae turned into
Н
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diphthongs with a more front close vowel as their first element.

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For example, Gothic skadus became OE sceadu (NE shade)

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The next phonetic process I’m gonna talk about is monophthongization.

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Monophthongization refers to the process of changing a diphthong or triphthong

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(complex vowel sounds consisting of two or three distinct vowels) into a single
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vowel sound, resulting in what becomes a monophthong. Old English diphthongs

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were all monophongized in the late Old English and early Middle English periods:
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• long and short /ea/ became /æ/

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• long and short /eo/ became /œ/, and /io/ shared this development
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• the /ie/ diphthongs developed to /y/

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Examples of monophthongization in Old English are as follows.

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The Gothic stains is stan in Old English.

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Or the Gothic kiusan is ceosan.

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Consonant changes in Old English.

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The first one is Hardening. In phonetics, hardening refers to the process of a

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consonant becoming more strongly articulated as opposed to lenition. This can

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involve an increase in the degree of stricture, such as a fricative becoming a stop, or

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a change in voicing, such as a voiceless consonant becoming voiced.

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Due to Verner’s law, the voiced Proto-Germanic ð was hardened to d in Old English.
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For instance, Gt goþs – Old English gōd (good)

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O Icelandic rauðr → rēad (NE red)
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Voicing/ devoicing
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The set of voiceless fricatives f, s, x, θ, v, and ɣ became or remained voiced
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intervocally and between vowels, sonorants and voiced consonants, but became or
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remained voiceless initially, finally and next to other voiceless consonants.

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For example, hlaifs → hlāfas (NE loaves)

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Е.

Rhotacism
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Rhotacism, in phonetics, is a sound change that converts one consonant (typically a

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voiced /z/, /d/, /l/, or /n/) to a rhotic consonant (/r/) in a certain environment.
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The Proto-Germanic [z] underwent a phonetic modification through the stage of [ʒ]
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into [r] and became a sonorant, which merged with the older IE [r].
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Thus, Gothic wasjan transformed to Old Icelandic verja /ˈvɛrja/ and shifted to werian
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(NE wear)
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Or another example consistent with rhotacism is Gothic maiza – mara (nightmare,

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incubus)

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УД
The etymology of the word "nightmare" traces back to Old English "nihtmare"

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composed of two parts: "niht", meaning "night," and "mare," referring to an evil

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spirit believed to afflict sleeping persons with feelings of suffocation and terror. The

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term "mare" originally denoted a type of female demon or goblin in Germanic and

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Slavic [ɑː] folklore, which was thought to ride on people's chests while they slept,

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causing nightmares. Over time, the meaning of "nightmare" expanded to encompass

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any bad dream or extremely distressing experience

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Gemination
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At an early stage of history in West Germanic languages, most consonants were

Ч Е
lengthened after a short vowel before [j]. This is known as gemination or doubling
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of consonants (in spelling long consonants were indicated by double letters).

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Fuljan – OE fyllan (NE fill)
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sætjan – OE settan (NE set)

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The palatal [j] was lost in the meantime. The change did not affect the sonorant [r].
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Palatalisation
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The velar consonants k, g, x, ɣ were palatalized before a front vowel and also after
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a front vowel, unless followed by a back vowel.

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For example, in OE cild the velar consonant was softened to k’ before a front vowel
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i:
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Spræc [k] was softened to k’ but not in sprecan (NE speak) where [k] was followed
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by a back vowel [a].

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Palatalisation which gave rise to affricates and sibilants.

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[k’] – [ʧ]
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ГО ГВ РС С
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[g] – [ʤ] ТВ
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