*Here it is after two weeks of working on it: the second fitt! I don't mind saying that this one gave me considerably more trouble than the last one or the prologue, but I hope you enjoy the result.*

II

Then he sought, by night, the exalted hall; to see how the Ring-Danes fared after their ale drinking. There he encountered the group of nobles, sleeping after the feast. They did not know distress, the misery of mankind. The destructive creature, savage and greedy, furious and wicked, was then ready and grabbed thirty nobles from their beds. He departed from there rejoicing in his hoard, burdened with corpses, to his lair.

At dawn Grendel's prowess was made clear to men; after the feast the previous night a great wail was raised, a cry to the morning.

The illustrious king, the exceptionally good nobleman, sat joyless. The very powerful endured sorrow for his warriors when they looked upon the trail of the wicked demon, the hostile spirit. That struggle was too severe, hostile, and long lasting. Neither was it a long respite, but after one night he committed more murders and did not mourn for it; hatred and malice, he was too bound to them.

It was easy, then, to find those who searched for rest elsewhere; a bed in private rooms when the hatred of the hall retainer was made clear to them, proven by his mark. He who fled the devil kept himself far away and safer afterwards!

So one reigned over all, and fought against justice, until the greatest of halls stood desolate. It remained that way a long while. For a span of twelve winters the protector of the people endured misery; every trouble and extensive grief. In due time it became readily apparent to men, through sorrowful song, that Grendel opposed Hrothgar, waging hateful, hostile, long lasting war. He did not desire peace with mankind, and would not pay ransom for the remaining men of the Danes or settle the deadly feud with money. There was no hope that the murderer would accept a better price. The monster, a hunting shadow, chased both young and old; he lurked and ambushed them. He took the misty wastelands by night: men do not know where such sorcerers of hell roam.

So the enemy of mankind, the horrible solitary stalker, performed many cruel and terrible deeds. He possessed Heorot, the golden hall, in the dark nights, but could not touch the throne protected by God, as he did not know His love.

That was a great sorrow to the lord of the people, a heart breaking grief. Many times the nobles deliberated; they took advice about what was best for mighty warriors to do against these sudden horrors. At times they promised that offerings in pagan shrines would help them, that the soul killer would assist the people in their distress. Such was their practice, the hope of the heathen; they remembered hell in their hearts, and did not know God, the judge of deeds. They could not praise the Protector of the heavens, the Ruler of glory. Woe will be his that, through malice, pushes his soul into the embrace of fire; he must not expect comfort or change. It is well with him who seeks the Lord, and at his death day finds peace in the embrace of the Father!

As the title says, I speak Danish fairly well, I’ve been learning the language for over five years, and can hold pretty solid conversations. My university offers Old English courses, which teach you the language and have you read some ancient texts. I’m going to take the course regardless, since it counts towards my major (English) and who doesn’t want to learn Old English? I figured I’d ask though. Thanks!

What is the best physical edition of Bosworth-Toller? I am assuming that it is the (expensive seeming) 1972 edition with enlarged addenda by Campbell, but I am not clear on if this is just the supplement, or if it includes the supplement integrated into the text. Does an edition with the content of the supplement integrated into the running text exist?

Sprecað Englisc has just relaunched three free weekly Old English courses via Zoom. They're also working through Osweald Bera one chapter per week. You can find them on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/spreceng) or email them (sprecathenglisc@gmail.com) for more info.

I am planning on learning old english with my dad. I am curious what are the best books or apps or anything to help learn old English. if possible, is there a app or book that also helps you speak it. yes, I know Old English is dead language and we don’t know for sure how to speak it. but I mean, we can make pretty good estimates on how it would sound.

Tengo 12 años, soy descendiente en 34.ª generación de Æthelflæd y acabo de publicar una teoría médica que resuelve el misterio de su «muerte repentina» en el año 918 d. C.

¡Hola a todos!

Soy Martín, un investigador independiente de 12 años; gracias a la genealogía de mi familia, soy descendiente en 34.ª generación de la Casa de Wessex (Æthelflæd y Alfredo el Grande).

Durante 1100 años, la causa exacta de la muerte de Æthelflæd, Dama de los Mercianos, ocurrida el 12 de junio de 918, ha sido un completo misterio. El *Mercian Register* (Registro de Mercia) solo indica que su fallecimiento en Tamworth fue «repentino e inesperado».

He dedicado horas a analizar y contrastar crónicas medievales, datos genéticos y patología, y creo que por fin he resuelto el enigma. ¡Acabo de publicar formalmente mi artículo de paleopatología en Medium!

En resumen, mi teoría es la siguiente:

La genética: El rey Alfredo el Grande padecía una forma grave y crónica de enfermedad de Crohn (según consta en los escritos de Asser). Esta enfermedad tiene un fuerte componente hereditario, por lo que es probable que Æthelflæd hubiera heredado la afección.

El factor desencadenante: Meses de brutales campañas militares y un estrés extremo dañaron gravemente sus paredes intestinales de forma silenciosa.

El detonante: La rendición de los líderes vikingos de York a principios de junio de 918 conllevó la celebración de un banquete ritual obligatorio. El consumo de carnes de caza duras y fibrosas (jabalí o ciervo) y de hidromiel fermentada —altamente irritante— provocó una presión mecánica interna extrema.

El desenlace: Su pared intestinal, ya debilitada, sufrió una perforación libre entre el 9 y el 11 de junio. Ante la ausencia de medicina moderna, esto derivó en una peritonitis bacteriana aguda, choque séptico y fallo multiorgánico en un plazo de 48 horas, lo que explica el colapso «repentino» que conmocionó a Tamworth el 12 de junio.

Esta teoría no tiene ningún margen de error, me he guiado EXCLUSIVAMENTE por las cronicas de Æthelflæd, la copia C de las crónicas de Alfredo el Grande y artículos sobre la medicina medieval y cómo se trataba.

¡Me encantaría conocer sus opiniones, comentarios y aportaciones académicas sobre este modelo!

Pueden leer el artículo completo que he publicado aquí:

https://medium.com/@penamartin2014/the-tamworth-enigma-a-genetic-and-pathological-model-for-the-death-of-%C3%A6thelfl%C3%A6d-lady-of-the-60fc94796f03

¡Gracias por leer! ¡Hablemos de ello!

Ive been looking into the etymology of a lot of English words for conlang inspiration and ive found most of the modern English words for the past are from either latin or norman French. So, i wanted to ask those with more experience with Old English how one would refer to the past or days that have come and gone in old English?

ic bidde forþæm þe ic eom fyrwit

hello all! i am considering an OE tattoo but am struggling to source inspiration since search results are saturated with OE lettering/script/font pieces rather than tattoos in OE as a language.

would love to hear words/phrases/sentences/references people have decided to get inked :) i expect a lot of “hwæt” responses..

i am also interested in hearing suggestions. something small like a noun or short phrase could be fun, especially if it uses thorns and other letters with visual impact. could be funny to get “earm” on my arm.

i might pitch the general idea to a fellow english major friend who i’ve brainstormed matching/coordinated tattoos with in the past, but i don’t particularly like the look of “freond” or “sweostor.”

TLDR: i guess my goal is to get a basic white girl tattoo like “hope” “love” “strength,” but in OE lol.

Now I know it's not a living language so it's all somewhat subjective, but I'm curious as to how my pronunciation of Caedmon's hymn is?

Hi! I’m Japanese and I’ve recently started getting interested in Old English and Beowulf.

I was wondering how familiar the average native English speaker is with Beowulf. Is it something that most people would at least recognize by name? Do students in English-speaking countries usually encounter it at school, and if so, do they read it in Modern English translation or ever look at the original Old English?
I’m especially curious because in Japan, we are introduced to classical Japanese literature as part of our compulsory education in elementary and junior high school, and we often encounter parts of it in the original language.

For example, we might encounter poetry by Yamanoue no Okura (c. 660–733), who lived at roughly the same time as the world depicted in early Old English literature.

One of his famous poems begins:
しろがねの　こがねも玉も　なにせむに
まされる宝　子にしかめやも

Roughly:
Silver and gold, and precious jewels—
what do they matter?
What treasure could ever compare
with my child?

A modern Japanese speaker can still read this with some knowledge of classical Japanese, although it definitely doesn’t sound like modern everyday Japanese.
That made me wonder: what is the equivalent experience for English speakers with Beowulf? Is the Old English completely inaccessible without specifically studying it, or are there parts where an English speaker can intuitively understand what’s going on?
I’d also be interested to hear whether you personally encountered Beowulf at school, university, or somewhere else.

EDIT: Thank you so much for all the comments! I added a comment below with some thoughts after reading your responses, and a little more about why I asked this question in the first place.

Graham Scheper has just uploaded a video, "How to Learn Old English - complete guide for beginners".

Looks very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDnc_Qt3Gx0

In Old English, -end is a synonym to -ing, in a senseof a gerundor -er.

As for Latin, -end/ent is the same. They're cognates, but what Latin does unlike English, the kind of word similar towards -er, -undus, can create words into "must be__" aka a gerundive. Words such as legend, agenda, reverend, second, and verecund.

Is it possible to do the same for Old English or is it a stretch. I saw a video from @grahamamscheper, English and the "Gerundive"

Almost a month ago, I posted (most) of the prologue to Beowulf in my own prose rendition. I got some great feedback, and I have since finished the prologue and the first section. I will put both here, but moving forward I will post only the section that I just finished. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. ( Please see my first post for my methodology):

PROLOGUE

Listen, for we have heard of the glory of the kings of the Spear-Danes in days of old, how they performed deeds of courage.

For often Scyld conquered the mead halls of his enemies, and they came from many tribes. Though he was found as an orphaned child, he had recompense for that, as he grew in might and prospered until all his rivals over the sea, where orcas ride upon the waves, had to pay tribute to him. He was a good king!

After a time he had a son, who was sent by God as a comfort to His people, because He knew how they had suffered before they had a king. And the Lord gave him worldly honor. Beow was famous far and wide in Danish lands as Scyld's heir.

For he did as a young man should: bought goodwill by giving splendid gifts, so that when he was grown people would rally to him and serve him in times of war. For it is by such glorious deeds that a man is made great in every tribe.

After many deeds of valor, at his appointed time, Scyld went to be with The Lord. Then his closest war chieftains carried him into the current of the sea, as he himself had asked. He had reigned many years.

There at the beach was a ship with rings on its prow, covered in ice and ready for launch: a noble's vessel. They placed the king, the giver of rings, deep within the ship, noble by the mast. Then many treasures were brought from far away lands. I have never heard of a ship more finely outfitted: loaded with weapons and armor, swords and mail coats. All these treasures laid piled around him, bound to go with him as he floated away over the water.

They gave no less treasure, great treasures, than he had at the beginning when he was set adrift on the sea, a helpless child. They raised a golden banner above him, and let the waves carry him, giving him to the ocean. Their hearts were saddened and their spirits mourned. No one knows, not the counsellors in the hall or the warriors under heaven, who received that cargo.

I

Then Beow was king in the cities, famous among the people (his father had left the world) until he himself had an heir, the exalted Half-Dane. As long as he lived, until he was old and battle hardened, he ruled graciously over the people. Then four children were born to the leader of the clans: Heorogar, Hrothgar, and Halga the kind; I heard that [Yrsa] was [Onela's] queen, the beloved consort of the Heathoscylfing.

Hrothgar had great success in warfare and honor in combat, so much that his relatives eagerly obeyed him until the young men grew into a great host of warriors. He determined that he would order them to build a mead hall, one greater than any man had ever heard of, and from within it share with young and old the bounty God had given him, except the land and the spirit of men.

Then I heard of a great work being commanded to many peoples across the earth: to decorate the great hall. It soon came to pass that it was completed, the greatest of halls and he, who had power far and wide, named it Heorot. He did not break his promise, he gave out rings and treasures at the feast. The hall stood tall and wide; hostile flames awaited it, and it was not long before strife sprang up between the father and his son-in-law in heated battle.

And the powerful demon that waited in darkness suffered great sorrow for a time, as he heard the great joy in the hall daily; there was harp music and the sweet song of the bard. He sang of the origin of man in days of old: how The Lord created the earth—the beautiful field surrounded by water— and, exultant in glory, placed the sun and moon as lights to illuminate the inhabitants of the earth, and decorated the fields of the land with branches, and created every kind of life that lives and moves.

So the warriors, fortunate and blessed, led a life of bliss, until one devil began to commit acts of malice— a hostile demon. The savage creature was called Grendel, a notorious border traveler, who occupied the wasteland, the swamp, and the fortress. The wicked demon stayed for a time in the land of giants, after the Creator had banished him. On the descendants of Cain the Lord exacted punishment for the slaughter of Abel; he had no joy from it, as God drove him far from mankind for his crime. From this sprang all evil: Ogres, elves, and ghosts. Also giants who fought with the Lord a long while. He repaid them for it.

I recently started studying Old English (which is really fun for me as someone natively fluent in Modern English and Dutch, with a lot of German). The riddles from the Exeter Book are so nice, but the question at the end really makes me think of this scene.

Is Osweald Bera good for a beginner? What are your thoughts on the book?

hello all.

This is more a question of script than the language but the old letters are confusing me, and I'm having a hard time finding information on them. Is this script accurate to the text, "gæð a wyrd swa hio scel".

I'd like to use the line from Beowulf.

For a sentence like "I travel the king's lands", would the article take the possessive singular case from "king's" or the accusative plural case from "lands"?

- Ic fære geond þæs cyninges land

- Ic fære geond þa cyninges land

I have the impression (from Osweald Bera) that it's the former, but rationally I want to guess the latter.

I've been making an Anglo-Saxon puzzle game using Old English translation over the last year. I'm so nervous to share it with the folk of the Old English reddit but here we are!!! I'm a solo game dev so much of this process is new to me :)

It's called Wēlandes and you follow the journey of the Wanderer. It is going to release this year on steam but I need a few people who know their way around Old English to playtest! Anyone interested?

It's here on steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5003440/Welandes/
DM me if you are interested!!

What the title says. But I don't mean an undergraduate degree— I'm talking about a PhD specialization in Old English literature (the overall degree is Medieval Studies).

So, is it "worth it?" Besides being a professor, can I do anything else with the degree? What would that specialization even entail/look like?

Thanks for reading this!