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    The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language

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    Maria

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    of 491
    Ren CONTENT. 1 Modelling English PART I THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 2. The origins of English 3 Old English ‘© Exryborrowings8 «Runes _¢ The Old English corpus 10 ‘ Lierary tis 12__* The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 14 ‘+ Splling16 + Sounds 18 * Grammar20_ * Vocabulary22 Lace borrowings 24 Dialects 28 4 Middle English ‘French and English 30+ The ransition from Old English 32 The Middle English compus34 # Liverary texts 36 = Chaucer38. * Spelling40* Sounds42_* Grammar 44 Vocabulary 46 + Latin borrowings 48. * Dialers 50 ‘+ Middle Scots 52 _* The origins of Sandard English 54 5 Early Modern English © Caxron'56 * Transitional exes58_ * Renaissance English 60 ‘* Theinlthorn controversy 61 * Shakespeare 62 ‘© The King James Bible 64 © Spelling and regularization 66 ‘* Punctustion 68 * Sounds 69 * Grammar70 ‘TheAcademydebate73. * Johmioa74 ‘Modern English *Transition76 * Grammatical uends77 © Prestiptivism 78 ‘ American English 80 Breskingthe cules 84 * Variery awareness 86. Scientific language 87 Literary voices 88 Dickens89_* Recenttzends90 30 56 * Vocabutary72 76 7 World English ‘© TheNew World 92. + American dislecs 93 ‘Black English Vernacular 96» Australia 98 ‘* South Afica 100 * South Asia 101 + West Africa 102 + Ease Afica 103» Souch-Fase Asia and the South Pacific 104 * Aworld language 106 Numbersof speakers 108 Scandard English 110 © The future of English 112 + English threatened and as chrea: 114 + Canada 95 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY @ Thenature of the lexicon “+ Lexemet 118 ¢ Thesizeof the English ericon 119 «* Abbrevicions 120 © Proper names 122 # The size ofa person's lexicon 123 9 The sources of the lexicon. «Native vocabulary 124 + Foreign borrowings 126 4 Word-formation 128 © Unusual structures 130 «© Lexical eration 132. © Literary neologism 134 2 * New Zealand 99 6 us. 124 0 Etymology 136 * Lexical history 136 * Sewancicchange 138 + Follcesymology 139. * Place names140 + Surnames 148, ‘+ Ficsenames 150 * Nicknames 152.» Objectnames 154 * Eponyms 155 1 2 ‘The structure ofthe lexicon + Semantiestructure 156 Semancie elds 157 + Dictionaryand cheszurus 158+ Collocaions 160 + Lexical predicabilcy 162 * Klioms 163. * Synonyms 164 + Antonyns165.* Hyponyms 166 * Incompatibiliy 167 + Other sense rations 168 156 Lexical dimensions * Loaded vocabulary 170 * Taboo 172. * Swearing 173 170 ‘Jargon 174 Doublespesk 176 + Political correctness 177 + Catch phrases 178 * Vogue words 179 * Slogans 180 * Graffii 181 + Slang182 * Quotations 184 Proverbs 184 ‘ Achaisms 185. * Clichés 186 ¢ Lascwords 187 PART III ENGLISH GRAMMAR 188 18 Grammatical mythology 190 " 6 16 + The nature of grammar 190 ‘+ Kaowing veknowingabou 191. + Tradicional grammar 192 + Pesriptive grammar 194 * The 20dh-eneury legacy 196 +The za branches of grammar 197 The structure of words * Morphology 198. © Sufftation 198 * Nouns 200. * The spostrophe 203 + Verbs 204 198 + Adjectives 199 + Pronouns 203 Word classes ‘Pans of speech 206 * Traditional definitions 206 ‘+ Newdastes207. * Nouns 208 * Pronouns 210 ‘Adjectives 211 * Adverbs211_ © Verbe212 Preposiions 213 * Conjunctions213 + Incerjections 213 ‘The structure of sentences # Spokenand writen syntax214 + Types ofsenence 216 + Sentence structure 217 * Sencencefinetions 218 ** Clause elements and types 220 Phrases 222 + Nounphascs222 + Verb phrases 224 4+ Muliplesemences226 » Abbreition 228 «+ Disjunctsand commentdauses 229» Reporting speech 230 '* Sentence informacion 231 * Beyond the senrence 232 214 CONTENTS _ tPhoneesan phonology 296 + Vc organs236 Voweh237 * Conorans242 + Slates 246 Connected spcch 247 «Pes 248 | Seundeymbolsm 250 + Pomuciionin patie 54 The writing system 256 | Graphetics and graphology257 © Typography 257 alphabet 258» Properie oflerers 265 + Leerfiequency 265. * Leer distribution 266 Leversymbolism 268. * Analysing handwriting 269 Graphercvaciey 270 * Spelling 272 Sources ofiregulatity 274 # Spelling reform 276 Punctuation 278 © Thedevelopment ofthe writing systern 280 ART V USING ENGLISH 286 ‘of discourse 286 Structure ve use 286 * Pragmatic issues 286 The nature ofdiscoutse287 © Microlinguistic eadies 288, Textsand varieties 290+ Speech ve wricing 291 22 Personal variation 394 ‘Individual diferences 394 # Deviance 395 Word games 396 + Rule-breaking variries 400 + Theedges oflanguage 403 _* Jokes and puns 404 * Comicalphabers 407. * Varieryhumour 410 ‘Literary freedom 412 * Phonetic and phonology 414 = Grapheticsand graphology 416 © Grammarand lexicon 418 * Discourse and variery 420 * Stylomecry 423, PART VI LEARNING ABOUT ENGLISH a8 23 Learning English as a mother tongue 426 ‘Child linguage acquisition 426 Literacy 427 + Grammatical development 428 ‘*Earlywordsandsounds 430 Reading and writing 432 + Insufficient language 434 _# Language disbliy 434 24 New ways of studying English 436 * Technological revolution 436 * Corpusstudies 438 * National and international corpora 440. * Dictionaries 442 ‘Innovations 444 # Sources and resources 446 Sociolinguistic perspective 364 * Received Pronunciation 365, Prescripcveattinudes366 * Gender 368 * Occupation 370 + Religion37_ © Science 372 Law374 * Plain English 377 Politics 378 + News media380- * Journalism 382 Broadcasting 384 + Weather forecasting 385 * Sporescommencary 386. * Advertising 388 Restricted varieties 390» New varieties 392 ‘Mixed medium 292 * Monologue and dialogue 294 APPENDICES. 447 20. Regional variation 298 1 Glossary, 48 * Accent and dialect 298 * International and incranational 299 II Special symbols and abbreviations 461 + Adayin he lifeofthelangusge 300 I References 462 * Ampericon and Brish English 306 # Amesican dialects 312 IV Further reading 467 BridshdlecesS18 * Scotland 328 + Wales 334 V Ines of linguistic rems 470 ‘Ireland 336 * Canada 340 © Caribbean 344 VI Index of authors and personalities 472 + Pidginsand crcoles 346 * Awsuala 350 VI Index oftopice 5 + New Zeslnd 354 * South Africa356 * New Englishes 358 Acknowledgements 496 24 Social variation 364 PREFACE ‘A book about the English language ~ or about any individual lan- ‘guage ~ isa daring enterprise, for it has as many perceptive critics as there are fluent readers, The language asa whole belongs to n0 onc, yet everyone owns part oft, hasan interest init, and has an opin- jon about it. Moreover, whenever people begin co tale about their ‘own language, they all have something to offer ~ favourite words or sayings, dialect anecdotes and observations, usage likes and dislikes. Individual linguistic memories, experiences, and abiliies enable ‘everyone to make a personal contribution to language chat. In a sense, we are all truly equal when we participate ~ even though this ‘democratic vision is disturbed by che widely-shared perception that some (notably, those who have leamed the terminology of language study) are mote equal than others. The stories of English ‘That is why the metaphor of ‘the story’ (asin ‘the story of English’) issomewhat miseading. Thercis no one'story’ of English. There are innumerable individual stories, And even if we look for broad nas- rative themes, chere are several dimensions competing for our atten- tion. For example, there is the struccurl sory ~ che way the sounds, grammar, and vocabulary ofthe language have evolved. There is the social story — the way the language has come to serve a multiplicity ‘of functions in socery. There isthe literary story ~ the way writers have evoked the power, range, and beauty of the language to express new orders of meaning, And there isthe chronological story—appar- cently che most sraightforward, though even here iris nor possible wo give a simple account, in terms of a beginning, middle, and end, ‘Theres no single beginning co the story of English, but several, with waves of Anglo-Saxon invaders arriving in various locations, and laying che foundations of later dialece difference. There is no single middle, but several, with the language diverging ealy on in England and Scotland, then rauch later raking different paths in Britain, ‘North America, and elsewhere. And, as we observe the increasingly diverse directions in which English is currently moving around the ‘world, there is certainly no single end. A traveller's guide ‘The biggest problem in compiling this book, zecoxdingly, was what order to impose upon the mass of material which presents itself for inclusion. have started with history, moved on to structure, and concluded with use. But it might have been otherwise, and I have ‘written the six partsso that cis possible for readers to begin with any fone of chem and move in any direction. The same principle was applied to the structure of each part. While there isa certain logic of exposition in some copics (such as Parc I, che history of English), there is none in others (such as Part V, the account of major regional for social varieties). In all cases, therefore, chaprers, and sections within chapters, have been planned as self-contained entities, with relevant conceptual underpinning provided by the frequent use of cross-references. TThe basic unit of organization in the book i the double-page spread. Sentences never cross turn-over pages, and the vast majority of | topics are treated within the constraints of a single spread. I have tried to ensure that it willbe possible for eadessto dip into thisbook at any point, and find a coherent treatment of a topic in a single opening. There is too much in any language for the information ro be assimilated ina continuous reading, and isis especially soin the case of English, with is lengthy history and vast range of use; and ‘while some may wish to read this book from left o right, I suspect ‘most will prefer to make more leisurely excursions over a period of time ~ more a casual stroll than a guided cour. The double-page spread approach is designed for that kind of traveller. Indeed, the metaphor of travelling is far more suitable for this book than che metaphor of story-telling. Treatment and coverage Thave kept several criteria in mind while writing CEEL(pronounced ‘seal’, as we have come to call i), I have tried co find a balance beeween talking about the language and letting the language speak for itself. Most spreads distinguish berween an expository overview and detailed examples (lige through the typographic convertion of main text vs panels). Then wit provide examples ofthe wonder which can be found when we begin to look carefully at the language. All languages are fascinating, ‘beautiful, full of surprises, moving, awesome, fun. I hope I have succeeded in provoking a least one ofthese responses on every page. I would be disappointed if, after any opening, a reader did not feel to some extent entertained, as well as informed. Obviously it has all been a personal selection, The hardest part in | fact, was the choosing. Once I had decided on a copic foraspread. I | in each spread, I have tried to ‘would collect material relating to it from as many sources as | could find. I would weite the opening perspective, and then look at all the ‘material co find textual and pictorial illustrations. Invatiably I had enough material to fill several spreads, and choosing what to put in and what to leave out was always painful. The moral is plain. There are several other possible encyclopedic worlds. Wider horizons In particular there has not been space to go into the many applica tions of English language studies in proper decal. Itouch upon some of these areas in Part VI, but the aim of that partis not to be com- prehensive, but simply to illustrate the various directions that applied language studies can take. There are many other horizons | which can only be approached by using systematic information about the language, bur this book does not try to reach them. How- ver in view oFits special place in the history of language study, Ido try to reach out in the direction of literature as often as possible,and it is pethaps worth drawing attention to the way that literary exam- ples are dispersed throughout the book. I have aways been strongly include a separate ae called Sete like ‘literary lan- ig’ s0 Thave nor done so—a position which is discussed towards ‘end of Chapter 22. Many pages, accordingly, display literary fesence ~ sometimes by way of seylistic comment, ofen through fan enterprise ofthis kind has succeeded, iis because its author has jlanayed to balance on the shoulders of many others, without too a falling off. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Professor i; Pitiney Bolton, of Rutgers University, who read the whole text of 5 ook and offered innumerable valuable comments and sugges sns, I must thank Dr Andy Orchard and Professor David Burnley cir advice on several points in the Old and Middle English rs. And a number of other scholars or organizations have Jeet finda bea thacnion ofa praia rpi de pois ‘contact ate acknowledged formally atthe end of the book, but I juld want 10 record personal thanks to Henry G. Burger, Low ‘Burnard, Kenneth Cameron, Jack Chambers Vinod Dubey, Leslie ‘Dunkling, Chatles Jones, Kevin Kiernan, Edwin D. Lawson, Geof- _ fey Leech, Valerie Luckins, Angus McIntosh, Chrissie Maher, Chris PREFACE ve Upward, Maggie Vance, and Lyn Wendon. Anne Rowlands helped me compile the indexes. tis perhaps unusual to thank a journal, but Thave to acknowledge an enormous debt to English Today, and thus to its editor, Tom McArthut, for bringing together such a valuable collection of English-language material. For anyone who wishes to rmaineain a healthy English language lifesryl, I prescribe the reading of ET three times a day afer meals. ‘The book has been areal collaboration with in-house staff at Cam- bridge University Press, and involved many planning meetings both in Cambridge and Holyhead, over period of some three years. Iris therefore areal pleasure to acknowledge the roles of Geoff StafFand lace Orchard, who managed and coordinated the project at Cam- bridge, Paula Granados and Anne Priestley, who carried out the pic- ture research, and Carol-June Cassidy, who read the text fiom the point of view of American English. I have much enjoyed collaborat- ing once again with Roger Walker, whose design experience will be evident on every page. Lam especially grateful Adrian du Plesis, director of Cambridge Reference, for his personal interest and encouragement from the earliest days of this project. And, ina dif- ferent sense of in-house, I thanik my wife, Hilary. whose edi comments have greatly improved he clarity of the text, and whose role in relation to the book’ planning and production has been so sreatthac it defies any attempt at conventional expression. David Crystal Holyhead, October 1994 1:-MODELLING ENGLISH ‘An essential carly step in the study of language is to model it. A ‘model’ in this context, is not 2 three- dimensional miniature replica: this book does not devore its space to techniques of moulding the English language in Play-Doh®, Meceano® or Lego® ‘To model the English language is, rther, co provide an abstract representation of its central characteristics, s0 that it becomes easier to see how ic is structured and used. ‘Two models provide this firs perspective. The frst, shown below, breaks the structure of English down incoa series of components; and these will be used to organize the exposition throughout Parts II vo IV. On ing page, there is a model ofthe uses of English; and this wll be used asa perspective for Parts I and V. ‘The omnicurious ee of the English ngus surveys the whole scene, in ways which are ‘ezamined in Part VI. A coherent, self-contained unit of eicourse Texts, which may be spoken, ‘wet, oF Figned, vary greatly in sia, fom such tiny Units a posters, captions, and bus tickets, to such large unis as novels sermons, and onversations. They provide the frame of reference within which ‘grammatical erica, and other features of English can be identified and interpreted. (SeePantV, $18) sian ‘A visual languege used chiefly by people who ace deaf. This took refers only to those signing ystems which have been devised to represent aspects of Engish structure, such ast ‘spalling, grammar, or vocabulary. (See $23) GRAMMAR ‘craphology Tre writing system of a language. Graphological for ‘orthographic study has two main aspects: tne visual segments of the written language, which take the form of ‘vowels, consonants, punetustion marks, and cataln typograpnial features andl the various patterns of graphic ‘design, suchas spacing and layout, which ada structure ane meaning to stretches of written ter, (See Part IV, 8) Phonology ‘The prontne: iation system of language. Phonological stu has two main aspect: Thesyster of rules governing the construction OF sentences, Grammatical Lexicon the sound segments ofthe Study isusualy divided The vocabulary ofa lan- 7 spoken language, which into two main aspects: tkethe form of vowels 94age-Lexlal study 69 Sintye aling with the ‘wide-ranging domain, involving sueh verso aroas ‘5 the sense relationships ructure and connection of fentences and morphology, dealing with the stucure and consonants; and the ‘arlous pattems of intone tion, rhythm, and tone of Yoice unin acdsrucure Daween werd teuseot Soa rmaton of words Iandmearingtostetces of | 2bbfevatlons puns and ee pal) speech See Pet NS17) pation of dictionaries. fee ert) BUTISIT ART? university courses and then asymmetries wellreresent | | Dresentan abstract design the regulates and i Just occasionally someone Wwhichreflectedthelr—erratcresearch paths whieh | | ives tovsualizelanguage perception ofthe topic As sreso mucha partof inaway which goes may pehepsbe Enaish language study. : beyond the purely invmeciately obvious this (Equal, of couse, they diagrammatic Ths print desgn bthe result ofthelr could represent the Wwasmadeby er studentsasattencingalecure on tie Structural disorganization Pertoftheirdegree They stucurecf hetnglih ofthe lecturer) Tworeaskedto tend language gen by be lectures trom different _presentatthor Te designs : i 1+ MODELLING ENGLISH 3 waunderstand the uses ‘of English without invest= (gating theirstracture? Structure and use aretwo sSidesotthesamecoin, WHY JANUS? asforwords heisalso ‘onthese pages~of ottenregardedasthe god structureand use-have TheRomanged,Janus, _ofbeglanings The month traitionally been studied hheraseenonaRemancoin of anusry'snamedafter independently ofeach Inhisusuatropresertation him ‘other G14). Amajortheme Wwithadouble-facedhead. _ Hislocation onthis ‘ofthe present books, Romanor otherwise, and Aspintassociated with openingspread has, toasert thelr inter: ‘isprindpleisteflectedin Goomaysandarchways, however afurthersignif- dependence, Whatare _-theorganizaton ofthe Tookingheckwardeaswell cance. Thetwofacetsof Englhstrucuresforifnot _presentbook se Preface). Tanguagestudyrepresented —tobeused? And how can Temporal variation Time affects a language, both the long tem and short ‘erm giving rise to several highy distinctive proceses ‘nd varieties, Long term: English has changed throughout the centuries, {can be seen from such cleely distinguishable linguist periods as Olé English, Miele English, and Elizabethan ‘Enoih. Language change san inevitable and continous ing process, whore sty is chiefly carried on by Phillogists and historical lnguists (See Pare) ‘Shart term: English changes within the history of ‘ingle person. Ths is most noticeable while hlidren are acquiring the meter tongue, but ti also seen when people leach a fo ‘elgn language, develop their style 2s adult ‘speakers or writers and, sometimes, find Socal variation | Society fects 3 snguage, in the sense “that any important | ypect of socal structure ‘eal function i ikely 0 “have a distinctive linguistic counterpart. ‘eonie belong to aiferent soca classes, perfor ‘ferent social roles, and ‘arty on different occupations. ‘The use of language is affeced by ther sex, age, ‘ee group, and educational beckground. English is being Increasingly affected by ol these factors, because its developing tole a 8 wore language is bring- “hat thelr linguist ablites are lost or Seriously impaled through injury or ds tease. Paycholinguists study language learning and oss as do several ether pro: fessionals, notably speech therapists anc Ing it more and more into contact languoge teachers. (ee Port, 623) ‘with new eatures and social sytere See Part V7, 521) Nowe Tynoipas Regional variation Geogrophy affects language, both within 2 county and between countia, giving rise tovagional sccents and dates, and to the pldgine and creole which emerged around the werld whenever Engish fst came into con- tact with other languages. Intranatiana regional varieties have Deen observed within English from ins earliest days, 2 seen in such labels as ‘Norther, ‘wondon’ and Stott. International varieties are more recent in ogi, as seen In such labels 5 “America. “Australan, and indian’. Regional language vatiation studied by soclolinguists, geographical linguist, dalectolo- (ist, and others, the actual designation depending on the focus and emphasis of the study. (ee 67 ane Part, $20.) Personal variation People affect language in the sense that an Indivigua's conscious or uncon ‘lous choices and preferences can result ina distinctive or even unique style Such Variations in sel-expresion are most notice ‘able in those areas of language use Where great cares being taken, such as in itereture and rumour But the uniqueness of incividuols,oing out of aiferencesin thelr memory, personality intaligenc Sociol backgroud, ond personal experince, maker distinc tiveness of syle inevitable in everyone. (See Part, $22) a -, s "ovat vaniaN® Because it's fun (One ofthe most popular leisure pursuisisto play withthe €nlish language mith ts words, founds, spellings and structures Crosswords, Scrabbie® media word shows, and many other ‘quizzes and quessing games Keep millions Because ts useful ‘Getting the language rlghtisa major ssuein almostevery comer of society. No one wentsto bbeaccused of ambiguity and obscurity, or find themselves talking or writing at cross purposes. ‘Themore ve know about the languagethe more chancewe shal ave of success, whether we are advertisers politicians, prasts, journalists, doctors lawyers~orjustordinary people at home tying to understand and beunderstocd WHY STUDY THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE? Because is facinating [Risremarkable how often the language turns ‘pase topic of interest In dely conversation = ‘whether itisa question about accents and clalects, acomment about usage and standards, happily occupied every day teasing thelr ‘orsimplycurlesity about awordserginsané _inguite bran centres and sending ther Fistor. running totheir dictionaries. Because i’simportant ‘The dominant rola cf English ca world {language forces it upon our attention ina way that no language hasever done before. As English becomes the chi means of ‘communication between nations tiscrcial 0 ‘ensure that itis taught accurately and ‘efficiently, and tostudychangesin tsstructure ond we Because itsbeauttul Esch language hasits unique besuty and power, arsean tober effectinthe works of ks gfeat ‘orators and writers. Wecansee the 1,000-year- ‘oldhistory of English writing only through the ‘last of lpnguage, and anything wolearasbout English dea language can serve to increase our apprecationaf isaratoryard erature. Becauseits there English, mare than anyother language, has attracted the interest of profesional linguists. It hasbeen analysed in dozens of different ways, _separtof the ingus’s aim of devising a theory ‘about the nature of anguagelin general. The ‘study of the engish language, inthis wa, becomesa branch of linguists English linguists, “The history of English isa fascinating field of study in ts own right, but also provides a valuable perspective forthe contemporary study ‘ofthe language, and thus makes an appropriate opening section for © this book. The historical account promotes a sense of identity and. ‘continuity, and enables us to find coherence in many of the fuctua- tions and conflicts of present-day English language use. Above all, it satisfies the deep-rooted sense of curiosity we have about our lin- sguistic heritage. People like to be aware of thet linguistic roots. ‘We begin as close tothe beginning as we can get, using che su mary accounts of early chronicles to determine the language's con rental origins ($2). The Anglo-Saxon corpus of poetry and prose, dating from around che 7th century, provides the first opportunity to ‘examine the linguisticevidence. $3 outlines the characterstis of Old English texts, and gives a brief account of the sounds, spellings, grammar, and vocabulary which they display. A similar account is given of the Middle English period ($4), beginning with the effects on che language of the French invasion and concluding with a dis- cussion ofthe origins of Standard English. Atall points, special arten- tion is paid tothe historical and cultural secting to which cextsrelace, and to the character ofthe leading literary works, such as Beownlfand The Canterbury Tales. “The Early Modern English period (65) begins with the English oF Caxton and the Renaissance, continues with that of Shakespeare and ‘Amap of Anglo Saxon England takon from Edmund Gibsofs 1692 edition ‘ofthe Anglo Saxon Chronicle. The Latincaption(tople) explain that the map shows the placer mentioned inthe Chronicle and in Od English Terature PART I The history of English the King James Bible, and ends with the landmark publication of Johnson’s Dictionary. A recurring theme is the extent and variery of language change during this period. The next section, on Modern English (66), follows the course of further language change, exam- ines the navure of carly grammars, traces the development of new varieties and arccudes in America, and finds in literature, especially in the novel, an invaluable linguistic mirror. Several present-day usage controversies curn out to have cher origins during this period. By che end of $6, we are within living memory The final section ($7) looks at what hes happened to the English Fanguage in the present century, and in particular at its increasing presence worldwide. The approach is again historical, tracing the ‘way English has travelled to the United States, Canada, Africa, Aus- tralia, South and South-East Asia, and several other pars of the lobe. The section reviews the concept of World English, examines the statistics of usage, and discusses the problems of intelligibilicy and identity which atise when a language achieves such widespread use. The notion of Standard English, seen ftom both national and international perspectives, curns out to be of special importance. Pare I then concludes with some thoughts about the future of the language, and abour the relationships which have grown up (some- times amicable, sometimes antagonistic) between English and other languages. 2-THE ORIGINS OF ENGLISH “To Aétius, chrice consul, the groans of the Britons. Thus, according co the Anglo-Saxon historian, the ‘Venerable Bede, began the letter writen to the Roman consul by some of the Celtic people who had survived ‘early decades of che Sth century. “The barbarians drive us to che sea. The sea drives us back towards the bar- barians. Berween them we are exposed 0 two sorts of death: we are cither slain or drowned.” ‘The plea fell on deaf ears. Although the Romans hhad sent assistance in the past, they were now fully ‘occupied by their own wars with Bledla and Aula, kings of the Huns. The attacks from the north con- tinued, and the Bricish were forced to look elsewhere for help. Bede gives a succinct and sober account of what then took place. ‘They consulted what was tobe done, and where they should seck auieance to prevent of repel the crl and frequent incusions ofthe northern nations: and chy all agreed with their King Vorsigern to call over to their ai, from parts beyond che sea, the Saxon nation... Tn che year oF our Lord 449... the nation of the Angles, or Saxons, being invited by the aforesaid king, arcived in Brivain with chee long ships, and had a place assigned them, toresidein by the sameking,n theeastera partofthe island, that they might thus appear 10 be fighting for their countey, ‘whilst cheir real intentions were co enslave ic. Accordingly they engaged with the enemy, who were come from the north ro give bate, and obraned the victory, which, being known at home in their own councry a also the ferclity of the county, and che cowardice ofthe Britons, a more con- siderable fer was quickly sen over, bringing a sill greater number of men, which, being added ro the former, made up an invineibl arn Bede describes the invaders as belonging to the three ‘most powerful nations of Germany ~ the Saxons, the Angles, and che Jutes. The first group to arrive came fiom Jutland, in the northern part of modem Den- smatk, and were led, according to the chroniclers, by B z j “Thehomelande ofthe Germanic invaders according tobece, andthediectionat theiinvasions. Lite known abou the exact loca. ‘lonsofthe bes. The tutes troy have had setlements furthersouth, and links ith the Frisians to the west. The ‘Angles may havelved fur- ther into Germany. The tn- ‘uinicatferences between these groups, likewise, are matters for speculation. The Xetlousclalectsof Old English (p. 28) plainly relate tothe areosinvhich the radersstted, but there aretoo few toxisto make ‘serious comparison posible. Englithiea member ofthe western branch ofthe Germanic family of an- ‘guages. tis closest insruc- {ret Frisian~though hardly anything known about the ancient Fiions ‘ndthelrolein the invasions ‘Of Brits, Germanicisa 2+ THE ORIGINS OF ENGLISH foo Jutish brothers, Hengist and Horsa. They landed ‘a Bbbsfleer in che Isle of ‘Thanet, and sectled in the _ eas now known as Kent, the Isle of Wight, and parts ‘Hampshire. The Angles eame from the south of the ish peninsula, and entered Britain much lates along the eastern coast, settling in parts of Mercia, forthurabria (the land vo the north of the Humber, © where in 547 they established a kingdom), and what "snow Ease Anglia. The Saxons came from an area fur- ther south and west, along the coast of the North Sea, and from 477 serted in various pats of southern and south-eastern Briain. The chroniclers talk about groups of East, West, and South Saxons ~ distinctions ‘which ae reflected in che later names of Essex, Wessex, and Sussex. The name Middlesex suggests that there | were Middle Saxons too, Bede's account takes up the sory Ina short time, swarms ofthe aforesaid nations came over the island, and they began ro increase so much that they became cerible to the natives themselves who had invited them, Then, havingon sudden entered inco league with che Picts, whom chey had by this ime expelled by the Force of theic ams chey began to cura their weapons against chit confederates. ‘The Anglo-Saxon Chrosicle (se p.15), compiled over acencury later than Bede under Alfed the Great, gives agrim catalogue of disasters forthe Britons. 457-In this year Hengest and AEs fought against the Brivons ata place which is called Creeganford [Crayford, Kene] and ‘page from one ofthe manuscripts of Bede's Ecclesiastical History. The language is Latin, there slew four chousand men; andthe Britons shen forsook Kent and fed co London in great terror 465: In this year Hengest and Esc fought agains che Welsh near Wippederleot and there slew twelve Welsh nobles: and ‘one ofthe chanes, whose name was Wipped, was slain there 473: In this year Hengest and Aese fought agains che Welsh ‘and capeured innumerable spoils, and the Welsh fed from the English as one flies from fie. The fighting went on for several decades, but the imposition of Anglo-Saxon power was never in doubt. (Over a petiod of about a hundred years. further bands of immigrants continued to arrive, and Anglo-Sexon serelements spread toall areas apart from the highlands ‘of che west and north. By the end of the Sth century, the foundation was established for the emergence of the English language. THE NAME OF THE LANGUAGE With scant respect for priorities, the Germanic invaders ealled the native Celts wealas (foreigners), from which the name Welsh is derived, The Celts called the invaders ‘Saxons’, regardless of their tribe, and this practice was followed by the easly Latin writ- crs. By the end of the Gth century, however, the rem ‘Angi Angles) was in use — as early as 601, a king of Kent, Athelbert, is called rex Angloram (‘King of the Angles) ~ and during the 7th century Anglfor Anglia (for the country) became the usual Latin names. Old English Engle derives from chis usage, and the name of the language found in Old English texts is from the ‘outset referred to as Engltc (the s spelling represent- ing the sound s). References to the name of the coun cry as Englaland (land of che Angles), from which came England, do not appear uncilc. 1000. ‘Te remarkably reserved body ofaman,foundina peat bog in Denmark. Over 500suchremainshave been found throughout northern Europe, many in there formery occupied bythe {Germanic bes. the person har been mrdeved, possibly arasacrfcialvictimto the Earth goddess TheReman historian Tacituswrote of the tribes ins Germania, and at ne point mentions group of tbes including the Eudoses and the Angi: "These tribes are protected by orestsand vers, noris there anything noteworthy about them inlvdally extent that they worship incommon Nerthus,or Mother Earth, fandconcelveher 35 Fntervering inhuman asics, and riding procession through the ctiesof mon. (Grans.Rt Hutton, 1914) ‘The Northumbrian monk, Bede, or Beda, known a5 the Venerable Seca. Born at ‘Monkton on Type in. 673, he was taken atthe age of 7 tothe new monastery at ‘wearmouth, moving in 682 ‘tothe ister monastery at Jaro winere he worked as ‘Burlier and teaches. He died in735, and was buried at Jarrow Hs masterpiece, the Historia Eeclsistca Gents ‘Anglorum (Eclesistcal Hi tory ofthe English Nation’, ‘was Begun in hislater yeas, land fined in 731 focus iethe growth of Chitianity in England, butitsscope is ‘much wider, and itis recog tized as the most valuable source we have fr early English history. wiriten in Latin, an Old Ergish transla tion was made nthe reign of Ares the Great, 3-OLD ENGLISH THE EARLY PERIOD Before the Anglo-Saxon invasions (§2), the language (or languages) spoken by the native inhabitants of the British Isles belonged ro the Celtic family, introduced by a people who had come to the islands around the middle ofthe first millennium BC. Many of these set- tlers were, in turn, eventually subjugated by the Romans, who arrived in 43 8C. Bueby 410 che Roman armies had gone, withdrawn co help defend their Empire in Europe. After 2 millennium of settlement by speakers of Celtic, and halfa millennium by speak- crs of Latin, what effect did this have on the language spoken by the arriving Anglo-Saxons? Celtic borrowings There is, surprisingly, very lisle Celtic influence - or perhaps its not so surprising, given the savage way in which’ the Celtic communities were destroyed oz pushed back int the areas we now know as Cornwall, ‘Wales, Cumbria, and the Scottish borders. Some Cele: (or Romano-Celts) doubrless remained in the east and south, perhaps as slaves, perhaps intermarrying, but theit identity would after a few generations have been. lose within Anglo-Saxon socicey. Whatever we might expect from such 2 period of cultural contact, the Celtic language of Roman Britain influenced Old English hardly ac all. Only a handful of Celtic words were horrowed atthe time, and a few have survived into modern English, simecimes in regional dialect use: enag, cum ‘deep valley’, binn ‘bin’, carr'rock’, dunn ‘grey, dun’, Brock ‘badger’, and. sorr ‘peak’. Others include bannoe “piece, rice'rle, gaflue'small spear’, brats‘cloak’, lub ‘lake’, dhy “sorcerer, and clucge “bell”. A few Celtic words of this period ultimately come from Latin, brought in by the Irish missionaries: these include casen ass, ancor ‘hermit, ster ‘history’, and possibly «ro But there cannot be more than exo dozen loan ‘words in all. And there are even very few Celeic-based place names (p.141) in whats now southern and east- en England. They include such civer names as Thames, Avon ‘rivet, Den, Exe, Usk, and Wye. Town names include Dover ‘water, Eccles ‘chuech’, Bray ‘hill, London (a tribal name), Kent (meaning unknown), and the use of caer ‘fortified place’ (as in Carlisle) and pen ‘head, top, hill (asin Pendle. Latin loans Latin has been @ major influence on English through- tory (pp-24,48, 60, §9),and there isevidence ofits role from the earliest moments of contact. The Roman army and merchants gave new names to many local objects and experiences, and introduced several fresh concepts. About half of the new words were to do with plants, animals, food and drink, and household items: Old English pie‘pea’, plante‘plane, win'wine’ ‘ye ‘cheese’, carte‘cat’,cetel ‘kettle’ dive'dsh’,eandel ‘candle’. Other important clusters of words related to clothing (bels‘bele, cemes ‘shite’, suiere shoemaker’), buildings and secclements (rgle ‘tile, wall ‘wall, cease ci sra'coad), macy and legal instications (wie‘camp, diba‘sayin’,srfan decree), commerce (mangian ‘rade’, ceqpian “ouy, pund “pound, and religion (masse ‘Mas’, munue ‘monk, mynster ‘min ster). ‘Whether the Latin words were already used by the Anglo-Saxon tribes on the continent of Europe, or ‘were introduced from within Britain, is nox always clear (though a detailed analysis ofthe sound changes they display can help, p.19), but the total number of Latin words present in English ac the very beginning of the Anglo-Saxon period is not large ~ less than 200. Although Vulgar Latin (the variery of spoken Latin used throughout the Empire) must have continued in use ~at least, as an official language — for some years after che Roman army left for some reason it did not take root in Britain as it had so readily done in Conti- rental Europe, Some commentators see in this the e (i Wine ANGLO-SAXON OR ‘OLD ENGLISH? ‘The name Anglo-Saxon come toreferin the 1ecncentury to allapectsof the eaty period “people, culture, along: ‘age. kiestilthe usvalway coftalking about the people Sndthecuturathistory; but Since the 1th century aber thehistoryof languages ‘ame tobe studiadin deta, ‘OldEngishnasbeen the pre forredame fortnelang- Lage. Taisname emphasizes thecontinuing development lof enals, from Anglo-Saxon timesthvough Middle English tothe present day, anditstheusage of there Sentbook (abbreviated Or} Someauthors, nonetheless, stile the term Angie Saronforthelanguage, the choicecfthisname efiecing theirvewthatthenatureof ‘helanguage inthis early Peri sverydttferent from linatislatertobe found Under the heading of english Aeconstruction of Anglo- ‘Soyon huts at West Stow, Suffolk Each ut issomne 15-20 feat (5-6 min longth 3 OLD ENGLISH RUNES conscted of 21 symbols ‘The inscriptions in Od OlsEnglshyrastirst written Engith are found on intherunicalpnabet. This weapon, jewelery, mons alphabetwasusedinnorth- ments, and other artefacts, fem Europe-inseandinavi, and te largely from the present-day Germany, and Sth orth eanturies ap, the he tritshles-andithas earliest fat Caitorby-Not- bbeenpreiervedinabout wich) posblybelng late ‘AoeDinscrptionsanda few ath century. They often say manuscripts itdatesfrom skvply ite made or owned ‘around the sideenturyad. the abject. Most ofthe Nooneknowseractvwhere large une stones sy ile thealphabotcamefrom, but_more than X ralsed this word, but thera sno ev dence that they were pre Sent in Old English. Current resaarch suggests thatthe ‘word run had been thor ‘oughly assimilated into ‘go'Saxon Christiane, ‘and meant simpy sharing ‘of knowledge or thoughts” ‘Any extension tthe world ‘of magic and superstition ot part of the native ade tion. Medern English une is not even asurvival ofthe itseemstobeadevelop-stoneinmemory of Y',end Old Engish word, bute rmentefeneoftheaiphe often the message later borrowing from Norse betsefsouthernEuroze, uncle. via Latin, probablythe Roman, which For the modern, magical Funestesemble closely. The meaning of rune sense of rune we are there Thecommen cunicsipha- What rune (OE run) means boetfound throughouttheisdebatabla, There sa area consisted of 24lettas, long-standing tradition Reanbewrtiennorzon- which sterbutes to itsuch tallyineitherdirection. sch Senses as whisper. ys letterhadaname andthe tery, and secre, suggest- aiphabetatawnclawas Ing thatthe symbols were Glledby henameotitsfirst_cxginally used for magical Sbxletors, the uthorc(in. or mystleal rituals. Such thesamewayastheword asocations were certainly most famously in the mit alphetetcomesfromGreck presantinthe way the | ing f Tolkien (9.185). Sfehe + Deta). everson pagan Vikings (ond possibly (Aer C.€. Fel, 1991) oundinBriteinusedextra the Continental Germans) letterstocopewith the used the corresponding range of sounds foundin fore indebted tothe Seandl- ‘avian and not the Anglo Saxon tradion, tis this senso which surfaced inthe 190) century ina vatoty oF esoteric publications and ‘ohich lives oni the popu larand fantastic imaging tion ofthe 20th, perhaps Old English; in ‘meaning (where ad iemostsevel ‘oped form, in = feoh cattle, wealth Street eee foot Gan uch Nerombrait | F i: woe ° b pane THE ow Re SeeeeeeeSreee ae ee ere EncusHrunic | & on ALPHABET k ag geo it x ier r - pat hal ie BeeBe we | Sgt mene ‘these are known). It + i is = does nat give the ‘ ger vent “many variant shapes t 1 eon ca wathantefcain |. 3 2 fren ec ‘sete ‘tons. The symbols con- & 7 ‘sist mainly of intersect- Y fH ‘sige! —_ {ng straight lines, show- a . tions Tvleg08) mathe pros fr a ‘ toe pes ‘engraving on stone, = ‘wood, meta or Bore. ® ei coh fee ‘Manuscript uses of runes m ba man — Bay 10 exist in a few early * waters foams rota in four i 1 woe gb) Pasages ere the nome - in esate Er oymenul repre x s peer sented), and in the solu- R a dag - OY Yorstosome of the riddles | py a ‘oak In the Exeter Book (0. 12), a * =. ash and arein evidence unt F wee ‘the 11th century, especially F * a - Inthe north but there are t y ae earth vey tewatinem , a 1 gil Randa a F frome weno") * ‘which ean be Interpreted. The picture shows he panel ‘with the adoration ofthe Magi alongside the Germanic EARLY INSCRIPTIONS ‘There are ess then 30 clear ruricingeiptionsin Old English some containing onlyasingle name. The wo ‘mort famous examples both ate fromthe sth century, ‘andrepresent the Northum- Bran dialec (p28). Bethinseriptions makesome ‘set the Roman alphabet aswell, The Ruviwell ross, near Dumfries, Scotland is 18 feet Grp high. ls faces contain panels depicting events in thelifeof Crist andthe eorly Church, a5 well scary ings of birds and beasts, and ines of runes sround the edges are imilrto part of {the 01d English poam The Dream of the Rood” (raed = ‘ros inthe Vercelli Book, Aglested extract isshown below (there are no spaces between the words inthe ceriginal inscription also Somescholars ranacribe “Dood as boat, Ih PRM PLD BPPME Batra ic was mib blode bistemid | was with blood bedewed The Franks Casket it richly carved whalebone box Thusvating mythological and raligous scenes, not al of legend of Wayland (Welane) the Smith. The inscriptions ate partly in Old English, and partyin Latin ' ceeeenenenetmemeeieniain Te box fst come to light in the 19th century, ‘owed by a farmer fom Auzan, France. eis named after Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, ‘through witom Ie came tobe deposited inthe British Museum. One side was missing, Buti later ‘ame into the possesion of the Bargello. tiuseum, Florence, onde cast was made oft so ‘thatthe boxin the British Museum now appears complete fa PART ‘THE AUGUSTINIAN MISSION Inwouldbe a considerable eee ecetmaege There isa ‘dark age’ between the arrival of the Anglo- ‘Augustine brought Christian. Saxons and che first Old English manuscripts. A few: ‘ty to Britain, This religion had scattered inscriptionsin the language date from the Sth. teeay arrived throvahre and Gth centuries, written in the runic alphabet which centuryhed ectuallybeen the invaders brought with them (p.9), but these give sven of very litte information abour what the language was like. The lierary age began only after the arrival of the Roman missionaries, led by Augustine, who came to Kent in AD 597. The rapid growth of monastic cences fed to large numbers of Latin manuscripts being pro- duced, especially of the Bible and other religious texts. Because of this increasingly literary climate, Old English manuscripts also began to be written ~ much THE OLD ENGLISH CORPUS St Patek, who converted Ie landin the eel Sth century, anda goodly numberof eaty Welch ints names aro romemberedin placenames beginning with Lian (church [off The tory of St Alban {Galstohave been maryredin 305 nearthe cy of Verulam, modern Stabe) is catles, indeed, than the earliest vernacular texts from ‘erountedindetalbytede, other north European counties, The fist texts, dating guste’ task as mare soelgestines task as me from around 700, are glossaries of Latin words cans- Sarons.Hetiad been provof lated into Old English, and a few catly inscriptions themonssteryofSt raw in and poems. But very little material remains from this, frome beloreeinachesen>* period. Doubtless many manuscripts were burned Heand hiscompanions arrived Inthe ile of Thonet, fo be met Kentin 664had to make a spe- byAthelborhtkingof Kent, clatpleatoonsurethat an andthey musthave been" Aliglo-Saxon speaking bishop heartlyrelieved to find hat WaSappointed so that with a iswifewasalresdya (Catee) — prelateot sown nation and Christian They were given Fanguage the King andhissub- leaveto live and preathinCan- jectsmight be more perfectly terbury, andwithin ayear the | structed inthe words and Kinghirselfwos converted. Tstrlesof the fit Ts was Tree bishopric were estab» thefistexpression of anise THE GREGORIAN PUN Indedethereis an account of St Gregory’ frstmaeting withthe inhabitants of England. Gregory evidantly a punster of come ality himself asked tobe sent to Britain seamis- sionary but the pope ofthe time efused presumably because of Gregory'ssccial pos- tion, theson of asenator and former prefet of the city. When Gregory became pope himself (580), hesent Augustine todo the ob for him. Bede els the story atthe ondothis account of Gregorystife Book 2,Ch. 1 ‘THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH during the 8ch-cenrury Viking invasions (p. 25). The chief literary work of the period, the heroic poem Beowulf, survives ina single copy, made around 1,000 = possibly some 250 years after ir was composed (hough the question of its composition date is highly controversial). There are a number of short poems, again almost entirely preserved in laze manuscripts, ‘over half of them concerned with Christian subjects — legends of the saints, extracts fiom the Bible, and devo- tional pieces. Several others reflect the Germanic tra- dition, dealing with such topics 2s war, travelling, patriotism, and celebration. Most extant Old English texts were written in the period following the reign of King Alfred (849-99), who arranged for many Latin works tobe translated —including Bede's Eeelsastical History (p. 7). But the total corpus is extremely small. The number of words in the corpus of Old English ‘compiled atthe University of Toronto, which contains all che texts (but not all che alternative manuscripts of. a text), isonly 3.5 million ~ che equivalent of about 30 medium-sized modern novels. Only « 5 per cent of this coral (c, 3,000 lines is poewy. Nor isthe account oft Gregory, which hasbeen handed down to usby the tradition of our ancestors, tobe passed by in sllence, n relation tos motives for taking such interest nthe Salvation of our nation (Britain). Risraported that, some merchants, havingjustarrved at Rome on acertain day, exposed many things forsalein ‘tha marketplace, and an abundance of people esorted thither to Buy: Gregory Rimself went with the es, ee amongother things someboys ware sett sl, th bodies white, thei countenancesbeautful and theic ‘alr very ine. Having viewed them he asked sis sad, ‘rom what country or nation they were brought? and Was tol, fom tha Bland Briain, whore Inhabitants ‘were of uch perzonal appearance, He again inquired ‘whether thote landers were Christians, sil Involved in the erorsof paganism’? andiwas informed ‘that thay wore pagar. Then, fetching adeepsigh fromthe bottom ofhisheart, Alas! what pity'sald ha, "that he author of darkness ie porsesredof man ‘ofsuch flr countenances; and thatbeing remark ‘ble for such graceful aspects, their mindsshouldbe ‘old of inward grace. He therefore again asked, ‘what nas the name of that nation? and was ‘answered, thatthey mere called Angles. Right, sald he, for theyhave an Angelic fece, endit becomes Sich tobe cohels with the Angelsnheaven, What isthename, proceededhe, ofthe province rom Which they are brought?" h wos replied thatthe nativesaf that prevince were called Dei."ruly ‘they re De a, saidhe,"witherawn from wrath, and called o the mercy of Gist Howistheking ‘ofthat province called” They told him hs nama twas lla apd he alluding to thename, sal, “Wallen, the praze of Go the Creator mast be sungin thoseparts (rans Stevens, 1723) Ishedbytheendofthe Which would be raised again ecaderwithAugustineas _Severalhundred yeaslatarin archbishop at Canterbury, Englshlanguege history Justusesbishopat Rochester, (P-61) fend Melitusat London, os bithop of the East Saxons. TRtooksome ime for this early success tobbecome cone dated. Foliowing ‘Augustine’ death ‘ious practices Between the Roman CChristiansand their Celtecounterpars, whoa ivedin gol tion from Rome for so Jong. Matterscame toa headin the confit over thedate of Easter, resolved (in favour of Rome) at te Synod of Whitey in 64, Partofthedffeutyin developing the faith must have been linguist: according to Bede, it was nearly 0 years before Anglo-Saten was being used aa missionary tongue King Egbert of OLD ENGLISH HWAST WE GARDE- What We SpearDanes’ nna, in gear-dagum. beod-cyninga in yorooys,tibe-kings peym ge-frunon hua xpelingas ellen Slory heard, how the leaders courage fiemedon. Of scyld scefing sceapena accomplished, Often Sel, Scet'son from enemies preatum monegum maghum meodo-setla Bands, frommanytriber”—mead-benches ‘oFteah egsode cont syBhan srest weard seized, terrorsedearls since fist hewas fea-sceaftfunden he bes fiofre gebad dlestiute found he is elef knew, ‘weox under wolenum weor8-myadum pah, sew under skies, inhonoursthrove, oBpethim eghwylcpara ymb-sittendra until tohimesch ofthe ‘neighbours ofer hron-rade hyran seolde gomban over whaleoad submitmust, tribute sylden bat was god cyning, Sem cafera wees Yelé: thet was good king! "To him heir was zxfter cenned geong in geardum bone god fer born young in awelings, him Goé sende folce to frofre fyren-Bearfe on- Sent tofolkforsolac; Intense misery geatb hie ex drugon aldor-lelase. lange Saw when they beforefelt” leaderles along hile him pes lifftea_wuldres wealdend while tothemforitLifeLord,giorys Ruler wworold-are for-geaf. beowulf wes breme worldhonourgave, Beow was famed, bled wide sprang scyldeseafera scede- renownwidely sprang of eylesheir Danish landur ‘Swa sceal (geong gluma gode taster tin So sal angen Bocce — 22, 182. Trans ge-wyrcean fromum feoh-giftum. on feder pfioserioon enure, —byfine feegifs —infothers... THE SCOPS TALE 7 isthe fest reat narrative poemin En ‘thesite ef modam Laira, near Copenhagen). Beowulf ravels rom eatin, southern Thisopening page of the Beowulftextistaken from the text now lodged nthe Bithh Libra, London imanuscrit reference, Coton Vitals A. 1). The manuscript sa copy medene 1000, butt Was damaged bye fire atthe Cottonlan Ubrary In 1731, hence the odd shape tothe page. The rae ‘ofthe poet, or cop, whose version is found here s at known, noristclear when the work was first Composed: ane scholarly traction assigns it tothe {8th century; another toe somewhat later date. IRisaheroictale abouts 6th-ertury Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, wha comas otheald of the Danish inglHrothgar Hrothgarsretinue unde daly attack roma monstrour tell, Grendel, atthe all fofHeorot( Har’ n Denmark (located possibiyon ‘Sweden, and after a great fight kllsthe monster, andi asecond ght the monstersvengeful mother, ows returns home, recounts story, ‘andislater made king of the Gea ruling for 50 years. There, asan oldman, hekilsa dragon ine fight thateadstahis own death. "This plot summary doernojutie tothe depth ‘ofmeaning and systicimpact ofthe work. Apart ‘rom ts lauding of courage, heroledetianc, oy. alty to one'slord, and other Germanic vals, Beovnslfintroduces elements of thoroughly ‘Chistian perspective, andtherearemany dro- smaticundercurrentsandirories. Tha mensterisa lala igure in Germai aditon, butik also Said tobeadescendantof ain, anda productot helland the dev The contrast between earthy suegeesand mortality arocurent theme, Wiile Beowulf is being feted in trothgars cour, the poet alludes toclsastrousevents which will one Say afactthe eats, providing anoteof doom thet counterpointsthe ttumphalevents ofthe narrative. The poem's fullofdramatiecontrastsof thisking. ‘Whether the poemis product of oalimprox= satlon or armore consciously contrived literary ‘work hos been abone ofscholarly contention, Many ofitsstriking features, in particulars erative rhythmical formulae (p. 23), are those we ‘would associate with oral composition, farthey ‘would bea valusbleaidtomemorization; onthe ‘otherhand, modern scholarsbave drawn atten- ‘onto the patterned complesity ofits narative structure, tsmetrical control and is excl ich ‘ness suggesting literary proces of composition (p. 23). Thecritie W.P Ker expressedone view, in The Dark Ages (1900) that Boowuifis "book to be eae = ut fortis one which makes maximum Lse ofa stylewich mustoriginallyhave evolved ‘orusein oral poet For an accountfsome ‘Modern investigative tecmniques seep. 437.) 2 PARTI THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH THE EARLIEST ENGLISH LITERATURE ‘The Battle of Maldon was foughtin August 991.Aviking fleet hadslled uptheestuary [As with foreign languages, there is never complete agreement about the best way of wanslating Old English texts; nor is there unanimity about the best ‘way of editing them. The extracts on these and adja- ‘ent pages are here to illustrate the range and charac- ter of the literature of the period, bur they also show the varied editorial practice which exists. Some edi- ‘ors have tried to make ther text resemble che original manuscript as closely as possible; others have pro- duced « modernized version. ‘About che need for editing, there is no doubr. To pfine a facsimile of Old English texts would be t0 ‘male them unreadable to all bue the specialist. There is plenty of scope for editorial intervention. Seribal habits of capitalization, punctuation, paragraphing, word spacing, and word division were diverse and inconsistent, and order needs to be imposed. There are no poetic line divisions in the manuscript of Beowulf for example (p.11), and these have to be added. Nonetheless, editorial practices vary greatly in the ‘way texts are made consistent. Some editors silently ‘THE BATTLE OF MALDON Byshapold mabelode, bord hafenode— se pes eald geneat—asc acpehtes he ful baldlice beomnasterde; + “Hige sceal be heardra, heorte be cenre, 1mod sceal pe mare, be ure mazgen ltl. Her li ure caldor call forhcapen, 3od.on greote. A mag gnornian see nu fram bis pigplegan pendan penc= Iceom fred feores. Fram ic ne pill ac ic me be healfe minum hlaforde, be spa leofan men licgan pence.” Spa bi Aelgares bearnealle bylde Bodric vo gube. Ofc he gar forlet, _Bythewold spoke; he grasped hisshield— he was.an old fllower—he shook the ash spear, very botly he exhorted the warriors: ‘Courage shallbe the fercer, heart the bolder, ho intends now to turn from this warplay. ‘am advanced in years. wil not hence, but by the side of my ford, ‘5ys0 dear a man, intend toe" LUkewise, God the son of Athelga, exhorted them all to the batee. Often he let the spear fy oftheRiverBlackwatertothe land of Northey, near Maldon Infssex.Theirpassage across theriver(nowealed Southey Creek) was opposed by Bythtnoth,ealderman of Een, andhishourehold The poem. ‘hich ldksabeginning and fend inthe extant manuscript, {allsofhow the English reject ‘the Viking demand for tribute, then allow them safe passage ‘cross the causeway rom Northey toenablea battleto ‘akeplace Thisturned outta beanunforunate decson correct scribal errors; others draw attention to them in parentheses. Missing levers atthe edge of a torn or burned manuscript may be restored, or their omission may be indicated by special symbols. Some editions add an indication of vowel length. Some replace ‘outmoded letters (p.16) by modem equivalents Poetic halflines may or may not be recognized (both practices are shown below). And editors vary in the attention they pay to the existence of altemative read- ings in different copies of a manuscript. ‘An important feavure, which can add 2 great deal 0 the ‘alien’ appearance of a text, is whether the scribes orthographic abbreviations are retained, ot are expanded. In some texts, forexample, pisused as the abbreviation for fer or for ffs 7 for the various forms of and, and the tilde (©) marks an expansion, usually co following nasal. (For later scribal conven- tions, see p.40.) hherolcally. The extract above s ‘romthelast few lines of the spirit the greater as our strength esens. ‘extant ex when Byehtncld, ere les our chief all havin down, sroldvarie; erases the q rol mich isthe purpose 2 noble man inthe dust. He hos cause ever to mourn Leese “The ford which led’othe ‘mainland, now bultup into ‘auseviay,sshown in the ple- ture. e'sonly some 77 yards 70 ‘long which would thus ‘enable the English and Viking Teaderstoshout thelr demands Pelspere pindan on be picingas; spa he on pam folcefyrmest eode, hheop 7 hynde, 08 per he on hilde gecranc, toeacrother-an exchange the deadly peor speed avay among the Vikings: \whichts dramatically recorded ashe went out in the forefront of the army, Inthepoem. he heved ond struck unt he pels inthe battle HOW DO TWELVE BECOME FIVE? Wer set sx wine mid his wifum twam ‘ond his wegen suno_ ond his twa dobtor, swase gesweostor, ond hyra suno twegen, freolico frumbearn; fieder wes per inne arazpelinga zghwadres mid, cam ond nefs. Ealra weron fife corla ond idesa_insitendra. ‘Aman stat wine with is two wives and histo sons and is two daughters, beloved sisters and their to sons, noble frst borrs the father wasn there cof both of those princes, the uncle and the nephew. inal there were five Jord and aces sitting in there ‘hiss one of the 35 poetic riddles tome of which date from the Bth century in the Exeter Bock, a late tOtecentury complition of seclar and rll gious poetry. By 1072 k belonged to Bishop Leofric of Bxetr, who bequeathed itt his cathe- ‘ral Tha slutign to the riddle comes from the Book of Genesis, where ts said th ‘daughters lay with hi, ancl each bo 3. OLD ENGLISH 8 THE RUNE POEM Enchstanza ofthis poem begins with the name of the rune printed alongside (p.9). The poem would have 'been passed on orally, the erythm and alteration ‘making easy to remember, much the same way 25 {hilren today learn "Thirty days hath September. Feoh byb frofur_fira gehwylcum— F iegilbcdhmannageoe milan hye dain sifhewile for Drihtne domes hleotan. Urbypanmod 7 oferhyrned, felafrecne deor, feohteh mid hornum, mare morstapa: is modig wuhe! orn byp deatle scearp, egna gehweyleum. anfeng ys yfyl, ungemetun rebe ‘manna gehwylcun de him mid resed. Os byp ordfruma elere sprece, Af visomes wn and wes fe and eorla gehwam eadnys and tohihe. Rad byb on recyde inca gehwyleum Rr icteantenbine am i sich natin meare megenheardum ofer milpapas. Cen byp owicera gehwam cup on fyre, blac and beorhtlic, byrne oftuse Ser hi zpelingas inne restap. Wealth a joy to every man— ‘but every man must share t well Ite wishes to gain glory inthe sight of the Lord. Aurochs fore, with gigantic horns, ‘a very savage animal, eAghts th horns 8 wellknown moor-stepper:it isa creature of ‘courage! Thorn is very sharp, harmful to every man ‘who soles unsultably severe To.overy man who restson It ‘Mouth isthe creator ofall speech, ‘supporter of wisdom and comfort of wise men, {and 3 blessing and hope to every man. Journey isto every warrior inthe hall pleatant and Btingly tough tohim who sits ‘na mighty steed over the mile paths Torch sto ever ving thing known by its ire; bright and brillag, burns most often FROM ALFRED WITH (Ole English poetic manuscripts contained no titles. Titles such as Beowulfor The Seafarerhave been added by editors, usually in the 19th century. Most of the poetry is also anonymous, the chief exceptions being the few lines known to be by Cedmon (p.20) and four poems containing the name of Cynewulf woven is runes into the rextsasan acrostic (p. 398), so that read- cers could pray for him, We know more of the prose authors, who included King Alfred, Archbishop Walf- stan, and Abbot /Blfric, but even here most of the surviving material, 2s in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (p.14),is anonymous. Alfred kyninghate gretan \Waerferp bscephiswerdum luli ond reondlee. king alfred sendshisgreat- ingsto Bishop Werferh nis ‘oumworés,Inoveand “THE OPENING LINES OF THE SEAFARER Magicbemesyifum sodgied wrecan, sibas ecgan, huie geswinedagum earfodhwile oftprowade, eee bitrebreostceare gebiden hebbe, easneeewnet gecunnad in ecole cearseldafela, avo ya geweale. Can labout myself true poem ution offoumeystellhowlintoisome-days hharship-timos often suffered Bittorheartsorrow have endured, cometo knowonship manysorrowhais crucirling of aves tovelis( Pastoral care), made 893, Alfedcontraststhe ‘arly days of English Cris, anigywithhisewn time for hich the dest uction caused bythevikir beantargalyto blame (0.25) FROM THE DREAM OF THE ROOD Pact wes geara iu— ic bat gyta geman— eticwas aheawen holtesonende astyred ofstfneminum. Genaman meder nefforttorepairthe damage, organizing the ‘rarslaton of majortexts ‘ini previously hadbeen ‘auilablecnly in Latin. Most ‘ofthe surviving manuscis seange fend ek sfoaeraih ae geworhtoa him par to wafersyne, hetoame

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