1. Anglo-Saxons & Vikings: Old and Early Middle English
Þórhallur Eyþórsson

2. Old English – some dates
449: Germanic tribes come to England
793: Scandinavian attacks begin
: Rule of King Alfred
1066: Norman invasion
1150: Middle English begins

3. Old English Dialects 1) Northumbrian 2) Merican 3) West-Saxon
4) Kentish

4. Some works in Old English
Beowulf
Lindisfarne Gospels
Rushworth Glosses
The Junius Manuscript
The Exeter Book
Gregory’s Pastoral Care

5. Some Old English works (contnd)
Boethius and Orosius
Homilies
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

6. Caedmon’s Hymn (8th c.) Northumbrian version
Nu scylun hergan    hefaenricaes uard
metudæs maecti    end his modgidanc
uerc uuldurfadur —   sue he uundra gihuaes  
eci dryctin    or astelidæ
he aerist scop    aelda barnum
heben til hrofe    haleg scepen
tha middungeard    moncynnæs uard
eci dryctin    æfter tiadæ
firum foldu    frea allmectig

7. Caedmon’s Hymn (8th c.) West-Saxon version
Nu we sculan herian    heofonrices weard
Metodes mihte   and his modeþonc
weorc wuldorfæder swa he wundra gehwæs  
ece dryhten    ord onstealde
He ærest gesceop    eorðan bearnum
heofon to hrofe    halig scyppend
ða middangeard    moncynnes weard
ece dryhten    æfter teode
firum foldan    frea ælmihtig

8. Caedmon – Modern translation (cf. van Gelderen, 81)
Now (we) shall praise heaven-kingdom’s guardian
Lord’s might and his thought
work wonderfather’s as he wonder’s things
eternal lord beginning established
he first created men’s/earth’s children-DAT
heaven as roof holy creator
then middle-earth mankind’s guardian
eternal lord after created
men-DAT earth god almighty

9. Caedmon’s Hymn Icelandic version (artificial!)
Nú skulum (við) *herja    himnaríkis vörð,
Mjötuðar mátt   og hans móðþanka,
verk veraldarföður, svo hann undra hvert,  
eilífur drottinn,    ár *stillti.
Hann *ærst skóp    alda/jarðar börnum
himin til hrófs,    heilagur skapari,
þá miðgarð    mannkyns vörður,
eilífur drottin,    eftir *táði
firum fold    freyr almáttugur.

10. Caedmon’s Hymn Modern English correspondences
Nu we sculan herian    heofonrices weard
Metodes mihte   and his mode-þonc
weorc wuldor-fæder swa he wundra gehwæs  
ece dryhten    ord onstealde
He ærest gesceop    eorðan bearnum
heofon to hrofe    halig scyppend
ða middan-geard    mon-cynnes weard
ece dryhten    æfter teode
firum foldan    frea ælmihtig

11. Caedmon’s Hymn Modern English correspondences
nu - now we
sculan - shall
heofon(rices) - heaven (+ Icel. ríki, Ger. Reich)
weard - guard
mihte - might  
and
his
mode-þonc - mood + thought

12. Caedmon’s Hymn Modern English correspondences
weorc - work
wuldor-fæder - world + father
swa - so he
wundra  - wonder
gehwæs  - which
ærest - ear(ly)
gesceop, scyppend - shape
eorðan - earth
bearnum - bairn (Scottish, cf. Icelandic)

13. Caedmon’s Hymn Audio: http://www.historyofenglish.net/
(Caedmons Hymn is no. 12)

14. Cædmon The earliest English poet whose name is known.
One of twelve Anglo-Saxon poets identified in medieval sources.
An Anglo-Saxon herdsman at the monastery of Streonæshalch (Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy of St. Hilda (657–680).
He was originally ignorant of "the art of song" learned to compose one night in the course of a dream, but later became a zealous monk and an accomplished and inspirational religious poet.
His story is related in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastical History of the English People") by St. Bede.

15. Beowulf An Old English heroic epic poem, 3183 lines
Anonymous authorship
Dates to between the 8th - 11th century
The only surviving manuscript dating to circa 1010.

16. Names in Beowulf
Beowulf— The name has received numerous etymologies. The name has sometimes been proposed as meaning "Bee Wolf," a kenning for bear. Though popular, this etymology has been disputed and others have been proposed, such as "Wolf of Beow" or "Barley Wolf"

17. Names in Beowulf
Hrothgar— Glory spear. (Throughout Beowulf, the Danes are called the "Gar-Denas"— spear-Danes.)
Hereogar— Army and spear
Hrothmund— Glory and hand or protection
Hrethric— Glory and kingdom
Ecgtheow— Sword-servant

18. Corresponding names in Old Icelandic
Beowulf —Bjólfur
Hrothgar— Hróðgeir
Hereogar— Hergeir
Hrothmund— Hróðmundur
Hrethric— Hróðríkur
Ecgtheow— Eggþjófur

19. Beowulf (lines 1-3)
Hwæt, we Gar-Dena in geardagum, þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!

20. Beowulf (lines 1-3) Translation
Hwæt, we Gar-Dena in geardagum, þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!
‘Indeed, we have heard of the courageous deeds of the Spear-Danes (and) their kings in earlier times, how the noble ones accomplished courageous deeds.’

21. Beowulf (lines 1-3) Translation
Hwæt, we Gar-Dena in geardagum, þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!
what, we Spear-Danes’ in yore-days (earlier times),
nation-kings courageus-deeds heard-of,
how the noblemen courageous-deeds accomplished

22. The Lord's Prayer: Old English
Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum Si þin nama gehalgod to becume þin rice gewurþe ðin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele. Soþlice.

23. Mod. English (literal translation)
Father ours, thou that art in heaven be thy name hallowed to receive thy kingdom (let) be done thy will on earth as is in heaven our daily bread give us today and forgive us our sins as we forgive our sinners (who have sinned against us) and not lead thou us into temptation but relieve us of evil. Amen.

24. Old English syntax - negation
Negation before the verb, as a prefix
Ic ne dyde
I not did = ‘I did not’

25. From Old to Middle English
The most dramatic change in the English language—the transition from Old to Middle English—involves external and internal changes:
A substantial portion of the (Germanic) Old English vocabulary is replaced by French and Latin words
The endings on nouns, verbs, and adjectives disappear
This loss is possibly the result of contact with Scandinavian and Celtic languages during the Old English period

26. Middle English
…usually considered to begin around 1150, when the synthetic character of Old English starts to change to analytic.
This change occurs at different times in different parts of Britain: in the North and East, it proceeds faster than in the South and West, probably due to Scandinavian influence.
The loss of endings and the many loans make Middle English look 'modern'.

27. From Old to Middle English
Some important Middle English texts:
Gawain & the Green Knight (mid 14th c.)
Langland’s Piers Plowman (late 14th c.)
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (late 14th c.)
Morte d’Arthur (late 14th c.)

28. Some more Middle English texts
The History of the Holy Rood Tree (12th c)
Ormulum (12th c)
Katherine Group (early 13th c)
Layamon’s Brut (13th c)
Cursor Mundi (various mss, e.g. Cotton, 13th c)

29. Still more Middle English texts
Wycliff and followers (late 14th c)
Chancary Documents (14th-15th c)
The York Plays (15th c)
The Paston Letters (15th c)

30. Cursor Mundi (‘Runner of the World’)
An anonymous religious poem from ca 1300 AD
The poem is written in early Middle English. Its nearly 30,000 lines of eight-syllable couplets are linguistically important as a solid record of the Northumbrian English dialect of the era
It is the most-often quoted single work in the Oxford English Dictionary

31. Cursor Mundi (northern features = green)
Þis ilk bok es translate (‘very, same’)
Into Inglis tong to rede
For the love of Inglis lede (‘people’)
Inglis lede of Ingland
For the commun at understand (‘to’)

32. Cursor Mundi (contd.) Frankis rimes here I redd
Communlik in ilka sted (‘each place’)
Mast es it wroght for Frankis man
Quat is for him na Frankis can? (‘what’, ‘no’)
In Ingland the nacion
Es Inglis man þar in commun

33. Cursor Mundi (contd.) Give we ilkan þare langage (‘each’)
Me think we do þam non outrage (‘I think’)
To laud and Inglis man I spell (‘lay’)
Þat understandes þat I tell

34. Cursor Mundi (contd.) Þe speche þat man wit mast may spede
Mast þarwit to speke was nede
Selden was for ani chance
Praised Inglis tong in France

35. Status of English in EME period
Not a prestigious language
Its use needs to be defended
However, after 1300 this changes and many texts on different topics are written in English