Name:
Mrs. Keener
English 12
Date:
Old English: The Language of Beowulf
The English language is divided into three periods (write the periods, dates, and examples):
- ______
- ______
- ______
The Anglo-Saxons had four letters that we do not use in our alphabet today. These come from the runic alphabet used by the Germanic peoples. Here is a comparison of the Old English alphabet to today’s alphabet:
Notice that the Old English alphabet did not include the letters J, O, or Z, and the Anglo Saxons had four letters we no longer use in our standard alphabet.
Þ,thorn: The thorn represents the sound “th,” as used in the Modern English word ______. If you look at a picture of the first page of the Beowulf manuscript, you’ll see a thorn in the last word in the second line. The thorn was borrowed from the ______alphabet.
- The Y in a name such as “Ye Olde Donut Shoppe” actually derives from the Old English thorn. “Ye” is really “______.” Printing pressed didn’t have a symbol for the thorn, so the y was substituted because it looked similar to the thorn.
ð,eth: The eth is also used to represent the “th” sound, as used in Modern English words such as ______and ______. The eth is in the third line of the Beowulf manuscript.
æ,ash: The ash represents the vowel sound in the Modern English word ______. An ash is the third character in the first word of Beowulf. The ash is still used in some words today. For instance, the Encyclopædia Britannica uses an ash in its title.
Ɏ,wyn or wynn: The wyn represents the W sound. On the first page of theBeowulf manuscript, you can see to capital wyns in the first line. They are the second and fifth letters.
Alliteration: ______
- Serves a similar function to ______
- “oft ScyldScefingsceaþenaþreatum,
monegummægþummeodosetlaofteah”
Compounding: ______
- “HWÆT, WE GAR-DEna in geardagum”
- Gardena is made up of two words: “GAR” meaning ______and “dena” meaning ______.
- Thus, Gardena literally means ______.
Kennings: ______
- Beowulf is a compound of “beo” meaning ______and “wulf” meaning ______.
- The kenning Bee-wolf is a metaphorical description of a ______.
- “hronrade” is a compound of “hron” meaning ______and “rade” meaning ______.
- The kenning whale-road is a metaphorical description of the ______.
Verse form: a typical Old English alliterative line consists of two ______separated by a strong pause known as a ______, represented by the space between the half-lines.
- “oft ScyldScefing sceaþenaþreatum,
monegummægþum meodosetlaofteah”
The first lines of Beowulf in Old English and a Modern English translation:
Hwæt! We Gardenain geardagum,
þeodcyninga,þrymgefrunon,
huðaæþelingasellenfremedon.
Oft ScyldScefingsceaþenaþreatum,
monegummægþum, meodosetlaofteah,
egsodeeorlas.Syððanærestwearð
feasceaftfunden,he þæsfrofregebad,
weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndumþah,
þæt him æghwylcþaraymbsittendra
oferhronrade hyranscolde,
gombangyldan.Þætwæs god cyning!
So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by
and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.
We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns.
There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes,
a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes.
This terror of the hall-troops had come far.
A founding to start with, he would flourish later on
as his powers waxed and his worth was proved.
In the end each clan on the outlying coasts
beyond the whale-road had to yield to him
and begin to pay tribute. That was one good king.
--Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.
Look at the image of the first page of Beowulf on the following page. Can you make out any of the words?
A digitalized image of the first page ofBeowulf, whichsurvives in only one medieval manuscript in theBritish Museum.
Fæderure
Fæderureþuþeeart on heofonum
siþinnamagehalgod
tobecumeþin rice
gewurþeþinwilla
on eorðanswaswa on heofonum
urnegedæghwamlicanhlafsyle us to dæg
and forgyf us uregyltas
swaswa we forgyfaðurumgyltendum
and ne gelædþu us on costnunge
ac alys us of yfelesoþlice.