Old English Flashcards
(43 cards)
How long was the Romano-Celtic period?
43-410 AD
When long was the Anglo-Saxon period?
ca. 450-1100
“Đa wæs ymb feower hund wintra 7 nigon 7 feowertig fram ures Drihtnes menniscnysse, ….
Đa Angel þeod 7 Seaxna wæs gelaðod fram þam cyninge, 7 on Breotone com on prim myclum scypum; …
Comon hi of prim folcum ðam strangestan Germanie, þæt of Seaxum 7 of Angle 7 of Geatum.”
Translate Bede’s Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (8th century)
Die Menschen der Anglo-Saxon waren eingeladen vom König und kamen auf drei großen Schiffen nach Britannien. They came from three people the strongest people of Germania, that of the Saxons and of the Angles and of the Judes.
myclum = much; 7 symbol = and
What is the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy?
Counties in Britannia
* Northumbria (dominant 7th c.)
* Mercia (dominant 8th c.)
* East Anglia
* Essex
* Wessex (dominant 9th c.)
* Sussex
* Kent
Why were the Anglo-Saxons christianized?
- Irish mission (Lindisfarne, 630)
- Roman mission (Canterbury, 597) -> Synod of Whitby, 664
Why is the Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons important for us as linguists?
Because monasteries were centres of learning and writing -> written records
Ymbe þa feower timan we wyllað cyðan iungum preostum ma þinga, þæt hig magon þe ranclicor þas þing heora clericum geswutelian.
Translate Byrhtferð’s Handboc (8th ct.)
We want to tell (cydan = künden) young priests more things about the four times (=seasons), that they may explain these things better to their people.
Se þridda tima ys autumnus on Lyden gecweden and on Englisc
hærfest. He byð þry monðas, and he hæfð emniht, and he hæfð
twa and hundnigontig daga, and he byð drigge and ceald.
Translate Byrhtferð’s Handboc (8th c.) (I)
The third time is called autumn in Latin and in English Haerfest. It is three month, and it has equal day and night and it has ninty-two days and the season is dry and cold.
is called (=gecweden); Latin (=Lyden);Haerfest (=Herbst); it has (haefd)
(=em-niht -> ‘eben/even’)
Se feorð tima ys genemned hiemps on Lyden and winter on Englisc.
He hæfð sunstede and twa and hundnigontig daga, and he byð þry
monðas, and he byð ceald and wæt.
Translate Byrhtferð’s Handboc (8th c.)
The fourth season is called (=genemned) hiemps in Latin and winter in English. It has solstice/Wintersonnenwende (=sunstede) and has 92 days. It is cold and wet.
What is Old English based on?
Latin alphabet (cf. monastic culture) -> had some special characters from Scandinavian language tho
Ða cwæð se Hælend, ga 7 becyp eall þæt þu ahst 7 syle hyt þearfum 7 þonne hæfst þu goldhord on heofone 7 cum 7
folga me.
Translate Wessex Gospels (c. 10-12th century)
Then said the Saviour, go and sell all that you have and give it to the needy and then have you gold-treasure in heaven and come and follow me.
Ða se geonga mann gehyrde þis word þa eode he aweg unrot soþlice he hæfde mycele æhta.
Translate Wessex Gospels (10-12th century)
When the young man heard this word then went he away unhappy, truly he had many possessions.
Witodlice se Hælend cwæð to hys leorningcnihtum, Soþlice ic eow secge
þæt eaðelicre byð þam olfende to ganne þurh nædle eage þonne se welega on heofona rice ga.
Translate Wessex Gospels (10-12th century)
Certainly the Saviour said to his disciples, truly I to-you say that easier is for-the elefant to go through needle eye than that the rich in heaven’s kingdom go.
Ða hys leorningcnihtas þis gehyrdon hig wundrodun 7 cwædon, hwa mæg
þis gehealdan?
Translate Wessex Gospels (10-12th century)
When his disciples this heard they wondered and said, who may this keep?
What is “Beowulf” ?
- 8th century?
- Germanic heroic legend
- epic poem
- alliteration
- combines Pagan & Christian tradition
Đa com of more under misthleoþum Grendel gongan, godes yrre bær; mynte se manscaða manna cynnes sumne besyrwan in sele þam hean.
Translate Beowulf
Then, under the cover of mist, Grendel came creeping up from the swamp.
He brought God’s wrath with him. The foe of mankind meant to entrap some humans in the high hall.
What are the three phases of Viking activity?
- c. 790-850: invididual raids
- 865-896: Invasion and settlement
- 980-1035: Second invasion
What happened in Phase 1 during the Viking activity in England?
individual raids
-> Lindisfarne (793)
-> Jarrow monastery (794)
What happened in Phase 2 during the Viking activity?
Invasion & settlement
-> Battle of Edington, 878
-> Establishment of Danelaw
What happened in Phase 3 during the Viking activity?
Second invasion
-> Cnut the Great of Denmark becomes King of England
What did King Ælfred the Great establish?
- education: court school, promotion of literacy
- commissioned translations into OE
- military reforms, established burghs (e.g. Winchester)
- defended Wessex against Vikings, established Danelaw
Gif mon oðres wudu bærneð oððe heaweð unaliefedne, forgielde ælc great treow mid V scillingum, 7 siððan æghwylc, sie swa fela swa hiora sie, mid V pæningum
Translate the first Domboc by King Ælfred the Great in the 9th century
“If a man burns or cuts down another’s wood without permission, let him pay for each large tree with 5 shillings, and afterwards, for each (smaller one), however many there are, with 5 pence each.”
Gif mon oðerne æt gemænan weorce offele ungewealdes, agife mon þam mægum þæt treow.
Translate the second Domboc by King Aelfred the Great in 9th century
„If man (=somebody) kills somebody else at common work without intent, one needs to give the relative that tree.
What is important in OE phonology?
- root-initial stress (e.g. ge-‘sund)
- complex consonant clusters in onset (e.g. cnif, hring)
- voiced and voiceless fricatives were allophones
