Presents

Old English
Part 12

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 Dialogue 1
Æþelwulf and Leofwynn gangaþ tō þǣm ċēapstōwe,
forþǣm hīe willaþ ċȳpþing beċēapian. Hīe habbaþ
cræt, þæt þe hīe efngedǣlaþ. Þæt cræt hæfde myċel
crætehors.
Aethelwulf and Leofwynn are going to the market
because they want to sell wares. They have a cart
which they share. The cart has a big cart-horse.
Æþelwulf: Wes hāl, Leofwynn.
Aethelwulf: Hello, Leofwynn.
Leofwynn: Wes hāl, Æþelwulf.
Leowynn: Hello, Aethelwulf.
Æþelwulf: Hwæt ċȳpþing bringst þū tō beċēapianne?
Aethelwulf: What merchandise are you bringing to sell?
Leofwynn: Iċ bringe candella, sāpe, and þæt ealu þe iċ
brēaw on þǣre bēorbydene. And þū?
Leowynn: I am bringing candels, soap and the ale that I
brewed in the beer-barrels. And you?
Æþelwulf: Iċ bringe dēora fell, corn, and meolc.
Aethelwulf: I am bringing animal skins, grain and milk.
Leofwynn: Bringst þū wæter for þǣre fare?
Leofwynn: Did you bring water for the journey?
Æþelwulf: Æ, ġise. Iċ hæbbe hit hēr...lā, nese.
Aethelwulf: Oh, yes. I have it here...oh, no.
Leofwynn: Hwæt?
Leofwynn: What?
Æþelwulf: Iċ hæbbe hit forġitan.
Aethelwulf: I’ve forgotten it.
Leofwynn: Æ, þu scealt nīwe flaxe æt þǣm ċēapstōwe
ċēapian. Nū meaht þū wæterflaxe mine brūcan, ac þū
scealt hit mid asodene wætere eft fyllan.
Leofwynn: Oh, you must buy a new flask at the market.
Now you can use my water flask, but you must fill it
again with boiled water.
Æþelwulf: Ġecwēme.
Aethelwulf: Agreed.

Dialogue 2
Æþelwulf and Leofwynn asettaþ ċēapsetl on þǣm
ċēapstōwe. Folc cumaþ tō hāwianne þāra ċȳpþinga.
Sume þæs folces brūcaþ gild tō ċēapianne þinga, and
sume hwerfaþ þǣre ǣhte, þæt hīe habbaþ.
Aethelwulf and Leofwynn set up a booth in the market.
People come to view the merchandise. Some of the
people use money to purchase goods, and some barter
the goods (property) that they have.
Wīfmann cymþ tō þǣm ċēapsetl Æþelwulfes and
Leofwynne.
A woman comes to the booth of Aethewlulf and
Leofwynn.
Wīfmann: (tō Æþelwulf and Leofwynne) Wesaþ hāleþ.
Woman: (to Aethelwulf and Leofwynn) Hello.
Leofwynn: Wes hāl.
Leofwynn: Hello
Wīfmann: Hwæt ys se ċēap þisre sāpe?
Woman: What is the price of this soap?
Hēo ġebīcnaþ tō sāpe.
She points to a soap.
Leofwynn: Þrēo for siex peningum.
Leofwynn: Three for six pennies.
Wīfmann: Iċ ġiefe þē twēġen peningas for þrim.
Woman: I’ll give you two pennies for three.
Leofwynn: Þrēo for fīf peningum.
Leofwynn: Three for five pennies.
Wīfmann: þrim peningum.
Woman: Three pennies.
Leofwynn: Fēower peningum.
Leofwynn: Four pennies.
Wīfmann: Wit syndon ġemōd!
Woman: We (two) are agreed!
Leofwynn ġiefþ þā sāpas þǣm wīfmenn and se
wīfmann ġiefþ Leofwynne fēower peningas.
Leofwynn gives the soaps to the woman, and the
woman gives Leofwynn four pennings.

This lesson shows some of the cardinal numbers as

well as some other cultural aspects. In Anglo-Saxon
society, bartering was common. There also was a lack
of consistent pricing, and some people at the market
did not purchase with money, but rather just exchange
goods amongst them.
Also not the usage of some cases. The genitive is used
with verbs like hawian to look at, view and hwerfan to
exchange, barter to give the specified meaning. The
latter, for example, hwerfan, can mean to turn, change
if other grammatical cases are in effect. Other verbs
also take a genitive object, like ċēapian to buy,
purchase.
This concludes Part 12. New parts are made available
on patreon.com/stevevagabond weekly, so check back
often.

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