Sprecað Englisc
@sprecathenglisc.bsky.social
A dedicated community of learners & teachers of Old English holding free weekly Zoom classes, using Stephen Pollington's 'First Steps in OE' & other texts. Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spreceng. Questions? sprecathenglisc@gmail.com
#OESOTD
Adam lived here in exile nine hundred and thirty years, and his bones are buried not far east of the city that is named Cebron, and for him the head is turned south and the feet north ...
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Adam lived here in exile nine hundred and thirty years, and his bones are buried not far east of the city that is named Cebron, and for him the head is turned south and the feet north ...
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September 9, 2025 at 5:51 PM
#OESOTD
Adam lived here in exile nine hundred and thirty years, and his bones are buried not far east of the city that is named Cebron, and for him the head is turned south and the feet north ...
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Adam lived here in exile nine hundred and thirty years, and his bones are buried not far east of the city that is named Cebron, and for him the head is turned south and the feet north ...
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Magan as an independent verb: "to avail, to be strong, to have the power." A couple possible translations open up here: “if he himself cannot amount to anything” or more literally, “if he himself cannot [avoid becoming] nothing”.
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July 7, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Magan as an independent verb: "to avail, to be strong, to have the power." A couple possible translations open up here: “if he himself cannot amount to anything” or more literally, “if he himself cannot [avoid becoming] nothing”.
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If a sword-furbisher receive a weapon for refurbishing, or a smith a man's implement, they are both to give [it] back sound as either of them previously received it.
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June 9, 2025 at 3:06 PM
If a sword-furbisher receive a weapon for refurbishing, or a smith a man's implement, they are both to give [it] back sound as either of them previously received it.
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Interesting that the bare root *does* appear fairly often in Mid E, as here in the Ancrene Riwle: Ne mei nawt muche speche, ne ginne hit neauer se wel, beo wiðute sunne. This suggests we may simply not have citations to show for its existence in OE.
May 26, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Interesting that the bare root *does* appear fairly often in Mid E, as here in the Ancrene Riwle: Ne mei nawt muche speche, ne ginne hit neauer se wel, beo wiðute sunne. This suggests we may simply not have citations to show for its existence in OE.
'Then as dawn brightened and the day broke, Grendel's powers of destruction were plain' – Heaney
'It was in the darkness, the cold before dawn, that Grendel's war-strength was made plain to men' – Chickering
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'It was in the darkness, the cold before dawn, that Grendel's war-strength was made plain to men' – Chickering
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May 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
'Then as dawn brightened and the day broke, Grendel's powers of destruction were plain' – Heaney
'It was in the darkness, the cold before dawn, that Grendel's war-strength was made plain to men' – Chickering
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'It was in the darkness, the cold before dawn, that Grendel's war-strength was made plain to men' – Chickering
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'A dark cry woke before dawn, a wail of Danes long after dinner, Grendel's bloodbath their breakfast greeting' – Williamson
'When daylight dawned on the spoils of slaughter, the strength of the fiend was readily seen' – Sullivan and Murphy
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'When daylight dawned on the spoils of slaughter, the strength of the fiend was readily seen' – Sullivan and Murphy
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May 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
'A dark cry woke before dawn, a wail of Danes long after dinner, Grendel's bloodbath their breakfast greeting' – Williamson
'When daylight dawned on the spoils of slaughter, the strength of the fiend was readily seen' – Sullivan and Murphy
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'When daylight dawned on the spoils of slaughter, the strength of the fiend was readily seen' – Sullivan and Murphy
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'Then in the dawn, with the break of day, Grendel's war-strength was made known to men' –McNamara
'At dawn and daybreak, Grendel's battle-strength was clear' – Pearson
'Thereafter at dawn with the first light of day was Grendel's strength in battle made plain to men' – Tolkien
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'At dawn and daybreak, Grendel's battle-strength was clear' – Pearson
'Thereafter at dawn with the first light of day was Grendel's strength in battle made plain to men' – Tolkien
[3 of 5]
May 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
'Then in the dawn, with the break of day, Grendel's war-strength was made known to men' –McNamara
'At dawn and daybreak, Grendel's battle-strength was clear' – Pearson
'Thereafter at dawn with the first light of day was Grendel's strength in battle made plain to men' – Tolkien
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'At dawn and daybreak, Grendel's battle-strength was clear' – Pearson
'Thereafter at dawn with the first light of day was Grendel's strength in battle made plain to men' – Tolkien
[3 of 5]
Consider the advantages and disadvantages of the choices the translators below have made. What gets left out? What gets amplified? How do we make music in ModE lines out of a somewhat different music in OE verse?
'Then at daybreak, Grendel's skill in battle became obvious to all' – Shippey
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'Then at daybreak, Grendel's skill in battle became obvious to all' – Shippey
[2 of 5]
May 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Consider the advantages and disadvantages of the choices the translators below have made. What gets left out? What gets amplified? How do we make music in ModE lines out of a somewhat different music in OE verse?
'Then at daybreak, Grendel's skill in battle became obvious to all' – Shippey
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'Then at daybreak, Grendel's skill in battle became obvious to all' – Shippey
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se undern, which BT Dictionary glosses as 'The third hour of the day, nine in the morning; in later English it is used of the sixth hour, a use it seems to have in undern-rest'
April 15, 2025 at 3:55 PM
se undern, which BT Dictionary glosses as 'The third hour of the day, nine in the morning; in later English it is used of the sixth hour, a use it seems to have in undern-rest'