A present from Andrew - A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary - J.R. Clark, is a big book to dip into but fascination with words is my downfall. I love the look of Saxon language, okay they were interlopers, filling the space the Romans left behind, but I think they brought with them some sort of order. Their rule laid the foundations of some of our laws, twelve good jury men?
I have collected their poetry, though I think of it as a narrative ballad. 'The Ruin' which is supposed to be about Bath and how it had slipped into decay after the Romans left. 'The Seafarer' and 'The Lament of Deor' Bleak and powerful is the only way to describe these poems. Also, the Maldon Battle which I wrote about here.
Weird = wyrd = fate, chance, fortune, phenomenon.
Wyrde = speech, conversation, ordinance
Woruld = World = age, men, humanity, way of life, long period time, cycle, eternity.
There are many words that begin with world such as Woruldfreond = friend in this world. In actual fact there is a conceptual element to the language in putting the words together. Perhaps worulddyrmou = earthly wretchedness, speaks of our present time.
I am Wergian (tired) but on looking for Werg, a village near Marlsborough on the route of the River Kennett I see that it is but a stem for wergild = compensation, value of a man's life.
The following verse from 'The Ruin' is a translation for we will never understand how language is used in its lifetime.
Curious is this stonework! The Fates destroyed it;
The torn buildings falter; moulder the works of giants.
The roofs are tipped down, the turrets turn over,
The barred gate is broken, white lies on mortar
The frost, and open stands the arching, cumber of lumber
Eaten under with age. Earth has the Lord-Builders.
Yesterday I read that the 'r' is being dropped in the North of England, in the county of Lancashire, see here, They call it a Rhotic R. But it is just language rolling over and adjusting to a more modern tone.
It is strange to think that the Baths were a ruin even to Anglo Saxons.
ReplyDeleteI think Bath was trashed when the Romans left. There is another theory about, and that it is about the Fall of Rome. Trouble is the book in which the verse was found had been burnt so there are missing parts.
DeleteSuch a fascinating dictionary!
ReplyDeleteIt is Joanne, my granddaughter argued that the Normans had more of an effect on our language but I don't think so.
DeleteLanguage and accents are so interesting aren't they? I watched and listened to a chap on Breakfast yesterday talking about the R sounds - how in Lancashire they roll their r's up and in Yorkshire they roll them down - he did both to demonstrate - fascinating how well he did both and how right he was but fear that by thismorning I have probably got the distinctions wrong way round. I love chatting to the Tesco delivery men and trying to guess where their accent comes from- so varied.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how language evolves Pat, through most of history it was spoken not written down. The printing press put an end to that and though spelling was want to change over time the talking took on regional variations. It was the same with time as well.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the English language has always evolved. One of the most fun novels I read from a linguistic view last year was “To Calais in Ordinary Time” by James Meek. It tells the tale in three different voices of a journey to France after the battle of Crecy. There is the longbow man who speaks in old Anglo Saxon, the highborn daughter speaking in the Romance language of courtly France and the educated churchman speaking in Latinate English. It’s funny and a great way to tune in to different voices. (There is a very good review by the Guardian.) I love accents, particularly those of my Lancashire and Shropshire roots even though my own voice is neutral - I think! I hope you enjoy Horatio Clare’s writing. I have read most of his work now, most recently “Heavy Light”. The first half is an account of his psychotic breakdown and the second half deals with his treatment with an interesting light shed on the damage modern psychiatric antidepressant drugs are doing, especially when used long term, a use for which they were never developed and which costs our NHS a fortune. His voice is a clarion call for a better way to help people instead of the cheap fix provided by pharmaceutical companies. Love, compassion, kindness all go a long way to heal. I have really been enjoying his soundscape journey through Greenland which has been repeated on Radio 3 this week, and to my ear his voice is gorgeous too! Sarah in Sussex
ReplyDeleteI have ordered two books by Horatio Clare, the one you just mentioned and his childhood one. Slightly weird that he shares the surname of John Clare, someone else who was institutionalised as well. So I look forward to the books. Must pick-up his travels through Greenland, he sounds very much like Robert Macfarlane and his journeys round Britain Sarah.
Delete"Arching cumber of lumber". What vivid imagery! I love that. I think you dictionary sounds fascinating.
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Deletethough if accuracy is called for, there are several translations of all these old words Debby.
I had no idea there was such a thing as an Anglo Saxon dictionary.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you and your family and Hooray for the Aga Man!
I gave the Aga man a box of chocolates as well. Well it saved me from eating them through January as well.
DeleteHappy New Year to you as well Sue, and all your family and that you all get better soon. My daughter and Andrew are going to Paris at some stage, probably tomorrow. That flooded Euro tunnel would give me nightmares, but it seems to have been reopened. Christmas and New Year chaos happens every year!
This post [not surprisingly] took me down one of those google rabbit holes of investigation. I've known in a vague way that 'Anglo-Saxon' contributions to the English language had Germanic roots, knew also of the early Scandinavian presence in England. I hadn't really considered the evolution of what we think of as modern English.
ReplyDeleteWords have always fascinated me; thanks to high school classes in Latin and French I can often follow the derivation of a word or phrase. The 20th century with innovations of radio and TV have undoubtedly homogenized US regional accents to some degree, but the differences are sill recognizable. Here, on the edge of the Appalachians, I'm aware of what I suspect are the handed down expressions of the early Scots/Irish/English settlers. Even well-educated people use the vernacular forms.
My paternal ancestry is French Canadian with still many bi-lingual Francophones in the Champlain Valley where I was raised. I read recently that generations of French speaking Quebecois may have unwittingly preserved a more antiquated 'francais' than is spoken in France. [https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220829-the-royal-roots-of-quebecs-french]
My French Canadian grandparents wisely and practically chose to speak English with their children, reserving French as a language between themselves or with their older relatives. Thus my Dad and his siblings as did I, forfeited the opportunity to be bilingual.
That is very interesting Sharon. It did occur to me that language taken to other countries like America and Canada got frozen in time. There is something to be said for being bilingual though. The Swiss family are, obviously, and it makes communication so much easier for us lazier English speaking persons who can't be bothered to learn a second language.
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