Old English

Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon, refers to the English language as it was from about the middle of the fifth century until around the middle of the twelfth century. It is a West-Germanic language and as such it is closely related to Dutch, German and especially Frisian, as well as, more distantly the Scandinavian (or North-Germanic languages).

History and origin of Old English

It is certain that English was brought to Britain by Germanic invaders in the early centuries AD. The traditional view, based largely on Bede, is that the Celtic tribes of Britain hired continental Germanic warriors to fight as mercenaries against the crumbling remnants of Roman power on the island, and that they arrived in AD 449 under the leadership of the chieftains Hengest and Horsa. Modern archeological, historical, and linguistic research rejects this view as too strongly influenced by revisionist tendencies in the writings of eighth-century Anglo-Saxon historians. Although the general features of the traditional account remain accepted, including the supposition that the majority of the invaders were Angles, Saxons, and Jutes from the northwestern coast of Continental Europe, the dating and manner of the invaders' arrival as well as the role of the Frisians remain vague. Both linguistic and genetic research into the relationship between modern English and Frisian people, and their respective languages, suggest a far greater importance for the Frisians in the establishment of an English culture in Britain and in the formation of Old English, but in the absence of clearer information and more research, no conclusions can yet be formed.

Old English was not a monolithic linguistic structure but rather a tapestry of many varying dialects that must have represented the different tribal origins of the original settlers. When Scandinavian raiders (Vikings) started settling in the northeastern part of Britain, the language of the Anglo-Saxons came to be influenced by the dialect of Old Norse spoken by these new arrivals. Old Norse and Old English were sufficiently close to allow for communication but the languages also had considerable differences in phonology, morphology, and lexicon. Because of the varying degrees of influence of Old Norse on Old English, the modern language still retains etymological doublets, such as shirt and skirt, both deriving from the same root but with divergent meanings and phonological makeup (the former from Old English, the latter through Old Norse).

Dialects

There were several major dialect areas of Old English: Northumbrian in the north, Kentish in the southeast, West Saxon in the southwest, and Mercian in the central Midlands region. Although Mercian is the most direct ancestor of Modern English, few documents survive in it. The vast majority of written materials that survive are in West Saxon, because of the ravages of the Viking attacks across Britain in the ninth century. Because of King Alfred of Wessex' successful resistance many manuscript escaped the worst. Alfred and his descendants also conquered much of the remaining Norse-dominated England, thus exerting an enormous influence over the rest of the island. In the tenth and early eleventh century and as a consequence of Alfred's program of education as well as the administrative reforms by him and his successors, the West-Saxon variant of Old English as spoken and written at the capital of Wessex, Winchester, became the model for a standardized Old English language throughout the united English kingdom.

Old English had no written form (aside from the occasional use of runes) until the introduction of Christianity; with it came a relatively phonetic alphabetic system, as well as loanwords from Latin and some Greek. Danish incursions along the Eastern coasts created an area of influence known as the Danelaw, and Danish had a substantial influence, particularly on the pronoun system. The Old English period formally ended with the Norman conquest, when the language was influenced, to an even greater extent, by the Norman French-speaking Normans.

Old English text sample

Beowulf lines 1 to 11, approximately 900

Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,

þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,

hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.

Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,

monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah,

egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð

feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad,

weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah,

oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendra

ofer hronrade hyran scolde,

gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning!

Lo, praise of the prowess of people-kings

of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,

we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!

Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,

from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,

awing the earls. Since erst he lay

friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:

for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,

till before him the folk, both far and near,

who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,

gave him gifts: a good king he!

(translation by Francis Gummere)

References

Bibliography

• S.A.J. Bradley. 1982. Anlo-Saxon Poetry. Everyman's Library. London: J.M. Dent/Rutland (VT): Charles E. Tuttle. ISBN 0460870866
• Karl Brunner. 1965. Altenglische Grammatik nach der Angelsächsischen Grammatik von Eduard Sievers. 3rd ed. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
• Bruce Mitchell. 1995. An Invitation to Old English and Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford (UK)/Cambridge (USA): Blackwell. ISBN 0631174354; ISBN 0631174362 (pbk)
• Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson. 1992. A Guide to Old English. Oxford (UK)/Cambridge (USA): Blackwell. ISBN 0631166564; ISBN 0631166572 (pbk)
• Eduard Sievers. 1903. Old English Grammar. Albert S. Cook trs. Boston/London: Ginn & Co. (Still a very good grammar; the German version by Karl Brunner, 1965, is also good.)
• Elaine Treharne ed. 2000. Old and Middle English. An Anthology. Oxford (UK)/Malden (Mass.): Blackwell. ISBN 063120462; ISBN 0631204660 (pbk)