Presents

Old English
Part 23

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 Prepositions
Old English prepositions are used in a way similar to
Latin or Modern German, in that the nouns, pronouns
and agreeing articles and adjectives are take a
predetermined case based on the word. So,
essentially, some prepositions take the dative,
accusative, genitive, or instrumental cases, based on
the preposition in question.
Because of variations in form and time, as well as
copying errors, many times a preposition might take
more than one case in obscure situations. Some
prepositions take more than one case, which also
changes the meaning of the sentence.
The “Motion toward” rule is used in OE, in a similar
way to Modern German, so some prepositions, namely
in and on, will take the accusative when a transitionary
motion is implied (think into/onto), as opposed to
stationary or motion within (think in/on). When there
is motion towards an object, it takes the accusative,
but when it is stated as within the object, the dative is
used.
Here are some examples of the this concept:
(1) Se fisc swimþ in þǣre lace.
The fish swims in the lake.
(2) Se fisc swimþ in þā lace of ēa.
The fish swims into the lake from a river.
(3) Se hund ys in þǣre ciste.
The dog is in the box.
(4) Se hund hlēapþ in þā ciste.
The dog jumps into the box.
In (1), the fish stays within the lake, so there is no
motion toward, but in (2), the fish swims into the lake.
In example (3), we see that the dog is already in the
box, and thus is in the dative. This is opposed to (4),
where the dog is entering the box. These meanings are
significant in how they are to be translated and
interpreted.
Some prepositions, such as to, can have a range of
slightly different meanings if the cases change, but
tend to have a core grammatical case that governs it
(for to, it’s dative).
Occasionally, a few dative prepositions may take the
instrumental instead of the dative. This is true
especially in the earlier Old English texts, but can be
seen later as well. It can be treated essentially as the
dative case.
Another minor note is that in some cases, especially in
poetry, prepositions may appear after the noun or
pronoun they describe (I suppose that they are
technically postpositions then). The meanings do not
change, only the word order. It is possible this is just
for the purpose of stress or alliteration in the poems.
Below are some of the prepositions in Old English. This
is not an exhaustive list. Also take into account that
these are general groupings, and that other cases or
meanings may apply:
Dative Prepositions
æfter - after, along, about
ǣr - before, ere
æt - at, from, next, against, to
be/bi - by, beside, surrounding, upon, around, near, about
beforan - before
betweox/betweoh - between, among, betwix, amid
būtan - excluding, except outside, without
ēac - besides, with, in addition to
for - for, due to, instead of
fram - from, by, concerning
mid - with, along with
of - of, out of, off, from
onġean/anġean/onġeagn - against, towards, opposite, in reply to
tō - towards, to, at, until, to such an extent, so
tōġeanes/tōġean - against, toward
tōweard/tōweardes - toward, in the direction of
wiþ - against, opposite, in exchange for
Accusative Prepositions
ġeond - through, throughout
ōþ - until, to, unto, as far as
þurh/þuruh/þorh - through, by means of, by
ymb - surrounding, about, around,

Prepositions that take Either Accusative or Dative

binnan - dat. in, within; acc. into
in - dat. in; acc. into
ofer - dat. above, over; acc. over, above, throughout, upon
on - dat. on, in; acc. into, onto
under - dat. under ;acc. under, underneath
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