Old Engli.sh
The Portal to the Language of the Anglo-Saxons
About Old-Engli.sh
The website www.Old-Engli.sh is dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon language. It offers study tools, news on current linguistic research and resource development, a link directory, text editions, trivia articles and more.
About the Anglo-Saxon Language
Old English (OE) is the term used collectively for the earliest dialects of the English language, spoken by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in England from c. 400-1150. The first OE records date from c. 700 and all in all more than 1,000,000 word tokens in over 400 manuscripts have come down to us. OE prose boasts a wide variety of genres, ranging from legal and religious texts over historical, medical or scientific writing to fiction. The surviving OE poems, such as Beowulf or the Battle of Maldon, are among the finest examples of early Germanic legend and heroic poetry.
About Me
I'm a PhD Student at the University of Geneva. I'm maintaining this webpage on the side as a hobby. You can find out more about me by clicking on the My Research tab in the top menu.
Welcome to Old-Engli.sh!
| hu sliþen bið sorg to geferan þam þe him lyt hafað leofra geholena |
| 'how cruel is sorrow as a companion to the one who has few beloved friends' |
(The Wanderer, lines 29-31, from a late 10th century manuscript) |
The latest Old-Engli.sh News |
April 2016 | |
 Dictionary of Old English to publish letter H | |
2015 was a remarkable year for the Dictionary of Old English (DOE). The annual progress report for 2015 projects completion of the letter H, presents system upgrades, and announces important staff changes. | |
May 2015 | |
 “A word is born” - a virtual exhibit created by the DOE in 2014 | |
The 2014 Dictionary of Old English (DOE) progress report describes progress on the letter H, coordination with the Middle English Dictionary, and the creation of the virtual exhibit A Word is Born. Some notable retirements took place. Toni Healey, David McDougall, and Ian McDougall have stepped away after each devoting over 30 years of their lives to the DOE. | |
Old English Trivia of the Day |
Article for Thursday 22 June 2017 | |
 The development of Indo-European plosives in Germanic | |
Verner’s law describes a sound change during the Proto-Germanic era. It explains, among other things, the s/r alternation in "was - were". | |
Study Anglo-Saxon! |
Old English Language | |
 An Old English dictionary that's easy to use and accurate | |
Old-Engli.sh offers its own dictionary page. This online Old to Modern English glossary is simple, comprehensive and ideally suited for the translation of original Old English texts. | |
Old English Documentaries |
Produced in 1992 | |
 Before Babel A BBC-Horizon documentary | |
A BBC documentary on language reconstruction, the discovery of the Indo-European language family (of which (Old) English is a member), the hypothesis of language superfamilies and the notion of a mother tongue of all human languages spoken today. | |
Today's Featured Link |
Old English Texts - West-Saxon Gospels | |
The Anglo-Saxon Bible Michael van der Hoek's page provides free digital editions of the Old English bible and other Christian texts. In addition, there are modern translations of missing parts into the Old English vernacular as well as a small link section. http://wordhord.org/nasb/ |  |
Find here a collection of free,
downloadable Old English text editions and translations, including Apollonius
of Tyre. Ælfric's Catholic Homilies, Biblical Translations, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and
many other texts.
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