1. So how did the English language come to be?
Or. . . Who won?

2. The Vikings* & Saxons Constantly battled for control of England
Languages in England merged to become Old English (synonymous with Anglo-Saxon)
*another word for the peoples of Norway and Denmark. The word is actually a pursuit—”to go a-viking.”

3. King Alfred the Great (the ONLY “Great” in English history)
because he kept united tribes to repel the Danes (another name for the norse)
Treaty: He kept London & Wessex; Vikings kept the Danelaw (North and East England)
because he commissioned the Anglo-Saxon chronicles of Britain from the time of Caesar’s invasion to be written in ANGLO-SAXON (ENGLISH) NOT LATIN!!

5. Alfred Jewel
"AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN", "Alfred ordered me to be made"
In the Ashmolean in Oxford

6. Two Religious Centers Arose
York—Northern England
Canterbury—Southern England

7. The Vikings Win, sort of . . .
Ethelred the Unready -weak king -took throne at age 11 was defeated by
King Canute/Knut, who was crowned King of ALL England, (this lasted until another set of Vikings/Norse, the Normans, conquered in 1066.)

8. Old English/Anglo-Saxon
The emergence of a written language.

9. Anglo-Saxon/Old English
Language spoken and written from about the 5th to 11th centuries around the time of the Battle of Hastings (1066).
Standardized in 10th century through influence of dominant kingdom of Wessex.
Based on runic script.
More than ½ of our modern words have AS origins

10. Old English Words & Modern Equivalents
Wicu
Cyning (c-k)
Scort (sc=sh)
Gærs
Eorþ (þ & ð= th)
deor
cniht
Modern English
Week
King
Short
Grass
Earth
Deer (orig. wild beast)
Knight (orig. youth)

11. The Book of Kells Tradition: Written by St. Columba
Housed in Ireland at Kells Monastery
St. Aidan—illuminator
(founded Lindesfarne)
Written in Latin

12. Lindesfarne Gospels Mixes Celtic tradition with Saxon Art
Monastery kept learning alive in the “Dark Ages” Of Viking invasion

13. What are the black words between the lines?
Illuminated pages --Latin interlaced with OE translation
English added to the Latin around 970 A.D. –First English translation of the Gospels (Very significant in light of later controversies over English Bibles)

16. To recap: Old English influenced by
Celtic languages (fewer than 1 doz words)
Latin—big influence
Anglo-Saxon
Old Norse Now, see if you can translate something. . .