Old English for Reading

by Carin Ruff
Department of English
John Carroll University
2002
 OEFR, p. 2

Table of Contents
page

3 Foreword

6 Unit 1: the case system; pronouns; weak nouns

19 Unit 2: the kernel

24 Unit 3: adjectives; adjectival modification; the verb beon-wesan to be;

the linking kernel

36 Unit 4: strong nouns; weak verbs

56 Unit 5: adverbial modification; nouns in oblique cases as adverbial

modifiers; prepositional phrases as adverbial modifiers; dative as
indirect object

65 Unit 6: connectors; the gap; participles; passive constructions

71 Unit 7: strong verbs; anomalous and preterite-present verbs; negation;

infinitives

84 Unit 8: subordination; correlation; clause markers; clauses as adverbial

modifiers

89 Unit 9: clauses as adjectival modifiers: relative clauses; clauses as kernel

items: noun clauses

94 Unit 10: mood; the subjunctive; the imperative

96 Unit 11: more adverbial clauses: causal clauses, purpose clauses, result
clauses; conditional clauses

98 Vocabulary for The Poet Cdmon

105 Collected unit vocabulary

 OEFR, p. 3

Foreword

This book is deeply indebted to the work of the late Glenn Knudsvig and his
colleagues at the University of Michigan in the teaching of Classical languages. My
approach to teaching Old English is modeled, in particular, on the presentation of Latin
in Glenn M. Knudsvig, Gerda M. Seligson, Ruth S. Craig, Latin for Reading (University
of Michigan Press, 1986).

Like Latin for Reading, Old English for Reading is aimed in the first instance at the
university-level student who wants to move quickly to a level of reading fluency that will
enable him or her to engage with texts in the original language. Swiftness of acquisition
is, if anything, of even more importance for Old English than for Latin. The student
who takes even one semester of Old English in college is rare enough; the student who is
granted a second semester to study Old English literature in the original language is
exceedingly rare. It has therefore seemed to me crucial to present a series of lessons that
will have the student reading continuous Old English texts before the end of one
semester. This book is therefore arranged in eleven units, with readings from continuous
Old English texts beginning in Unit 5. The vocabulary presented in the lessons is
designed to provide a basis from which to move either to narrative prose or to Old
English verse. The readings from the story of Cdmon in the Old English Bede support
this dual preparation.

The following are key features of my presentation of the language:

Economy of Description
I have followed the "Michigan Latin" approach in seeking to avoid imposing
grammatical categories derived from the traditional description of Latin which are not
salient for Old English (and, in many cases, are not salient for Latin, either.) The
categories and concepts taught here privilege distinctions that are of high value to the
beginning reader learning to negotiate continuous texts in the target language.

More syntax/less phonology

The emphasis throughout is on teaching students to negotiate differences between
the syntax of OE and that of MnE, and on helping them to understand the implications
of the morphological information they are learning. The memorization load in learning
OE morphology is unavoidably heavy. In choosing what paradigms to emphasize, I have
 OEFR, p. 4

tried to keep in view the goal of enabling students to recognize forms quickly and to find
dictionary headwords without excessive page-flipping. The presentation of the sound-
changes of OE has been radically stripped down, on the following assumptions:

1) that students ought to be given just enough phonological information to see that
changes within paradigms are not as they might otherwise appear random;

2) that most college-level OE students are not going on to graduate-level study of

OE or of Germanic linguistics; and

3) that, for those students who do go on to further study, students grasp the nature
and relevance of phonological developments better when they have assimilated
characteristic patterns and variations through substantial exposure to a range of OE
texts.

In the same spirit, I have de-emphasized the memorization of vowel length. In half
a semester, students will be reading texts in which vowel length is not marked, so adding
vowel quantity to their memorization-load in the early weeks has virtually no payoff.
Vowel quantities are marked only in the model verbs for the strong verb classes; this is to
help students see the reasons for the grouping of verbs into classes and to facilitate the
finding of oblique verb forms in glossaries. Here and there, I have noted vowel quantity
when introducing high-frequency vocabulary that is distinguished from near-homophones
only by quantity, as with gdgod. Nevertheless, I expect that students will devote more of
their energy to learning to exploit the information that is present in their texts, with
techniques of identification that depend on morphological signals and syntactical patterns.

Traditional and new terminology

Instructors and students familiar with traditional grammatical categories or other
inflected languages will find that all the basic terminology commonly used to describe
these languages is taught here. Students who have used this textbook will have a solid
foundation from which to go on to more advanced grammars of OE, to study the classical
languages, and to engage with scholarship that uses the vocabulary of traditional grammar
and philology. At the same time, OEFR follows Michigan Latin in introducing a small
number of terms from more recent linguistics. These are chosen for their pedagogical
utility and are explained fully in the lessons.
 OEFR, p. 5

A level playing-field
OEFR presumes no prior acquaintance with inflected languages and no more
grammatical knowledge than a reasonable grasp of what the parts of speech are. On the
other hand, notes are occasionally given for students who have studied Latin and who may
be interested or puzzled by differences between Latin and OE.

Note for users familiar with Michigan Latin

Those familiar with Latin for Reading will note a few divergences in approach:

No metaphrasing; no charts
LFR teaches metaphrasing as a systematic technique for converting Latin
sentence-patterns into idiomatic English sentence-patterns. I have not used metaphrasing
in this book, mainly because of OE sentence structure is both significantly simpler than
that of Latin and significantly closer to that of MnE. My experience suggests that OE
learners move quickly from kernel analysis to accurate translation without being drilled in
a mechanism of conversion. Instructors familiar with metaphrasing may wish to introduce
its techniques at appropriate points. Similarly, I have not included charts for kernel and
modifier analysis. My experience teaching from LFR is that older undergraduates the
target audience for this book quickly become bored and annoyed by filling in charts and
can learn to carry out the same kind of analysis without so much rote work.

Whole paradigms presented together

LFR parcels out morphological information, introducing certain cases and certain
persons of the verb earlier than others. Because of the condensed time-frame of one-
semester OE courses and the simpler morphology of OE, I have presented paradigms
whole.

English-to-Old English exercises

Departing from LFR's strict exclusion of composition exercises, I have included
English-to-Old English exercises in several units. These are designed to consolidate
students' grasp of the morphology and syntactical concepts and are meant to support the
book's fundamentally reading-oriented approach.
 OEFR, p. 6

Unit 1
The Case System
Pronouns
Weak Nouns
______________________________________________________________________
Old English: An Inflected Language

Old English (OE) is an inflected language, meaning that much of the work of showing
what roles words play in sentences is done by endings added to those words. Endings that
signal the functions of words in a sentence are called inflections or inflectional endings.
Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs are inflected in OE.

In Modern English (MnE), this work is almost all done by word order. As a result, word
order is quite inflexible. For example,

Man bites dog Dog bites man

mean completely different things because word order alone shows who is doing the biting
and who is the object of the biting.

But if we construct a similar sentence using pronouns instead of nouns, we see that the
forms of the pronouns make it absolutely clear who is doing what:

She bit him He bit her.

She and he, the nominative forms of these pronouns, signal that these words are serving
as the subjects of their respective sentences. Him and her are objective forms and show
that these words are the objects (in this case, direct objects) in their sentences. (The
form that signals the direct object in OE is called the accusative.)

Because these endings are present, we can still make sense of these sentences even if we
change the word order:

Him she bit. Bit he her.

These may not be the normal or idiomatic word orders for MnE, but there is no
ambiguity about whos left with tooth-marks.
 OEFR, p. 7

In addition to showing subject and direct object, MnE pronouns can also indicate
possession:

He took her book. She took his book.

The form that shows to whom something belongs is called the genitive.
______________________________________________________________________
The OE Case System
Forms of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives that show the roles these words play in
sentences (their syntactical function) are called cases. OE has more cases than MnE
preserves and so can indicate more functional distinctions through endings than can
MnE. Moreover, OE uses case endings on nouns and adjectives as well as pronouns. As a
result, OE word order is somewhat more flexible than that of MnE. (If you have studied
Latin or Greek, you will find that the OE case system is somewhat limited and that as a
result the word order is less free than in those languages.)

The cases used in OE and their most common functions are:

nominative subject, subject complement

accusative direct object, object complement, object of some prepositions
genitive possessive, of ____
dative indirect object, object of many prepositions and some verbs
instrumental means by which something is done (this case is on its way out
in historical OE and is a distinctive form only in pronouns)

Note: If you have had Latin or Greek, you are probably used to seeing these cases listed in a different order.The
rationales for listing them this way are that 1) in most classes of OE nouns, the nominative and accusative are
identical, and 2) unlike in Greek and Latin, in OE you cannot rely on the genitive to distinguish gender and
noun class, so it is not conventionally listed after the nominative in dictionary entries.
 OEFR, p. 8

_____________________________________________________________________
Grammatical gender

Every noun in OE is classified as either masculine or neuter or feminine. These

categories determine what set of inflectional forms these nouns can choose from to
indicate syntactical function. Demonstrative pronouns come with three sets of forms, one
for each gender. When a pronoun is used to modify a noun or to refer to a noun
previously mentioned, it adopts the gender of that noun. Adjectives also adopt the
genders of the nouns they modify, and so they, too, have three sets of endings, one for
each gender.
_____________________________________________________________________
Number

Every noun, adjective, and pronoun in OE has a set of forms indicating singular number
and another set indicating plural number. A noun is singular if it refers to one person or
thing and plural if it refers to many. As with gender, adjectives and pronouns take their
number from the nouns they modify or refer to. In addition to singular and plural, the
personal pronouns also have forms indicating dual number, which are used only to refer
to pairs of things.
_____________________________________________________________________
The demonstrative pronoun se-t-seo "the"

In OE, the easiest way to identify the case of a noun is by the definite article (really a
demonstrative pronoun) that accompanies it. Soon you will learn all the case forms for
nouns of every class, but for the moment the most important task is to memorize the
forms of the demonstrative pronoun se-t-seo.

Learn the forms of se:

singular plural
masculine neuter feminine all genders
nominative se t seo a
accusative one t a a
genitive s s re ara
dative m m re m
instrumental y
 OEFR, p. 9

(Note: You will encounter variant spellings of these forms as you read, but, for the time being,
concentrate on learning the forms presented here.)

Now that you know the forms of se, you can use them to distinguish what case a noun is.
Let's look at the man bites dog scenario in Old English:

All of these sentences mean the same thing: Se mann bite one hund.
Se mann one hund bite.
one hund se mann bite.
Bite one hund se mann.
etc.

In each sentence, we know that se mann is the subject because se is nominative, and one
hund is the direct object, because one is accusative.

Likewise, in all the following sentences, the dog does the biting:

Se hund bite one mann.

Se hund one mann bite.
one mann se hund bite.
Bite one mann se hund.

______________________________________________________________________
The demonstrative pronoun es "this"

Learn the forms of es:

singular plural
masculine neuter feminine all genders
nominative es is eos as
accusative isne is as as
genitive isses isses isse issa
dative issum issum isse issum
instrumental ys
 OEFR, p. 10

Compare the forms of es to the forms of se. This will help with your memorization and
also help you get used to some features of OE case marking that recur with many nouns
and pronouns.

What similarities do you note about the way the forms organize themselves through the
paradigm? Here are some specific things to look for:

How does the feminine differ from the masculine and neuter forms?
How are the feminine forms similar to the plural forms?
Are there characteristic letter combinations that signal the genitive singular?
What about the genitive plural? the dative singular and plural?

______________________________________________________________________
Interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns ask the question "who?" about animate persons and "what?" about
inanimate things.
animate ("who") inanimate ("what")
nominative hwa hwt
accusative hwone hwt
genitive hws hws
dative hwm hwm
instrumental hwy hwy

You'll recognize that the hw- in these words corresponds to the wh- beginning of
interrogatives in English. Many of the characteristic case signals that you noted in the last
exercise show up here, too. Note that the genitive hws is the equivalent of MnE
"whose". (But note also that, unlike the wh- words, hw- words are not used as relative
pronouns. We'll learn about the OE relative pronoun system later.)
 OEFR, p. 11

Exercise 1.1
Give the MnE equivalents for these OE forms:
a. hwa _____________ c. hws _____________
b. hwt _____________ d. hwone _____________

Exercise 1.2
Translate the following sentences:
a. Hwt is t? ____________________________________________
b. Hwone bite se hund? ____________________________________________
c. Hws hund is es? ____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Personal pronouns

The personal pronouns are divided into First, Second, and Third Person. In MnE, first
person pronouns are I, we. The second person is pronoun is you. The third person
pronouns are he, she, and it.

Note that for the first- and second-person personal pronouns, OE preserves a dual
number, used uniquely for pairs of persons.

First person
singular dual plural
nominative ic wit w
accusative mec unc s
genitive mn uncer re
dative m unc s
 OEFR, p. 12

Second person
singular dual plural
nominative git g
accusative inc ow
genitive n incer ower
dative inc ow

Third person
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine all genders
nominative h hit ho h(e)
accusative hine is h(e) h(e)
genitive his his hire hira
dative him him hire him

______________________________________________________________________
Exercise 1.3
Practice using personal pronouns: translate the following sentences.
a. Hi bita hira hund. ____________________________________________
b. He bite hire hund. ____________________________________________
c. Uncer hund bite eow. ____________________________________________
d. Eower hund bite mec. ____________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 13

____________________________________________________________________
Weak Nouns

Learn the forms of the weak masculine noun nama "name":

singular plural
nominative nama naman
accusative naman naman
genitive naman namena
dative naman namum

Learn the forms of the weak feminine noun sunne "sun":

singular plural
nominative sunne sunnan
accusative sunnan sunnan
genitive sunnan sunnena
dative sunnan sunnum

Learn the forms of the weak masculine noun eage "eye":

singular plural
nominative eage eagan
accusative eage eagan
genitive eagan eagena
dative eagan eagum

Look over the paradigms of the weak nouns and note which forms are distinctive and
which are liable to confusion with one another. How will you recognize the cases when
you see them?
 OEFR, p. 14

Memorize the meanings and genders of the weak nouns listed below. (You should
memorize them with the appropriate demonstrative pronouns as an aid to remembering
their genders, as you would with a modern European language.)
______________________________________________________________________
Note: Guidelines for recognizing the gender of weak nouns
All nouns ending in a in the nom. sg. are weak masculines; all feminine nouns ending in
e are weak; the only weak neuter nouns in OE are those listed below.
______________________________________________________________________
Vocabulary: Weak Nouns
weak masculine definition
se aglca combatant, belligerent, monster
se anwealda lord, ruler ("one" + "ruler")
se bana slayer
se boda messenger
se boga bow
se gefera companion
se fea foot-troop, infantry
se frea lord, master, The Lord
se geleafa belief, faith
se Gota Goth
se guma man, warrior
se lichama body
se mona moon
se nama name
se oxa ox
se papa Pope
se scima light, radiance
se sefa heart, mind
 OEFR, p. 15

se wrcca wanderer, exile

weak neuter
t eage eye
t eare ear
t wange cheek, jaw

weak feminine
seo byrne corselet, mail coat
seo cirice church
seo eore earth
seo heorte heart
seo hlfdige lady
seo sunne sun
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Exercise 1.4: Complete the paradigms for the following pronoun-noun pairs.
(A paradigm is a list of all the possible forms of a given word. It is called a paradigm
because it can serve as a model for predicting the forms of other words in the same class.)
Note: There is no separate instrumental form for nouns. The instrumental is denoted by the
instrumental form of the demonstrative plus the dative form of the noun. You do not need to
write out the instrumental forms here, but remember what the instrumental demonstrative looks
like so you will recognize it when you are reading.

We will learn more about uses of the genitive, dative, and instrumental later.

a. singular plural
nom. es mona ______________
acc. ______________ ______________
gen. ______________ ______________
dat. ______________ ______________
 OEFR, p. 16

b. singular plural
nom. is eare ______________
acc. ______________ ______________
gen. ______________ ______________
dat. ______________ ______________

c. singular plural
nom. eos sunne ______________
acc. ______________ ______________
gen. ______________ ______________
dat. ______________ ______________

d. singular plural
nom. se mona ______________
acc. ______________ ______________
gen. ______________ ______________
dat. ______________ ______________

e. singular plural
nom. t eage ______________
acc. ______________ ______________
gen. ______________ ______________
dat. ______________ ______________

f. singular plural
nom. seo byrne ______________
acc. ______________ ______________
gen. ______________ ______________
dat. ______________ ______________
 OEFR, p. 17

Exercise 1.5: Using the paradigms you have just learned and the explanation of case uses
on pp. 5-6, above, complete the Old English translations of these sentences using the
appropriate forms of the nouns and pronouns you know. Verbs are supplied for you.

a. The warrior carries the corselet. ______________ bere ______________.

b. The moon hides the sun. ______________ deage ______________.

c. Who chose this pope? ______________ geceas ______________?

d. The wanderer leads the ox. ______________ lde ______________.

e. The eye misled the mind. ______________ dwlde ______________.

f. The slayer drew the bow. ______________ drog ______________.

______________________________________________________________________

Exercise 1.6: Now practice working with genitives. The genitive indicates to what noun
another noun belongs, and is translated in MnE by the possessive or of + noun.
Examples:

s guman: the mans, of the man ara gumena: the mens, of the men
isses lichaman: this bodys, of this body issa lichamena: these bodies, of these
bodies

Using the sentences you constructed in Ex. 2 as starting points, translate these sentences
into OE:

a. The warrior carries the lords corselet.

________________________________________________________________

b. The moon hides the suns radiance.

________________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 18

c. Who chose this popes faith?

________________________________________________________________

d. The wanderer leads the Goths oxen.

________________________________________________________________

e. The minds eye misled that messenger.

________________________________________________________________

f. The lords slayer drew the bow.

________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Summary
______________________________________________________________________
Terms inflected Forms demonstrative pronouns se and es
case: personal pronoun
nominative interrogative pronoun
genitive personal pronoun
dative weak noun declension:
accusative se nama, t eage, seo sunne
instrumental
gender
number
paradigm

______________________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 19

Unit 2
The Kernel
______________________________________________________________________
The Kernel

Every sentence has elements that are essential to the meaning of the statement at a
minimum, a subject and verb. These essential elements of the sentence are called the
kernel.

Sentences can have additional elements, including modifiers and connectors (also known
as conjunctions). A crucial part of learning to read a new language fluently is learning to
distinguish kernel elements and non-kernel elements. We will discuss non-kernel
elements a little later on.

If you can recognize the kernel elements in a sentence as you read, you can tell when the
sentence is complete, and you can also tell whether there are essential elements that you
havent met yet but that you should be on the lookout for.

Every language has a certain number of kernel types. A knowledge of what kernel types
you may expect to meet in a language helps you navigate the unfamiliar terrain of the
sentences of the language you are learning, and, as you become a more sophisticated
reader, helps you cope with longer and more complex sentences.

In OE as in MnE, the most important kernel types are the intransitive active kernel and
the transitive active kernel. As these names suggest, what type of kernel a sentence has
depends on two features of the verb, its voice and its transitivity.

Voice means whether a verb is active or passive. A verb is active if the subject does the
action of the verb and passive if the subject undergoes the action of the verb. (We will
look later at kernels that contain passive verbs.)

Active: The bug flies. Passive: The bug is squashed.

Transitivity indicates whether the verb describes an action that is transferred from the
subject to some other noun that is, whether the verb needs a direct object.

Intransitive: The bug flies. Transitive: The bug bit me.

 OEFR, p. 20

Since every kernel needs a subject and verb, and since the transitivity of the verb
determines whether we should expect a direct object to be present, we can predict what
elements will be present in intransitive active and transitive active kernels:

Intransitive active kernel: subject intransitive verb

Transitive active kernel: subject transitive verb direct object

Note: In OE as in MnE, many if not most verbs may be transitive or intransitive:

she sings/she sings songs the bird flies/the child flies a kite

Hint: How do you know whether a verb is transitive or intransitive?

because of its meaning
because its entry in a dictionary tells you so
because when you learned the verb you learned that it normally takes an accusative
object or an object in another oblique case (we will learn later about verbs that take
genitive or dative objects)
because you have already found a direct object in a clause and are looking for a verb to
govern it

This last hint is not as flippant as it sounds. If you know the required elements of a
kernel, you can make very well-educated guesses about the function of elements about
which you have some uncertainty from what you know for sure about other elements.

Furthermore, these kinds of well-educated guesses help you navigate a language with an
unfamiliar word order and unfamiliar syntactical cues in a systematic, linear order.

______________________________________________________________________
Note: Identifying nouns as kernel elements
A noun and the article or demonstrative pronoun that accompanies it are technically a
noun phrase; the article is technically a modifier of the noun. However, since (as we saw
earlier) in OE the article is the most reliable signal of the case of the noun, we will for the
time being treat the article+noun together as a single kernel element. The case (and
therefore the function) of the noun will be signaled by a combination of the form of the
article and the form of the noun itself. Pronouns, of course, can stand by themselves in
noun-roles in the kernel, and pronouns usually have well-defined case markings.
 OEFR, p. 21

______________________________________________________________________
Using kernel types to form expectations: Every kernel element creates the strong
likelihood of another kernel element appearing soon. Therefore, even if words come at
you in an unfamiliar order, you can make pretty educated guesses about what kind of
kernel you are in and how close you are to having a complete clause.

These are the basic rules for expectations in intransitive active and transitive active
kernels:

A subject creates the expectation of a verb.

A verb creates the expectation of a subject, and possibly of a direct object.
A direct object creates the expectation of a transitive verb.

With these guidelines in mind, you can move from left to right through an unfamiliar
sentence, asking yourself the following three questions for each element you encounter:

What do I see? (that is, what are the morphological signals on this word?)
What do I have? (that is, what does that tell me about the function of this word?)
Therefore, what do I expect? (that is, of what other elements does this word
create an expectation?)

Take as an example one of the sentences from p. 4:

one mann se hund bite.

How would we process this left-to-right, using expectations?

one mann What do I see? The form one signals that this is accusative.
What do I have? The accusative signals that a noun is serving as
direct object.
What do I expect? A direct object creates the expectation of a
transitive active verb, and a verb creates the
expectation of a subject so I will be on the
lookout for both of these things.
 OEFR, p. 22

The next element we get is se hund.

se hund What do I see? The form se signals that mann is a nominative
noun.
What do I have? The nominative signals that a noun is serving as
subject.
What do I expect? A subject creates the expectation of a
verb. I was already looking for a verb, and I will
keep looking for one.

As we move to the second and later elements of the sentence, we can add two further
questions:
4. Does this fulfill an expectation raised earlier?
5. Is this kernel complete yet?
If you can answer question 4 in the affirmative, you can confirm the educated guess you
made earlier, and resolve some of your uncertainty about the structure of the sentence.

If you can answer question 5 in the affirmative, you can breathe a sigh of relief and prepare
to attack the next kernel.

Now we encounter the third element:

bite What do I see? The ending on bite signals that it is a verb.

(Later we will learn to identify verb endings more
specifically)
What do I have? A verb fulfills the role of a verb. The meaning of
this verb suggests that it will be transitive.
What do I expect? A verb creates the expectation of a subject
and I already have one. A transitive verb creates
the expectation of a direct object and I already
have one. I have no further expectations.
Does this fulfill an expectation raised earlier? Yes, two!
Is this kernel complete yet? Yes: I have all three required elements of
a transitive active kernel.

Wasnt that satisfying?

 OEFR, p. 23

______________________________________________________________________
Exercise 2.1:
Now practice doing the same kind of analysis on the variant forms of this sentence we saw
earlier:

Bite one mann se hund.

Se hund bite one mann.
Se hund one mann bite.

______________________________________________________________________
Exercise 2.2:
Now explain how you would do the same kind of expectation-analysis on this sentence:
Se gurinc swte The warrior bleeds.
What if you met the elements in this order?
Swte se gurinc
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Summary
______________________________________________________________________

Terms Kernel types

kernel intransitive active
transitivity transitive active
transitive
intransitive Techniques
voice identify forms
active ask questions
passive form expectations

______________________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 24

Unit 3
Adjectives
Adjectival Modification
The Verb beon-wesan to be
The Linking Kernel
______________________________________________________________________
Adjectives
In an inflected language like Old English, adjectives change their genders, number, and
case to match those of the nouns they are modifying.

In Old English, every adjective has two complete sets of declensional endings from
which to choose forms. These are conventionally called strong and weak
declensions. Which declension an adjective chooses its forms from depends on how the
adjective is used in a given syntactical context.

The terms strong and weak:

Weak nouns are a class of nouns that share certain characteristic declensional
forms. Strong nouns, which we will meet later, likewise have certain characteristics in
common. Every noun is either strong or weak and does not switch category.

When applied to adjectives, however, these unfortunate terms have a different

meaning. Every adjective has a set of weak forms and also a set of strong forms. Which
forms you use depends on the context of the adjective in the sentence. If the adjective is
preceded by a definite article/demonstrative pronoun (such as se or es) or a possessive
pronoun (such as min, ure), it takes its forms from the weak declension. If the adjective is
not preceded by a definite article, it takes its forms from the strong declension. One way
to remember this is to think of the strong adjective as strong enough to stand on its own
without an article, but the weak one as needing the support of an article.

Therefore you need to be prepared to recognize adjectives with endings taken from
either set, and to understand why one ending is chosen instead of another. Authors
sometime violate the basic rule of usage stated above, so be prepared to be surprised.
 OEFR, p. 25

______________________________________________________________________
Learn the weak and strong declension of tila good.
Weak forms
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine all genders
nominative tila tile tile tilan
accusative tilan tile tilan tilan
genitive tilan tilan tilan tilra, tilrena
dative tilan tilan tilan tilum

Strong forms
singular
masculine neuter feminine
nominative til til tilu
accusative tilne til tile
genitive tiles tiles tilre
dative tilum tilum tilre

plural
masculine neuter feminine
nominative tile tilu tile, tila
accusative tile tilu tile, tila
genitive tilra tilra tilra
dative tilum tilum tilum
 OEFR, p. 26

______________________________________________________________________
Exercise 3.1: To practice using strong and weak forms of the adjective and to practice
noun-adjective agreement, translate the underlined parts of the following phrases and
sentences into OE:
______________________________________________________________________
Reminder: noun-adjective agreement
An adjective agrees with the noun it modifies in gender, number, and case.
______________________________________________________________________

1. This Goth is good. ___________________________________

2. The church is good. ____________________________________
3. They love the good church. ____________________________
4. Good ladies love cookies. ____________________________
5. The good lady loves cookies. ____________________________
6. Good lords need good eyes. ___________________ _______________________
7. Good companions company never wears out. ____________________________
8. These good companions company never wears out. ___________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Vocabulary: Adjectives
Memorize the meanings of these adjectives:
definition
ele noble
an one
ana alone
anrd singleminded, resolute
begen both
blie happy, cheerful, friendly
blodig bloody
 OEFR, p. 27

brad broad, wide, spacious

eadig blessed
eadmod humble
earm poor, wretched
eald old, ancient
ece eternal
fst firm, fixed ("hold fast"
forma first
god good
{Note: the adjective gd has a long ;
the noun god "God" has a short o.}
hlud loud
hold loyal
lang long, tall
lytel little
micel big, great, large, much
mihtig mighty, powerful
oer second
ree fierce, cruel, harsh
snotor wise
so true
swi mighty
twegen two
wid broad, wide
yfel evil
ylca same
 OEFR, p. 28

______________________________________________________________________
Comparison of adjectives
Adjectives form the comparative and superlative (the "more" and "most" forms) by adding
-ra and -(o)st. Often there is a change in the vowel of the stem, but these will rarely
prevent you from recognizing the adjective if you pronounce it to yourself.
lang - lengra - lengest long - longer - longest
eald - ieldra - ieldest old - older - oldest

Most adjectives that have irregular comparisons in OE are recognizable from their MnE
counterparts:
god - betera - betst good - better - best
yfel - wiersa - wierst bad - worse - worst
micel - mara - mst much - more - most / great - greater - greatest
______________________________________________________________________
A note on numbers
You will not have any trouble recognizing most OE numbers, since their forms are so
similar to the MnE ones. Here are just a couple of peculiarities:
an means "one" when it is declined strong, but "alone" when it is declined weak (ana)
the word for "first" is forma.
the word for "second" is oer.
twegen means "two" and begen means "both".
______________________________________________________________________
Adjectival modification
Adjectives as adjectival modifiers Nouns in the genitive as adjectival modifiers
Adjectives modify nouns that is, an adjective gives more information about the noun it
agrees with, or describes it, or specifies it so it can be identified more completely.

The noun that is modified by an adjective is called its noun-head.

 OEFR, p. 29

Modifiers contribute to the full meaning of a sentence, but they are not indispensable to
the syntactic core of the sentence. Therefore they are not kernel items and do not affect
kernel type.

Adjectives are the most basic form of adjectival modifier, but other words or clauses can
serve as adjectival modifiers, too. Nouns in the genitive are also adjectival modifiers.

Compare these sentences:

adjectives nouns in the genitive
Give me the green book. Give me Tims book.
The English people are brave. The people of England are brave.

Note that although a noun in the genitive and an adjective fulfill the same syntactic
function, they are marked by different endings. Adjectives agree with their noun-heads in
gender, number, and case. Nouns in the genitive are distinguished by their genitive
endings.

______________________________________________________________________
Expectations and adjectival modifiers
An adjectival modifier creates the expectation of a noun-head.

Not only that, but an adjective gives you a very good idea of what sort of noun-head to
expect, since an adjective agrees with its noun-head in gender, number, and case.

On the other hand, not all the adjectival forms are distinctive, so an adjective may not
leave you 100 percent sure what kind of noun is coming up.
 OEFR, p. 30

______________________________________________________________________
Exercise 3.2: For each of the following adjective forms, list the possible genders,
numbers, and cases of noun-head the adjective could modify. (I have used only strong
forms of the adjective, since weak forms would follow an article or demonstrative which
would specify the gender, number, and case of the noun-head with very little ambiguity.)

tilra ___________________________________________________________
tile ___________________________________________________________
tilum ___________________________________________________________
tilu ___________________________________________________________
tilne ___________________________________________________________
tiles ___________________________________________________________
til ___________________________________________________________
tilre ___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Adjectives as substantives
The rule about adjectival expectations sounds like a very firm and reliable rule, but often
the expectation of a noun-head is defeated. If you fail to find a noun-head for an
adjective, consider the possibility that the adjective is being used as a substantive that is,
as a noun substitute.

Consider these modern English examples:

A good man is hard to find.
Only the good die young.
In the first example, good modifies man, but in the second example, there is nothing for
good to modify. Therefore, we conclude that it stands for good people.
 OEFR, p. 31

______________________________________________________________________
Exercise 3.3: For each of the following sentences, decide whether each adjective is being
used as an adjectival modifier or as a substantive. If it is being used as an adjectival
modifier, identify its noun head. If it is being used as a substantive, identify its number
and case and tell what role it is playing in the sentence. Then translate the sentence.
(Hint: in one of these sentences, it is being used both as a substantive and as an adjectival
modifier.)

a. a earman and a blodigan seca lytel. seca: seek

translation: ____________________________________________________________

b. Se frea ah gumena godu. ah: owns, possesses

translation: ____________________________________________________________

c. Se deofol a tilra heortan dwlde. dwlde: misled, deceived

translation: ____________________________________________________________

d. Se papa a yfelan ne sieh. ne sieh: does not see

translation: ____________________________________________________________

e. Yfele heortan nabba se anwealda. nabba: does not have

translation: ____________________________________________________________

f. one yfelan banan se frea sloh. sloh: slew

translation: ____________________________________________________________

g. one frean se yfel sloh.

translation: ____________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 32

______________________________________________________________________
The verb beon/wesan, to be
The verb to be in OE has forms from two different verbs in the present tense, beon
and wesan. The present forms of beon serve as a future tense; the present forms of wesan
are the ordinary present of the verb "to be"; and wesan provides forms for the past tense.

wesan: present
Singular Plural
First person eom sind(on), sint
Second person eart sind(on), sint
Third person is sind(on), sint

wesan: preterite
Singular Plural
First person ws wron
Second person wre wron
Third person ws wron

beon: present (future)

Singular Plural
First person beo beo
Second person bist beo
Third person bi beo

(We will encounter uses of beon as we read; for the time being, use the forms
eom/eart/is/sind and ws/wre/ws/wron in the exercises that follow.)
 OEFR, p. 33

______________________________________________________________________
Subject-verb agreement: A verb agrees with its subject in number and person. The
persons of the verb are 1st (I or we), 2nd (you), and 3rd (he/she/it/they or a noun as
subject).

Verb tense: Verbs in OE are marked by inflection as either present tense or preterite (i.e.
past) tense.

(Verbs also have mood, but for the moment we will deal only with the indicative mood.)

Every verb form can be identified by person, number, tense, and mood.

______________________________________________________________________
Exercise 3.4: Practice matching subjects with forms of wesan by filling in the appropriate
verb form for each of these subjects. Be prepared to translate the resulting sentences.

subject present preterite

we _____________ _____________
ge _____________ _____________
hit _____________ _____________
hie _____________ _____________
a guman _____________ _____________
ic _____________ _____________
he _____________ _____________
u _____________ _____________
 OEFR, p. 34

______________________________________________________________________
The Linking Kernel
As you may have learned in elementary school, the verb to be is a linking verb. It acts
like an equals sign:
Kermit is a frog: Kermit = frog.
Several other semantic groups of verbs can also act like linking verbs:
Kermit is called a frog.
Kermit becomes a frog.
Kermit is considered a frog.
The noun that is being equated to the subject in these sentences is called a subject
complement (other terms: nominative complement, predicate nominative). The subject
complement is one of the three required elements of a linking kernel:
subject linking verb subject complement
A subject complement may be a noun or noun-equivalent (pronoun, substantive
adjective). The subject complement's place in a linking kernel may also be an adjective
that is really acting as an adjective:
Kermit is green.
An adjective serving this function is called a predicate adjective.

Expectation: a linking verb creates the expectation of a subject complememt or a

predicate adjective.

Form: In OE, the subject complement goes in the same case as the subject i.e., the
nominative.

______________________________________________________________________
Exercise 3.5:
Using nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and forms of wesan you know, make up five OE
sentences with linking kernels. Include some sentences with predicate nouns and some
with predicate adjectives. Try using different forms of adjectival modification. Bring your
sentences to class and be prepared to challenge your classmates to translate them.
 OEFR, p. 35

______________________________________________________________________
Summary
______________________________________________________________________

Terms and concepts Kernel types

weak linking
strong
noun-adjective agreement Forms
adjectival modification strong and weak declension of tila
noun-head present and preterite indicative of
nouns in the genitive as adjectival modifiers beon/wesan
adjectives as substantives review declension of personal
subject-verb agreement pronoun
person
number
tense
active
passive
subject complement
 OEFR, p. 36

Unit 4
Strong Nouns
Weak Verbs
______________________________________________________________________
Forms: Strong Nouns

The basic paradigms

Learn the paradigms of the strong nouns stan "stone" (masculine), scip "ship" and word
"word" (neuter), and giefu "gift" and lar "teaching" (feminine).

______________________________________________________________________
Strong masculine noun
singular plural
nominative stan stanas
accusative stan stanas
genitive stanes stana
dative stane stanum

______________________________________________________________________
Strong neuter noun with -u plural
singular plural
nominative scip scipu
accusative scip scipu
genitive scipes scipa
dative scipe scipum
 OEFR, p. 37

______________________________________________________________________
Strong neuter noun with unmarked plural
singular plural
nominative word word
accusative word word
genitive wordes worda
dative worde wordum

______________________________________________________________________
Strong feminine nouns
singular plural
nominative giefu giefa, giefe
accusative giefe giefa, giefe
genitive giefe giefa, giefena
dative giefe giefum

singular plural
nominative lar lara, lare
accusative lare lara, lare
genitive lare larena
dative lare larum
______________________________________________________________________
Note which endings are consistent among strong nouns of the three genders and where
differences occur.

Note whether there are differences among the genders as to which cases are distinctive
and which cases look alike.
 OEFR, p. 38

______________________________________________________________________
About the divergences from these basic patterns:

As we are about to see, there are many minor variations on these basic paradigms, but the
most important thing is that you be able to recognize what case a noun is when you see
one in a sentence. Therefore, you should have these basic paradigms in memory, and be
alert to variations that can occur.

The most common ways in which nouns can diverge from the basic pattern are
the vowel of the stem changes in some cases because of sound changes internal to the
history of OE
the end of the stem looks slightly different in some cases because the inflectional
ending and the stem interact with one another. This usually entails the loss of one
consonant or one vowel from the end of the stem.

It is helpful to know what kinds of changes can happen so that, when you see an oblique
form of a noun (i.e., not the nominative singular) as you are reading, you can make an
intelligent guess about what form youre going to look the word up under in the
dictionary.

Oblique forms are hardest to recognize if they contain mutated vowels, so we will
memorize paradigms of some of the most frequently-occurring mutated-stem nouns.

Oblique forms are fairly easy to recognize and look up if there has been a change only at
the end of the stem. Therefore we will not memorize paradigms for all the possible
variants. We will practice recognizing these as we read.
______________________________________________________________________
Strong nouns with vowel changes in their stems
The nouns dg "day" (masc.) and ft "vessel" (neut.), mann "man" (masc.) and boc
"book" (fem.) show vowel changes in their stems caused by the influence of second
syllables on their root syllables.

In the case of dg and ft, the root vowel changes to -a- when there is a second syllable
with a back vowel (an -a- or a -u-). The back vowel in the second syllable "drags" the
root syllable backwards in the mouth. The upshot is that -a- appears instead of -- in the
root syllable in the plural forms of these words. Otherwise, dg is declined just like stan
and ft is declined just like scip.
 OEFR, p. 39

singular plural
nominative dg dagas
accusative dg dagas
genitive dges daga
dative dge dagum

______________________________________________________________________
singular plural
nominative ft fatu
accusative ft fatu
genitive ftes fata
dative fte fatum

______________________________________________________________________
In the case of mann and boc, some forms had prehistoric endings lost by the time of
written OE with high, front vowels in them. These endings dragged the root vowels of
those forms forward and up, changing -a- and -o- to -e-. By the time we get records of
OE, those endings have dropped off, but the mutated root vowels remain. Note that
these nouns basically follow the pattern of other strong nouns, but in the forms with
mutated vowels, the changed vowel does the work of the lost endings.

singular plural
nominative mann menn
accusative mann menn
genitive mannes manna
dative menn mannum
 OEFR, p. 40

______________________________________________________________________
singular plural
nominative boc bec
accusative boc bec
genitive bec boca
dative bec bocum

______________________________________________________________________
U-nouns

Learn the paradigms of sunu (masc.) and hand (fem.). Note the differences and possible
points of confusion between these paradigms and weak masc. nouns like nama, strong
neuter nouns like scip, and strong feminine nouns like giefu.

singular plural
nominative sunu suna
accusative sunu suna
genitive suna suna
dative suna sunum
______________________________________________________________________
singular plural
nominative hand handa
accusative hand handa
genitive handa handa
dative handa handum
 OEFR, p. 41

______________________________________________________________________
Congratulations and noun summary
Now you know enough basic patterns and variants for major noun types to recognize
noun forms when you encounter them in reading. Remember that you will often have
help from an article or demonstrative pronoun in identifying the cases of nouns. As you
review noun forms, notice that in the majority of nouns, the nominative and accusative
look alike, but the genitive and dative have distinctive forms. This should suggest what
the most important distinctions are that a reader of OE will need to make based in
inflectional information. Noun inflections generally allow you to tell:

kernel items (nominatives, accusatives) from non-kernel items (genitives, datives)

singular from plural

Other kinds of information in the sentence will help you make distinctions and decisions
when noun forms are ambiguous, and we will practice recognizing these symbols as we
read.

______________________________________________________________________
Exercise 4.1: Practice using the strong nouns you have just learned with articles and the
weak adjective declension. Translate each of the following noun phrases into OE and give
the phrase in all cases, singular and plural.

a. the good ship

singular plural
nom. _____________________ _____________________
acc. _____________________ _____________________
gen. _____________________ _____________________
dat. _____________________ _____________________
 OEFR, p. 42

b. the good man

singular plural
nom. _____________________ _____________________
acc. _____________________ _____________________
gen. _____________________ _____________________
dat. _____________________ _____________________

c. the good book

singular plural
nom. _____________________ _____________________
acc. _____________________ _____________________
gen. _____________________ _____________________
dat. _____________________ _____________________

d. the good vessel

singular plural
nom. _____________________ _____________________
acc. _____________________ _____________________
gen. _____________________ _____________________
dat. _____________________ _____________________

e. the good day

singular plural
nom. _____________________ _____________________
acc. _____________________ _____________________
gen. _____________________ _____________________
dat. _____________________ _____________________
 OEFR, p. 43

f. the good word

singular plural
nom. _____________________ _____________________
acc. _____________________ _____________________
gen. _____________________ _____________________
dat. _____________________ _____________________

g. the good stone

singular plural
nom. _____________________ _____________________
acc. _____________________ _____________________
gen. _____________________ _____________________
dat. _____________________ _____________________

h. the good son

singular plural
nom. _____________________ _____________________
acc. _____________________ _____________________
gen. _____________________ _____________________
dat. _____________________ _____________________
 OEFR, p. 44

Now practice using the strong adjective declension:

i. good teaching
singular plural
nom. _____________________ _____________________
acc. _____________________ _____________________
gen. _____________________ _____________________
dat. _____________________ _____________________
inst. _____________________ _____________________

______________________________________________________________________
Hint: As you learn more and more vocabulary and encounter new nouns in your reading,
you can annotate your vocabulary list to remind you which model noun the new noun
resembles.
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Vocabulary: Strong Nouns

Memorize the meanings and genders of these strong nouns.

strong masculine definition

se a oath
se bearo grove
se cyning king
se dg day
se deofol devil
se dom judgement, glory, reputation
se ende end
se engel angel
 OEFR, p. 45

se eoh horse
se feoh money
se fugol bird
se God (Christian) God
se hle hero, warrior
se here army
se mann man
se mearh horse
se meotod creator
se mona month
se munuc monk
se scoh shoe
se sige victory
se stan stone
se stede place
se wealh foreigner, stranger, slave, Welshman
se wer man
se wine friend

strong neuter
t cild child
t ft vessel
t god (pagan) god
t gear year
t heafod head
t rice kingdom
 OEFR, p. 46

t scip ship
t spere spear
t wter water
t werod troop
t wite punishment, torment

strong feminine
seo boc book
seo giefu gift
seo lar teaching, doctrine
a leode (plural only) people
seo sprce speech
seo stow place

______________________________________________________________________
Forms: Weak Verbs
There are three classes of weak verbs in OE, 1, 2, and 3. There are slight differences
among the classes in their inflectional endings. All weak verbs have in common that they
form their past tenses by adding a dental suffix a d or t sound at the end of the stem
but before any personal ending. Strong verbs, which we will learn shortly, instead mark
the preterite by changing the vowel of the stem. (As you will see, there are a few weak
verbs that also have a stem-vowel change. Many of these survive into MnE.)

We can exemplify the basic types of verbs from MnE:

Strong: run-ran Weak: love-loved Weak w/ vowel change: think-thought

 OEFR, p. 47

______________________________________________________________________
Learn the present and preterite indicative of the Class 1 weak verbs fremman.

Present
Singular Plural
First person fremme fremma
Second person fremest fremma
Third person freme fremma
______________________________________________________________________
Note: Variations on these endings in other weak verbs include:
the -e- before the -st and - of the 2nd and 3rd person singular may be left out.
not all verbs change back and forth between a double and single root consonant the way
fremman does.

Neither of these should cause much of a problem in identifying verbs or their personal
endings.
______________________________________________________________________
The preterite has a different set of personal endings and it adds a -d- as a marker of tense
between the root and the personal endings:

Preterite
Singular Plural
First person fremede fremedon
Second person fremedest fremedon
Third person fremede fremedon
 OEFR, p. 48

______________________________________________________________________
Class 1 weak verbs with vowel change have the same endings as fremman, but the preterite
endings are added to a different base form. Here are the present and preterite base forms of
the most common verbs of this type. Learn the present and preterite base forms for these
verbs:

brengan - brohte "bring" sellan - sealde "give"

bycgan - bohte "buy" encan - ohte "think"
cwellan - cwealde "kill" yncan - uhte "seem"
secan - sohte "seek" wyrcan - worhte "work"

______________________________________________________________________
Class 2 weak verbs differ from Class 1 verbs in that they have -a- in the present and -o- in
the preterite where Class 1 verbs have -e-. Learn the present and preterite indicative of the
Class 2 weak verb lufian:

Present
Singular Plural
First person lufie lufia
Second person lufast lufia
Third person lufa lufia

Preterite
Singular Plural
First person lufode lufodon
Second person lufodest lufodon
Third person lufode lufodon
 OEFR, p. 49

______________________________________________________________________
Class 3 has only four verbs in it, but these are of very high frequency. Learn the present and
preterite indicative of the Class 3 weak verb habban, libban, secgan, hycgan.
______________________________________________________________________
habban "have"
Present
Singular Plural
First person hbbe habba
Second person hfst/hafast habba
Third person hf/hafa habba

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons hfde hfdon
______________________________________________________________________
libban "live"
Present
Singular Plural
First person libbe libba/leofa
Second person leofast/lifast libba/leofa
Third person leofa/lifa libba/leofa

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons lifde/leofode lifdon/leofodon
 OEFR, p. 50

______________________________________________________________________
secgan "say"
Present
Singular Plural
First person secge secga
Second person sgst/segest secga
Third person sg/sege secga

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons sgde sgdon

______________________________________________________________________
hycgan "think"
Present
Singular Plural
First person hycge hycga
Second person hygst/hogast hycga
Third person hyg/hoga hycga

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons hogode hogodon
______________________________________________________________________
Now look over the forms of all the weak verb classes and note consistencies and differences
among them.
______________________________________________________________________
Dictionary/glossary hint: OE verbs are listed in the dictionary under their infinitives, the
to form of the verb. This form always ends in an. We will learn more about infinitives
soon.
______________________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 51

______________________________________________________________________
Dictionary/glossary hint: It is conventional to designate the class to which a weak verb
belongs by a small Arabic numeral (1, 2, 3) and the class to which a strong verb belongs
with a large Roman numeral (I, II, III, etc.) As you meet new verbs in your reading and
look them up in the glossary, you should look for this information and note it in your
own vocabulary lists.
______________________________________________________________________
Vocabulary: Weak Verbs
Learn the meanings of these verbs:

Class 1 definition
awendan translate
deman judge
feran set out, proceed, go
fremman do, accomplish
hieran hear, obey
geliefan believe
lran teach
nerian save, protect
rdan read, instruct, give counsel
rran lift up, offer up
sendan send
settan put, establish, set, appoint
tcan teach, show, direct
tcnan point out, signify, direct
wenan think, expect
wendan go, turn, wend one's way
werian defend, protect
 OEFR, p. 52

Class 1 w/vowel change definition

brengan bring
bycgan buy
cwellan kill
reccan care about, explain, relate
secan seek
sellan give, sell
encan think, intend
yncan seem
wyrcan make, form, produce

Class 2 definition
(Note that several of these are formed from nouns or adjectives you already know. See if you can
identify which ones.)

clypian call
fstnian make fast, establish
halgian hallow, consecrate
halian heal
hergian harry, devastate
lufian love
locian look
namian name
ricsian reign
siian travel
rowian suffer
weorian honor, respect, worship
 OEFR, p. 53

wunian dwell
wundrian wonder, marvel at

Class 3 definition
habban have
hycgan think
libban live
secgan say

_____________________________________________________________________
Exercise 4.2: Translate the following sentences into OE(a) and then change the verb into
the preterite tense (b):

1. Judgement is the end.

a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________

2. God sends the angel.

a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________

3. Birds love angels.

a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 54

4. The king reigns.

a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________

5. God hallows the kings kingdom.

a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________

6. The children read books.

a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________

7. The devil kills the peoples hero.

a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________

8. These men sell horses.

a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Verbal Prefixes
Learning these high-frequency prefixes will help you recognize new variants of familiar
verbs. These prefixes do not always affect the verbs they're added to in a predictable way,
so it's best to check your glossary if an educated guess about meaning doesn't make sense
in context.
 OEFR, p. 55

a- "away"
be- "around" (be-ridan "ride around") or deprive (be-heafdian "behead")
ge- a perfective prefix, that is, it sometimes denotes that the action of the verb
to which it's prefixed is completed. Compare winnan "fight", "struggle", and
gewinnan "get by winning". ge- is often, but not obligatorily, prefixed to the
past participle.
on-, an- negates, like MnE un-
wi- "against"
ymb- "around"
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Summary
______________________________________________________________________

Forms
strong nouns
weak verbs

Word elements
verbal prefixes
 OEFR, p. 56

Unit 5
Adverbial modification
Nouns in oblique cases as adverbial modifiers
Prepositional phrases as adverbial modifiers
Dative as indirect object
______________________________________________________________________
Adverbial modification
You probably learned in school that adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and their fellow
adverbs. Another way to think about adverbs is that they answer certain kinds of
questions:
where?
when?
for how long?
why?
how?
in what manner?
to what extent?
for what purpose?
with what means?
Any element of a sentence that answers these or similar questions is an adverbial
modifier. The modifiers head is a verb, adjective, or adverb. An adverbial modifier creates
the expectation of a verb, adjective, or adverb as head.

Adverbs
The simplest form of adverbial modifier is the adverb.
In OE, there are characteristic endings for adverbs, just as in MnE -ly usually signals an
adverb. OE adverb endings that are used to form adverbs from other words include:
-e "-ly" -unga "-ly"
-lice "ly" -an "from the direction of"

Many adverbs are "little words" that are not clearly formed from other words and that
may or may not have these endings. Many are recognizable from MnE. Some almost
invariably occur in pairs. Some of the most common adverbs in the vocabulary list on
the next page.
 OEFR, p. 57

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Vocabulary: Adverbs
Learn the following common adverbs.
hrae swiftly
wide and side far and wide
a forever
r earlier, previously
eae easily
innan from within
neah near
nu now
oft often
symble always, unceasingly
a then
r there
upp up
utan from without
wel well
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Nouns in the genitive as adverbial modifiers.
OE often uses a noun or noun phrase in the genitive as an adverbial modifier. Many of
these are high-frequency, idiomatic expressions and you will get used to seeing them.
Example:

dges and nihtes: day and night

s: therefore
upweardes: upward
 OEFR, p. 58

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Nouns in the dative or instrumental as adverbial modifiers:
The dative can also be used to express adverbial ideas, and the instrumental is designed
for expressing the adverbial ideas of means, manner, instrument, accompaniment, and
time. If a noun in the instrumental is accompanied by an article, y, you can tell its
instrumental; otherwise, remember, the dative and the instrumental are indistinguishable.
Therefore well treat them together:

hwilum: at times
re ilcan nihte: on the same night
lytle werode: with a small troop
y ilcan geare: in the same year
hlutre mode: with pure heart
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Nouns in the accusative as adverbial modifiers
The accusative can be used to express the adverbial notion of duration of time:
ealne dg: all day
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Prepositional phrases as adverbial modifiers
In OE, prepositional phrases are usually adverbial, unlike in MnE, where they are
as likely to be adjectival. Compare:
He danced on the table. The book on the table is mine.
You should assume OE prepositional phrases are of the former type unless there is good
reason to think otherwise. (But do be on the lookout for counterexamples!)
The object of a preposition in OE goes in a particular case, depending on what the
preposition is. We say that a preposition takes" a certain case. Most prepositions take the
dative; some take the genitive or accusative. Some take the instrumental, but you will very
rarely be able to tell the instrumental from the dative. Some prepositions take different
cases at different times and have slightly different meanings depending on what case they
take. A rule of thumb about this is that prepositions take the accusative when they imply
movement towards, and the dative when they imply staying in one place. Compare:

in t wter: into the water in m wtere: in the water

 OEFR, p. 59

_____________________________________________________________________
Vocabulary: Prepositions
Memorize the meanings of these prepositions and what cases they take.

These prepositions normally take the dative:

fter after, along, according to
r before
t at, from, by
be by, along, alongside, about
beforan before, in front of
betweox between, among
butan except, without
for before, in front of, because of
fram from, by
mid with, among, by means of
of from, of
ongean against, towards
togeanes against, towards

These prepositions normally take the accusative:

geond throughout
o up to, until
urh through
ymb around
 OEFR, p. 60

These prepositions take different cases and, where noted, the meaning varies with the
case:
in in (dat.); into (acc.)
on in, on (dat.); into (acc.)
to at, for (gen.); towards, to, at, near, as (dat.)
under under, beneath (dat.); with sense of movement (acc.)
wi against (acc., gen., dat.)
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A note about prepositions
Most OE prepositions can also be used as verbal prefixes or as adverbs in verb phrases, so
memorizing those listed here will give you a lot of payoff in recognizing new words and
phrases as you read. Many prepositions also have a parallel life as clause markers; we will
learn about those in Unit 8.
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Exercise 5.1: Choose any three of the sentences you created in Ex. 4.2. Using any
vocabulary you know, add three different adverbial modifiers to each sentence: one adverb
(a), one noun phrase in an oblique case without preposition (b), and one prepositional
phrase (c).

1. a. _______________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________________________

2. a. _______________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________________________

3. a. _______________________________________________________________
b. _______________________________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 61

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The dative as indirect object
Besides being used for all these adverbial purposes, the most common and most familiar
use of the dative is as an indirect object.

1. He gave the book to me.

2. He gave me the book.
3. God made his kingdom for men.
In OE, all these indirect object uses would normally be expressed by nouns or pronouns
in the dative without a preposition. 1 and 2 would be identical:

He slde me a boc.

3 would be:
God wrohte mannum his rice
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Other uses of the dative
Some verbs take dative objects. The dative is also used after comparative adjectives (stane
heardra: harder than stone) and after some other adjectives implying comparison (ise
gelicost: most like to ice). We will encounter these and similar uses as we read.
______________________________________________________________________

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Summary
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Terms and concepts Forms
adverbial modification major types of strong nouns
types of adverbial modification all classes of weak verbs
adverbs adverbial suffixes
prepositional phrases
nouns in oblique cases without preposition
dative as indirect object
other uses of dative
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 OEFR, p. 62

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Reading: The Creation (Genesis 1.1-10)
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This is from a translation of Genesis into Old English by the monk and teacher
lfric, who worked around the year 1000. Vocabulary that you don't know already (and
that you can't easily figure out yourself) is given at below the text. You should learn these
words and the new vocabulary presented in future readings.
______________________________________________________________________

On anginne gesceop God heofonan and eoran. Seo eore solice ws idlu and

mtigu, and ystru wron ofer re neowolnesse bradnesse; and Godes gast ws gefered

ofer wteru. God cw a*, "Geweore leoht" and leoht wear geworht. God geseah a*

t hit god ws, and he gedlde t leoht fram m ystrum. And het t leoht dg

5 and a stru niht. a* ws geworden fen and morgen, an dg.

God cw a* eft, "Geweore nu fstnes tomiddes m wterum, and totwme a

wteru from m wterum. And God geworhte a fstnesse, and totwmde a wteru

e wron under a fstnesse from a e wron bufan re fstnesse; hit ws swa gedon.

And God het a fstnesse heofonan. And ws a geworden fen and morgen, oer dg.

10 God a* solice cw, "Beon gegaderode a wteru e sind under re heofonan,

and teowie drygnes; hit ws a* swa gedon. And God geciegde a drygnesse eoran, and

ra wtera gegaderunga he het ss. God geseah a* t hit god ws.

 OEFR, p. 63

Reading vocabulary (in order of appearance)

anginn beginning
gesceop (from scyppan) shaped, made
solice truly
idel void
neowolnes abyss
ystru shadows, darkness (always plural)
gefered (from geferian) carried
a* then
geweore (from weoran) "Let ____ come to be," "let there be ____ "
geworht (from wyrcan) made
geseah (from seon) saw
gedlan divide
het (from hatan) called
geworden (from weoran); ws geworden "happened"
tomiddes amid
totwme (from totwman, lit. "to-two") "let ___ be divided"
fstnes firmament
bufan above
swa so
teowie "let ___ appear"
e that, which
geciegde called
gegaderunga gatherings (acc. pl.)
 OEFR, p. 64

Questions on the reading

Identify the kernel types and kernel elements of the clauses in line 1.

Find all the nouns that have demonstratives (articles) with them. Can you tell what gender,
number, and case they are?

Compare the occurrences of a marked with an asterisk* with those used as articles. How will
you tell the two apart when you meet them in your reading?
 OEFR, p. 65

Unit 6
Connectors
The Gap
Participles
Passive constructions
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Connectors
So far, we have dealt with sentences that contain only one item fulfilling each syntactical
function: one subject, one verb, one direct object, one adverb, and so on.

Connectors are used to join two or more elements that are alike in function:

two subjects: Menn and englas lufia God.

two verbs: Menn lufia and lofia God.
two direct objects: God wrohte heofon and eoran
two indirect objects: God wrohte heofon mannum and englum.
two adjectives: Heofon is heah and beorht.
two whole kernels: Heofon is beorht and hell is swrtu.

The most important connectors to be able to recognize are the coordinating conjunctions: and
(also spelled ond or 7): and, and ac: but.

The connectors can also be unexpressed (asyndeton: lack of conjunctions). In modern

punctuation, a comma is often used to designate a join where there is no expressed connector.

The three modes of connection can be exemplified with versions of the last sentence above:
Heofon is beorht and hell is swrtu.
Heofon is beorht ac hell is swrtu.
Heofon is beorht, hell is swrtu.

Ac, but, in the second example joins two units that are alike syntactically but opposed to each
other in meaning. The comma serves much the same function in the third example.
 OEFR, p. 66

As you read and encounter connectors, it is important to ask yourself what two things are being
joined by the connector. A good rule of thumb for expectations and connectors is that a
connector raises the expectation of another thing like something you just saw.
_____________________________________________________________________
Exercise 6.1: Look back at the reading from the last unit. Find all the ands and underline
them. Identify what two "sames" each one connects.
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Exercise 6.2: Practice recognizing what two like elements are connected by connectors.
In the following sentences, circle the connectors and underline the two elements they join. Be
prepared to name what kind of element you have underlined.

1. God is god ac se deofol is yfel.

2. He sloh one mann y stane and y spere.
3. God wrohte mannum his rice ac deofola werodum his dom.
4. Ic sprece m tungum manna and engla.
5. t scip is lang and brad.
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The Gap
When a sentence contains two or more kernels, it is very common (in all languages) for one or
more kernel items to be left out, with the understanding that it will be supplied from the
preceding or following kernel. We do this without thinking about it in MnE, but recognizing
what has been left out can be tricky in a new language. (In traditional grammar, this
phenomenon is called ellipsis and is classified as a figure of rhetoric. Linguists often refer to the
phenomenon as gapping.)
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Exercise 6.3: Practice recognizing what has been left out. Mark the place where something is
missing and circle the place where you are going to find the item to supply in the gap.

1. God is god ac se deofol yfel.

2. Heofon is beorht and hell swrtu.
3. t scip is lang and brad and seo s eac.
_____________________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 67

As you read texts, especially poetic texts, and track expectations looking for kernel items, be
alert for items that may have been gapped.
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Participles

A participle is a verbal adjective. That means that it functions as an adjectival modifier, but it
has several attributes of a verb, including voice (active or passive) and tense (present or
preterite).

There are two participles in OE, the present and the past. These correspond closely in use to
the MnE participles. The present participle is active, and the past participle is passive.

Consider these MnE examples:

present active: running water

past passive: squashed squirrel

In MnE, the participles can be combined with forms of to be to forms compound verb tenses;
e.g.:

present progressive: the water is running

past perfect: the squirrel was squashed

These forms are under development during the OE period. You will encounter similar
constructions in your OE reading and usually their interpretations will be clear from their MnE
counterparts.

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Participles: forms
The OE particples are formed from verbs as follows:
The present participle is formed by adding -ende to the root of the verb. Example: lufiende
"loving"
For weak verbs, the past participle looks like the preterite (with appropriate dental ending)
but with personal endings dropped off. The prefix ge- may be added. Examples: (ge)lufod
"loved", (ge)nered "saved"
 OEFR, p. 68

For strong verbs, the past participle is the fourth principal part. We will learn about strong
verbs in the next unit.
The participles are declined like adjectives, strong or weak as context requires.

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Exercise 6.4: Translate the following participle+noun phrases into OE.

Nota bene: Because a participle is an adjective, it takes adjectival endings and follows the rules
for noun-adjective agreement.

Hint: To decide whether a participle should be active or passive, think about the relationship
between the participle and its noun-head. If the participle describes what its noun-head is
doing, it should be active; if it describes what happened to the noun-head, it should be passive.

1. the reigning king _________________________________

2. the loving God _________________________________
3. the living God _________________________________
4. the slain man _________________________________
5. the traveling exile _________________________________
6. the suffering heart _________________________________
7. the healed heart _________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Note that any of the phrases you just translated can appear in any case, as called for by the
function of the noun-head in the sentence.
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Note also that participles, like adjectives, can and very often do serve as substantives, without
noun-heads just like in MnE:

the living...the wounded...the annoying...the blessed etc. etc.

 OEFR, p. 69

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Passive constructions

Like MnE, OE has no inflected passive and so must express passive forms with a combination
of the verb "to be" and the past participle.

seo eore ws nerede "the earth was saved"

(The one exception is the only verb in OE that, on its own, has a passive meaning: hatan, to
be called.)

A kernel with a passive verb is its own kernel type, the passive kernel. A passive kernels only
obligatory constituents are a subject and a passive verb.
______________________________________________________________________
Note: Even though the past participle is basically passive in meaning, it can be used with the
verb "to have" to form active past-tense contructions. This works the same way in MnE.
Example: ic habbe lufode "I have loved". As usual, when you are diagnosing whether a
construction is active or passive, think about the relationship of the subject to the action of the
verb.
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______________________________________________________________________
Summary
______________________________________________________________________
Terms and concepts Forms
connectors present and past participles of
coordinating conjunctions all weak verbs you know
gapping
participles as adjectival modifiers
voice of participles
compound verb forms involving participles

Kernel type
passive
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 OEFR, p. 70

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Reading: The Poet Cdmon
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Cdmon was a lay brother (not a monk, not trained in Latin and Scripture) in the 660s in the
monastery of Whitby, which was governed by the Abbess Hild. Bede tells of Cdmons
miraculous gift as part of the story of Hild in his Church History of the English People, which
was written in the 730s and translated into Old English early in the tenth century.
______________________________________________________________________
Note: Use the glossary that follows Unit 12.
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Ws he se mon in weoruldhade geseted o a tide e he ws gelyfdre ylde, ond nfre

nnig leo geleornade. Ond he foron oft in gebeorscipe, onne r ws blisse intinga
gedemed, t heo ealle sceolden urh endebyrdnesse be hearpan singan, onne he geseah a
hearpan him nealecan, onne aras he for scome from m symble ond ham eode to his huse.
5 a he t a sumre tide dyde, t he forlet t hus s gebeorscipes, ond ut ws
gongende to neata scipene, ara heord him ws re neahte beboden a he a r in
gelimplicre tide his leomu on reste gesette ond onslepte, a stod him sum mon t urh swefn
ond hine halette ond grette ond hine be his noman nemnde: "Cedmon, sing me hwthwugu."
a ondswarede he ond cw: "Ne con ic noht singan; ond ic foron of eossum gebeorscipe ut
10 eode, ond hider gewat, foron ic naht singan ne cue."
Eft he cw, se e mid hine sprecende ws: "Hwre u meaht singan."
a cw he: "Hwt sceal ic singan?" Cw he: "Sing me frumsceaft."
 OEFR, p. 71

Unit 7
Strong Verbs
Anomalous and preterite-present verbs
Negation
Infinitives
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Strong verbs
Strong verbs are the ancestors of the MnE so-called "irregular" verbs, like sing-sang-sung. They
mark tense not by adding a dental suffix, like the weak verbs (or their MnE descendents, like
love-loved), but by changing the vowels inside their stems.

While we call these verbs "irregular" today, they were originally - before historic OE - quite
regular, in the sense that the series of vowels appearing in the various stems was predictable for
each class of verb. In the development from OE to MnE, many strong verbs have been
simplified, undergone internal changes, or changed class. Still, you intuitively know enough
common strong verb patterns to recognize that there is still a lot of regularity in the system.

In OE, there are fairly regular, recognizable classes of strong verbs. But many sound changes
took place just before recorded OE and during the history of OE that affected the vowels
appearing in these verbs. Because of this, some verb classes seem to have an unreasonably large
number of exceptions, and the appearance of vowels in verb stems can appear quite random to
the beginner.

The way to tackle this apparent chaos is to memorize about a dozen model verbs (seven main
classes and a few recurring exceptions caused by sound changes), so that you have in mind the
range of patterns to which strong verbs may conform. Then, as you learn new verbs, you can
associate them with the vowel-pattern of your model verb.

When you learn OE strong verbs, you need to learn

principal parts of model verbs for each of the classes of strong verbs and a few sub-classes.
Knowing the principal parts of strong verbs is crucial because it will allow you to recognize
what dictionary form you should look up when you meet an unfamiliar form of an
unfamiliar verb.
personal endings for the present and preterite tenses of strong verbs, which are somewhat
simpler than those for weak verbs
 OEFR, p. 72

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Principal Parts

In MnE, most verbs of this type have three principal parts (different stems on which the
various verb forms are based). These are:

1. Present stem sing examples I sing, you sing, he/she/it sings, etc.
2. Preterite stem sang examples I sang, you sang, he/she/it sang, etc.
3. Past participle stem sung examples I have sung, the song has been sung

In OE, strong verbs have four principal parts. This is because these verbs show two different
vowels within the preterite tense, one for the first and third person singular, and another for
the second person singular and the whole plural.

To summarize, the principal parts (pp) are used to form the following forms:
1st pp 2nd pp 3rd pp 4th pp
whole present 1st and 3rd person 2nd person past participle
tense singular preterite singular and
whole plural
preterite

The principal parts of singan in OE are:

1st pp 2nd pp 3rd pp 4th pp
singan sang sungon sungen

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Here's how we use those principal parts to form verb forms we can actually use in sentences.
Note the personal endings and learn these; they will apply to all strong verbs. It may be useful
to go back and compare them to the personal endings for weak verbs.

1st pp singan Present tense forms: ic singe I sing

u singest you (sg.) sing
he/heo/hit singe he/she/it sings
we/ge/hi singa we/you (pl.)/they sing
 OEFR, p. 73

2nd pp sang Preterite tense forms: ic sang I sang

he/heo/hit sang he/she/it sang

3rd pp sungon Preterite tense forms: u sunge you (sg.) sang

we/ge/hi sungon we/you (pl.)/they sang

4th pp sungon Past participle: he hafa sungen he has sung

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Exercise 7.1: Practice conjugating singan in present and preterite tenses by translating the
following sentences into OE. Note: the OE noun song is masculine and declines like stan.

a. We sang the song. ____________________________________________

b. You (sg.) sang the old song. ____________________________________________
c. You (pl.) sang a long song. ____________________________________________
d. I sing a happy song. ____________________________________________
e. She sang this terrible song. ____________________________________________
f. The warrior sings a bloody song _______________________________________
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Strong verb classes and model verbs
Learn the principal parts and meanings of the following model strong verbs. (Note on long
vowels: although you do not need to memorize vowel length, the classification of strong verbs
is based in part on vowel length, so I have marked length here.)

Class I scnan scn scinon scinen shine

Class II cropan crap crupon cropen creep

brcon brac brucon brocen enjoy

Class III bregdan brgd brugdon brogden shake

Class III variants helpan healp hulpon holpen help
beorcan bearc burcon burcen bark
gielpan gealp gulpon golpen boast
drincan dranc druncon druncen drink
 OEFR, p. 74

Class IV beran br bron boren bear

Class V tredan trd trdon treden trample

Class VI faran fr fron faren go

Class VII healdan hold holdon

hold healden
hatan ht htonorder,hten
be called
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Why are there so many variant types for Class III? You'll notice that the basic Class III form
is a stem with a short vowel followed by two consonants. Before and during the OE period,
particular combinations of consonants caused changes in the vowels that preceded them. For
example, r plus another consonant and l plus another consonant both caused "breaking" of
simple vowels, turning them into diphthongs. "Breaking" before r and before l followed slightly
different rules and so produce slightly different results in different verbs. In gielpan, a diphtong
is created by the g- that starts the word ("palatal diphthongization"). In drincan, the nasal n
plus another consonant raises the -e- of the basic series to -i-.
______________________________________________________________________
Vocabulary: Strong Verbs
Class I
scnan shine
Class II
cropan creep
brcon enjoy
Class III
bregdan shake
helpan help
beorcan bark
gielpan boast
drincan drink
 OEFR, p. 75

gelimpan happen, befall

weoran become
Class IV
beran bear
Class V
sprecan speak, say
tredan tread on, trample
Class VI
faran go
slean strike, beat, attack
Class VII
healdan hold
hatan order, be called
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Irregular verbs
As in MnE, a large number of very high-frequency verbs have irregular conjungations.
Although it is tedious to memorize all these, they occur so frequently that it is worth the effort
to save you future labor in dictionary-flipping.

These verbs are don, gan, willan, agan, cunnan, magan, motan, sculan, urfan, witan.
______________________________________________________________________
don "do"
Present
Singular Plural
First person don do
Second person dest do
Third person de do
 OEFR, p. 76

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons dyde dydon
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gan "go"
Present
Singular Plural
First person ga ga
Second person gst ga
Third person g ga

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons eode eodon
______________________________________________________________________
willan "wish, will"
Present
Singular Plural
First person wille willa
Second person wilt willa
Third person wile willa

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons wolde woldon
 OEFR, p. 77

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agan "possess"
Present
Singular Plural
First person ah agon
Second person ahst agon
Third person ah agon

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons ahte ahton
______________________________________________________________________
cunnan "can, know how to"
Present
Singular Plural
First person cann cunnon
Second person canst cunnon
Third person cann cunnon

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons cue cuon
______________________________________________________________________
magan "be able to"
Present
Singular Plural
First person mg magon
Second person mht magon
Third person mg magon
 OEFR, p. 78

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons mihte mihton
______________________________________________________________________
motan "be allowed to, may"
Present
Singular Plural
First person mot moton
Second person most moton
Third person mot moton

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons moste moston
______________________________________________________________________
sculan "be obliged to"
Present
Singular Plural
First person sceal sculon
Second person scealt sculon
Third person sceal sculon

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons sceolde sceoldon
 OEFR, p. 79

______________________________________________________________________
urfan "need"
Present
Singular Plural
First person earf urfon
Second person earft urfon
Third person earf urfon

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons orfte orfton
______________________________________________________________________
witan "know"
Present
Singular Plural
First person wat witon
Second person wast witon
Third person wat witon

Preterite
Singular Plural
all persons wiste wiston
 OEFR, p. 80

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Negation
The basic negative particle in OE is ne not.

OE also regularly negates other words by adding an initial n- or replacing the first consonant
with an n-:

an one nan none, not one

is is nis isnt
willan to wish nillan to not wish, to wish not (hence to MnE expression willy-nilly: will he
or will he not, i.e. whether he wishes or whether he doent.)

Double negation is regular in OE and the two negatives do not cancel each other out:
Nis nan wyrm
There is no serpent

Two ne-s can mean neither...nor and act as a connector joining two like elements:
He wolde ne seon ne hieran
He wished neither to see nor to hear.

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Infinitives
OE has two infinitives, both of which may be translated by the MnE infinitive (the to form
of the verb). One infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb, the form that ends in an. The
other is called the inflected infinitive, although it isnt really inflected that is, its endings
dont change. It is instantly recognizable because it is preceded by to and ends in nne, as in to
lufienne.
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The uninflected infinitive is used as a complementary infinitive, in conjunction with many of
the verbs we have just learned. Examples:

He can lufian. He knows how to love

He sceal lufian. He is obliged to love, he must love
He mot lufian. He is allowed to love
He earf lufian. He needs to love
 OEFR, p. 81

______________________________________________________________________
Kernel analysis and complementary infinitives.
A helping verb and a complementary infinitive together make up a whole verb for the purposes
of kernel-element identification. The auxiliary provides information about person and tense,
and the infinitive provides the core meaning and, where relevant, the voice (active or passive).
The same is true of complex verbs formed from have or be plus a participle.
___________________________________________________________________________
Accusative + infinitive constructions
The uninflected infinitive can also be used in commands. A verb of commanding may be
followed by the person who is to carry out the command in the accusative and the action that is
to be done in the infinitive. Example:

Se cyning heht [one guman feohtan]. The king ordered the warrior to fight.

The accusative and the infinitive in this construction are in a subject-verb relationship that
is, the accusative and infinitive together make a kernel and can be analyzed as such. The
accusative and the infinitive kernel can have objects or modifiers in it, too:

Se cyning heht [one guman cwellan one aglcan]. The king ordered the warrior to kill the
combatant.

Se cyning heht [one guman feohtan modiglice]. The king ordered the warrior to fight
bravely.

(If the first of these seems ambiguous to you, it is. It's usually possible to tell from context,
though, which accusative is the subject and which is the direct object within the accusative-
and-infinitive construction.)
______________________________________________________________________
There is also a construction peculiar to OE in which the infinitive, although it is active in
form, must be translated passive.

Se cyning heht [an hus wyrcan]. The king ordered a house to be built.

It's obvious from logic and context that the king is not ordering the house to do something, so
here the relationship between the accusative subject and the infinitive verb must be passive.
Context usually suggests the appropriate translation.
 OEFR, p. 82

______________________________________________________________________
The inflected infinitive can be used to express purpose. Examples:

He com to cwellenne t wyrm. He came to slay the serpent.

He com to nerienne a eore. He came to save the earth.
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Summary
______________________________________________________________________

Forms
principal parts of strong verbs and irregular verbs
negation of verb forms

Terms and concepts

inflected and uninflected infinitive
complementary infinitive
accusative and infinitive construction
 OEFR, p. 83

______________________________________________________________________
Reading: The Poet Cdmon, part 2
______________________________________________________________________
a he a as andsware onfeng, a ongon he sona singan in herenesse Godes Scyppendes
a fers ond a word e he nfre gehyrde, ara endebyrdnes is is:
"Nu sculon herigean heofonrices Weard,
Meotodes meahte ond his modgeanc,
5 weorc Wuldorfder, swa he wundra gehws,
ece Drihten, or onstealde.
He rest sceop eoran bearnum
heofon to hrofe halig Scyppend;
a middangeard monncynnes Weard,
10 ece Drihten, fter teode
firum foldan, Frea lmihtig."
a aras he from m slpe, ond eal a e he slpende song fste in gemynde hfde ond m
wordum sona monig word in t ilce gemet Gode wyres songes togeeodde.
a com he on morgenne to m tungerefan, e his ealdormon ws: sgde him hwylce
15 gife he onfeng; ond he hine sona to re abbudissan geldde ond hire a cyde ond sgde. a
heht heo gesomnian ealle a gelredestan men ond a leorneras: ond him ondweardum het
secgan t swefn, ond t leo singan, t ealra heora dome gecoren wre, hwt oe hwonon
t cuman wre. a ws him eallum gesegen, swa swa hit ws, t him wre from Drihtne
sylfum heofonlic gifu forgifen.
 OEFR, p. 84

Unit 8
Subordination
Correlation
Clause markers
Clauses as adverbial modifiers
______________________________________________________________________
Subordination subordinate clauses
As you know, every sentence contains at least one kernel at least one clause and may
contain two or more clauses joined by a connector meaning and or but. Clauses joined by
coordinating conjunctions like and or but retain their status as main or independent
clauses.

But clauses can also fill other sentence roles. A clause can act like a noun kernel item, like an
adverbial modifier, or like an adjectival modifier. If a clause serves one of these roles within a
larger sentence or clause, it is called a dependent or subordinate clause, and the clause within
which it is acting is called the governing clause.

Lets look briefly, with MnE examples, at how clauses fulfil noun, adjective, and adverb roles in
sentences. In this and the following chapters, we will consider more specifically what these
clauses look like in OE.

Noun clauses
Clauses may act as any noun kernel item, but most often act as the direct object of a verb of
saying, thinking, asking, commanding, etc., and give the content of the statement, thought,
belief, question, or command.

Compare: He said a prayer. (noun)

He said that he wished the dragon would go away. (clause)

He asked a question. (noun)

He asked what the best method was for getting rid of dragons. (clause)

He believed the answer. (noun)

He believed that it would be hard to kill the dragon. (clause)

He ordered breakfast. (noun)

He ordered that his men help him get breakfast for the dragon. (clause)
 OEFR, p. 85

Noun clauses may also serve as subjects:

The dragons dislike was all too apparent. (noun)
That the dragon did not like scrambled eggs was all too apparent. (noun clause)
______________________________________________________________________
Adverb clauses
A clause may answer most of the wide range of adverb questions (see Unit 5):
where? where the dragon has his lair
when? when the dragon wakes
why? because dragons are really grouchy
for what purpose? so that he could protect his hoard
______________________________________________________________________
Adjective clauses
An adjective clause specifies or gives additional information about a noun-head, just like other
adjectival modifiers do. Adjectival clauses take the form of relative clauses. Compare:

the grouchy dragon (adjective)

Beowulfs dragon (noun in the genitive)
the dragon who lives in the barrow (adjective clause)
______________________________________________________________________
Clause markers
Notice that in the examples above, there is a word in bold that marks the beginning of the
clause. The general term for these is clause marker. Different kinds of clauses are marked by
different categories of marker:

Noun clauses are marked by subordinating conjunctions or question words.

Adverb clauses are marked by subordinating conjunctions or adverbs.
Adjective clauses are marked by relative pronouns.

The rules for what words can serve as clause markers are somewhat different for MnE and OE,
so we will look at the specific possibilities for OE as we consider different clause types.
 OEFR, p. 86

______________________________________________________________________
Clauses as adverbial modifiers
Anticipation and recapitulation
OE likes to signal that a subordinate clause is coming or remind us that weve just had one
by placing an adverb in the main clause that indicates what type of clause is coming (or just
went past) and how that clause fits into the syntax of the governing clause.

We sometimes do this in MnE:

[Where the dragon lives], there men fear to tread.

[When the dragon comes], then men will be afraid.

In these examples, the subordinate clause comes first and is introduced by a wh- word as clause
marker. The main clause starts with the th- counterpart to the wh- word, and serves to sum up
(recapitulate) the content of the subordinate clause.

We can also flip the order of main and subordinate clauses, although this is an un-idiomatic
construction in MnE, which would normally leave out the th- word in the main clause when
using this element order.

There men fear to tread, [where the dragon lives].

Then men will be afraid, [when the dragon comes].

In these examples, the th-word serves to alert us in advance (anticipate) that a clause is coming
up that will explain where there is or when then is. Notice that there and then are
adverbs and where and when are subordinating conjunctions introducing adverb clauses.
There is no problem figuring out that the wh- clause is an adverb clause, because the th- word
is a place-holder for it in the main clause.

In OE, this is the normal pattern for signaling the presence of a subordinate clause.
Identification is complicated somewhat by the fact that in OE the adverb in the main clause
and the subordinating conjunction are, more often than not, the same word. Here is how OE
would express the sentences from the examples above.

Subordinate clause first:

[a se draca lif], a nilla menn trdan

[onne se draca cym], onne olia menn.
 OEFR, p. 87

Main clause first:

a nilla menn trdan, [a se wyrm lif].

onne olia menn, [onne se wyrm cym].

How, then, do we tell which is the main and which the subordinate clause? Usually, context
makes it reasonably certain which is which. There is a good syntactical rule of thumb, though,
as suggested by the examples above:

In the SUBORDINATE clause, the kernel elements come in the order SUBJECT-VERB.
In the MAIN clause, the kernel elements come in the order VERB-SUBJECT.

Althugh both of these are normal element orders for main clauses, when a pair of clauses are
correlated with matching adverbs/clause markers, OE authors normally contrast main and
subordinate by following this element-order rule.

Sometimes, though, its just impossible to tell, and Anglo-Saxonists have made whole careers
out of trying to discover rules and decide famous ambiguous cases.

We will meet other common correlating pairs of adverbs and subordinating conjunctions as
we read.
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Summary
______________________________________________________________________

Terms and concepts adverbial clauses

subordination clause markers
correlation subordinating conjunctions
dependent (subordinate) clause anticipation
independent (main) clause recapitulation
governing clause
 OEFR, p. 88

______________________________________________________________________
Reading: The Poet Cdmon, part 3
______________________________________________________________________

a rehton heo him ond sgdon sum halig spell ond godcundre lare word: bebudon him
a, gif he meahte, t he in swinsunge leosonges t gehwyrfde. a he a hfde a wisan
onfongne, a eode he ham to his huse ond cwom eft on morgenne ond y betstan leoe
geglenged him asong ond ageaf t him beboden ws. a ongan seo abbudisse clyppan ond
5 lufigean a Godes gife in m men; ond heo hine a monade ond lrde t he woruldhad
anforlete ond munuchad onfenge: ond he t wel afode.
Ond heo hine in t mynster onfeng mid his godum, ond hine geeodde to gesomnunge
ara Godes eowa; ond heht hine lran t getl s halgan stres ond spelles. Ond he eal a
he in gehyrnesse geleornian meahte mid hine gemyndgade ond swa swa clne neten eodorcende
10 in t sweteste leo gehwerfde; ond his song ond his leo wron swa wynsumu to gehyranne,
tte seolfan a his lareowas t his mue wreoton ond leornodon. Song he rest be
middangeardes gesceape ond bi fruman moncynnes ond eal t str Genesis, t is seo reste
Moyses boc; ond eft bi utgonge Israhela folces of gypta londe ond bi ingonge s
gehatlandes; ond bi orum monegum spellum s halgan gewrites canones boca; ond bi Cristes
15 menniscnesse; ond bi his rowunge; ond bi his upastignesse in heofonas; ond bi s Halgan
Gastes cyme, ond ara apostola lare: ond eft bi m dge s toweardan domes, ond bi fyrhtu
s tintreglican wiites, ond bi swetnesse s heofonlecan rices, he monig leo geworhte. Ond
swelce eac oer monig be m godcundan fremsumnessum ond domum he geworhte.
______________________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 89

Unit 9
Clauses as adjectival modifiers: relative clauses
Clauses as kernel items: noun clauses
______________________________________________________________________
Relative clauses
A clause that plays an adjective role in a governing clause is a relative clause. The clause
marker for a relative clause in MnE is a relative pronoun:

The dragon [who lives in the barrow]...

The hoard [that the dragon possesses]...
The cup, [which I borrowed from an apparently empty barrow,]...

In the above examples, the bracketed clauses are relative clauses, and who, that, and which
are relative pronouns.

The each relative clause is an adjectival modifier with a noun as its head. Dragon, hoard,
and cup are the noun heads in the above sentences. (The roles that those nouns are
playing in their {incomplete} main clauses dont affect the way the relative clauses are set
up.) In traditional grammar, these noun heads are called the antecedents of their
respective relative pronouns. It makes sense to call attention in this way to the
relationship between the relative pronoun and the noun modified by the relative clause,
because the choice of a pronoun may depend on what the antecedent is. In MnE, for
example, we make a distinction between animate and inanimate antecedents when we
decide whether who is an appropriate way to start a relative clause.
______________________________________________________________________
e as marker for relative clauses
In OE, the choice of marker for a relative clause is both simpler - we dont have to decide
between who, which, and that - and more complicated. The basic marker for relative
clauses in OE is the indeclinable particle e. Here are some relative clauses in which e
marks the clause:

Se cyning [e cwealde one aglcan] cwealde one dracan.

The king [who slew the monster] slew the dragon.

Se draca [e cwealde one cyning] is mihtig.

The dragon [who slew the king] is mighty.
 OEFR, p. 90

In both these examples, the antecedent is the subject of the main clause and the relative
particle also acts as subject within the relative clause. But these noun-roles can vary
independently of one another. In the following reshaping of the first example, the
antecedent has become the direct object in its main clause, but the relative clause remains
unchanged:

Se draca cwealde one cyning [e cwealde one aglcan].

The dragon slew the king [who slew the monster].

one cyning takes its case (accusative) from its function in the main clause. In the relative
clause, e doesnt change form, because it is indeclinable, but we can tell from the case of
one aglcan that e must be acting as the subject in the relative clause.

In the next example, the e is acting as direct object in its clause, and we can tell that
because the dragon in the relative clause is nominative:

Se cyning [e se draca cwealde] nas blie.

The king [whom the dragon slew] was not happy.

In formal MnE, we make that clear by using whom, the objective case of the relative
pronoun.
______________________________________________________________________
The se e relative
Sometimes its helpful or desirable to mark the case of the relative pronoun in OE, too.
The usual way to do that is to add the appropriate form of se before the e. The form of
se will be chosen to reflect the gender and number of its antecedent and the case
demanded by its function in the relative clause. Adding se to the relative particle is
always an option and sometimes a necessity. Here are the examples from above
reconstructed with the se + e form of the relative but with their meanings unchanged:

Se cyning [se e cwealde one aglcan] cwealde one dracan.

The king [who slew the monster] slew the dragon.

Se draca [se e cwealde one cyning] is mihtig.

The dragon [who slew the king] is mighty.

Se cyning [one e se draca cwealde] nas blie.

The king [whom the dragon slew] was not happy.
 OEFR, p. 91

If the antecedent is feminine, the feminine form of the pronoun must be used:

Seo hlfdige [seo e cwealde one aglcan] cwealde one dracan.

The lady [who slew the monster] slew the dragon.

Likewise with the neuter, although the neuter is more likely to be followed by plain e
(since neuter pronouns cant help distinguish between nominative and accusative anyway).
______________________________________________________________________
When the relative pronoun plays a non-kernel role in its clause
The se + e form of the relative is normally used when the relative plays a non-kernel role
in its clause, and so must be clearly marked as genitive or dative. Here the relative is
serving as indirect object in its own clause:

Se draca [m e ic slde a boc] is blie.

The dragon [to whom I gave the book] is happy.

Seo hlfdige [re e ic slde a boc] is bliu.

The lady [to whom I gave the book] is happy.

And here the relative is in the genitive in its own clause:

a leode [ara e cyning cwlde one dracan] is blie.

The people [whose king killed the dragon] are happy.

______________________________________________________________________
Noun clauses
Noun clauses (also called substantive clauses) fulfill noun kernel roles. They include
clauses in which a relative clause behaves like a substantive adjective, clauses that give the
content of a thought, saying, command, or question, and clauses marked by t that serve
as subjects or subject complements.
______________________________________________________________________
Relative clauses as substantives
Just as adjectives without noun heads can act like nouns, relative clauses, which are
usually adjectival, may act as noun clauses normally as the subject of the sentence.
Example:
 OEFR, p. 92

[Se e cwella one dracan] bi se cyning.

[He who slays the dragon] will be king.
______________________________________________________________________
Noun clauses expressing the content of commands
One form of noun clause is the accusative-and-infinitive construction that you learned in
Unit 7. The accusative-and-infinitive clause does not have a clause marker in the normal
sense, but the presence of the accusative and infinitive forms marks out the clause as a
unit. The content of a command may also be expressed by a clause introduced by t.
Such clauses are called "indirect commands" in traditional grammar. The verb in an
indirect command is often in the subjunctive, the forms of which we will learn in the
next unit. Here's an example, which you can compare to the examples of accusative +
infinitive in Unit 7:

Se cyning heht t se guma feohte modiglice.

The king ordered that the warrior fight bravely.

A verb of command creates the expectation of a noun clause expressing the content of the
command, which may be of the t type or of the accusative-and-infinitive type.
______________________________________________________________________
More t clauses
Noun clauses introduced by t may also be the objects of verbs of saying, thinking,
knowing, discovering, etc. The opening of The Battle of Maldon, which you will start
reading this lesson, provides a good example:

...t Offan mg rest onfunde, [t se eorl nolde ierge geolian]...

...Offa's kinsman first found [that the leader would not tolerate slackness]...
(literally:) Offa's kinsman first found that, [that the leader would not tolerate slackness]

Note that not only is the noun clause introduced by t, but there is another t in the
main clause. The pronoun t in the main clause serves a similar function to the adverb
that signals that an adverb clause is coming up, which we studied in the last unit. Here,
the t in the main clause stands in for the direct object of the verb onfunde ("found") and
anticipates that a clause is coming up that will specify just what it was that Offa's kinsman
found: "Offa's kinsman found that, (namely) [that the leader would not tolerate
slackness]." You will also find many instances in which the noun clause comes first and
another t appears later, to recapitulate the noun clause and remind us that we saw it
recently.

A t clause can also be the subject of an impersonal verb of happening or befalling

 OEFR, p. 93

or related meanings:
Gelamp [t se draca awehte].
It happened that the dragon awoke.
In MnE, we use a dummy subject, it, to hold the place of the subject when a clause is
the subject of an impersonal verb. The it in MnE here serves an anticipatory function
familiar to you from OE correlated adverb clauses and from the example from Maldon on
the previous page. You can prove to yourself that the clause is really the subject of the
verb gelimpan in this example if you ask yourself the question, What happened? Answer:
the dragon awoke.
______________________________________________________________________
Indirect questions
A noun clause introduced by a question word (a hw- interrogative) is called an indirect
question. An indirect question is normally the object of a verb of asking, knowing, etc.
Examples:
Se cyning cann [hwt se draca hyg].
The king knows [what the dragon is thinking]
Se cyning acsode [hwr se draca lifode]
The king asked [where the dragon lived].
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Summary
______________________________________________________________________
Terms and concepts noun clauses
adjectival clauses substantive (noun) relative clauses
relative clauses indirect commands
relative conjunction indirect questions
relative particle
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Reading: The Battle of Maldon
Read and translate the first 16 lines of The Battle of Maldon from Pope, Eight Old English
Poems. Use the glossary in Pope.
______________________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 94

Unit 10
Mood
The Subjunctive
The Imperative
______________________________________________________________________
The verb forms with personal endings that we have studied throughout this book have so
far been in the indicative mood. Mood comes from the OE word mod mind, and it is
so called because, in principle, it signals the attitude of the speaker or narrator to the
reality of the idea expressed in the verb. The subjunctive mood is used in OE and still
to some extent in MnE for verbal ideas that are unreal, potential, wished-for, or
conditional. That sounds fairly abstract, but we can illustrate the distinction between real
and unreal indicative and subjunctive verbal ideas with some MnE examples. Focus
here on the meaning of the verbal phrases, not the specific forms of the verbs.

Indicative verbal ideas: I am eating cake.

I love cake.
She hated cake.

Subjunctive verbal ideas: I might eat some cake.

Oh, that I could have some cake!
If I ate cake, I would be sick.
She would have hated this cake if she had been here to taste it.
Let them eat cake!

Note that the first batch of examples contains verbal ideas that are real or factual from the
speakers point of view. The second batch contains verbal ideas that are hoped for or
conditional or might have happened in the past, but didnt. MnE generally expresses
these latter ideas, the subjunctive ones, with a variety of auxiliary (helping) verbs, like
might, may, would, etc. You may recognize these as descendents of the OE preterite-
present verbs, most of which express an intention or state of mind on the part of the
subject.

Instead of mainly using auxiliaries to express subjunctive ideas, OE had a special set of
verb endings to mark the verb as subjunctive. Usually, OE uses these special verb forms
to convey subjunctive verbal ideas. But the inflected, one-word subjunctive verb was
already starting to die out in OE, so you will find as you read that the subjunctive is
relatively rare. You will also find constructions with the preterite-present verbs as
 OEFR, p. 95

auxiliaries that look much like the comparable MnE constructions and express
subjunctive-like ideas. The rules for where the subjunctive gets used in OE are not nearly
as hard-and-fast as they are, for example, in Latin, and so the subjunctive is not normally
a crucial clue in determining what kind of clause you are looking at. In reading, you
should be alert to subjunctive forms and translate the verb appropriately according to
context. We will practice doing this as we read.

The forms of the inflected subjunctive are very easy: the whole singular ends in -e and
the whole plural ends in -en. In the present tense, these are added to the root; in the
preterite, they are added after the dental suffix (for weak verbs) or to the appropriate
preterite stem (for strong verbs).

______________________________________________________________________
The Imperative
The imperative mood is used for direct commands: Do this! Eat that!
If command is addressed to one person, the imperative verb ends in -e or -a or has no
ending. If the command is addressed to multiple people, the imperative ends in -a.
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Summary
______________________________________________________________________

Terms and concepts

mood

Forms
Formation of subjunctive
Formation of imperative
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Reading: The Battle of Maldon
Read and translate lines 17-41 of The Battle of Maldon.
______________________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 96

Unit 11
More adverbial clauses:
causal clauses
purpose clauses
result clauses
conditional clauses
______________________________________________________________________
A causal clause answers the adverbial question why? and is introduced by a word
meaning because. In OE, causal clauses are usually introduced by the compound
conjunction foron e or a variant.

Ws se guma blie, [foron e he cue cwellan one dracan].

The warrior was happy [because he knew how to kill the dragon].

Often, foron also appears in the main clause as an adverb, signaling that a cause will be
explained in an adjacent clause:

Foron ws se guma blie, foron e he cue cwellan one dracan.

The warrior was happy for that reason, (namely) because he knew how to kill the dragon.

______________________________________________________________________
A purpose clause is one that answers the adverbial questions to what end? or for what
purpose? In MnE, purpose clauses are introduced by so that. In OE, purpose clauses
are introduced by t so that and negative purpose clauses are introduced by y ls e
lest. The verb in the purpose clause is normally in the subjunctive.

Brohte se guma his sweord [t he one dracan cwelle].

The warrior brought his sword [so that he might kill the dragon].

Brohte se guma his sweord [y ls e se draca hine cwelle].

The warrior brought his sword[lest the dragon kill him].

______________________________________________________________________
A result clause shows the result of the action or situation described in the main clause. In
MnE, the result clause is introduced by that or so that, and there is very often a so
in the main clause to signal that a result clause is coming. OE uses similar markers:
 OEFR, p. 97

Ws se guma swa modig [t he gealp].

The warrior was so bold [that he boasted].

______________________________________________________________________
Conditional clauses are those of the if...then type. The clause with the if in it is the
subordinate clause, and the then clause is the main clause. In OE, if is gif. In this
example, the subjunctive occurs in both halves of the condition:

Gif se draca me cwelle, scopas me herien.

If the dragon should kill me, let bards praise me.
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Summary
______________________________________________________________________

Terms and concepts

causal clauses
purpose clauses
result clauses
conditional clauses
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
Reading: The Battle of Maldon
Read and translate lines 42-83 of The Battle of Maldon.
______________________________________________________________________
 OEFR, p. 98

______________________________________________________________________
Vocabulary for The Poet Cdmon (in alphabetic order)

abbudisse abbess
ac but
agiefan give back
anforltan abandon, renounce
apostola apostle (gen sg)
arfstnis piety
asingan recite
asong (see asingan)
ateon draw, unsheathe
atuge (see ateon)
aweccan awaken, arouse
awehte (see aweccan)

fst pious
rest first
tgdere together
tsomne together

bearn child
bebeodan command, commend
becuman come
gebeorscipe feast, beer party
beran carry, bring, bear
betynan close, conclude
bidan await
biddan bid
gebiddan pray
bilewit innocent
bocere scholar

canon canon
(ge)ceosan choose
gecoren (past pple of geceosan)
clyppan embrace
cwean say
cyme coming, arrival
 OEFR, p. 99

cyan reveal, make known, inform

gedafenian befit
dd deed
deman judge, deem

eac also, and

eal all
ealdormon overseer, superior
eamodlice humbly
ece eternal, everlasting
efne even, only
eft again, afterwards, thereupon, back
Egipte Egyptians
ellenwodnis zeal
endebyrdnes order, succession, sequence
geendian end, complete (verb)
Engliscgereord the English language (English + voice)
eodorcan chew the cud

fc interval
fger beautiful, pleasant
gefeon rejoice
feor far
feowertyne fourteen
fers verse (here pl.)
firas people, human beings
folde earth, ground
for for, because of, before
forgiefan give
forhodgnis contempt
for hwon why
forltan abandon, neglect, forsake, let go
for on, foron because, therefore, and so, wherefore, for that reason
fremsumnes benefit
frignan ask, inquire
fruma beginning
frumsceaft first creation, genesis
fultumian help, support (verb)
 OEFR, p. 100

fyrhtu fear, horror

ge ... ge both... and

gegearwian prepare
geman take heed
geornfulnes desire
geornlice eagerly, zealously
gldlice joyfully
glengan adorn
gleowian make merry, joke
godcund religious, divine
gongan go, walk
gretan greet, touch, approach
gyt yet, still

halettan hail
halwende salutary, saving
gehatland promised land
hefigan weigh down
heord care, custody
herenes praise (noun)
herigean praise (verb)
hluttor pure
hrof roof
gehwa each, everyone
hwthwugu something
hwere, hwre however, nevertheless, yet, but
hwelc which, what kind of
gehwierfan turn
hwonon whence

idel idle, worthless, vain

ilce same, the same
inbryrdnes inspiration
ingong immigration, entry
inldan bring in
inne inside, within
intinga cause
Israhelas Israelites; Israhela (gen pl)
 OEFR, p. 101

lareow teacher
geldan lead
lran teach, admonish
gelran teach, advise, urge
leasung lying, fable, fiction
leornere scholar
leof dear, beloved
(ge)leornian learn, study
leo song, poem, poetry
lim limb; leomu (acc pl)
gelimplic suitable
lof praise
lufu love (noun)
gelyfed advanced

mancynn mankind
manian exhort, urge, admonish
mst most, greatest
medmicel moderate, brief
menniscnis incarnation
gemet measure, meter
gemetlice moderately
micel great, large, much
mid y when
middangeard world, middle earth
middeneaht midnight
miht might, power; meahte (acc sing)
mod spirit, courage, mind
modgeanc mind-thought, conception, purpose
monade (see manian)
munuchad monastic orders
gemynd mind, remembrance
gemyndgian remember
mynstre church, monastery; mynster (acc sing)

nales not at all

nanwuht nothing
nfre never
nnig none, no one (ne + nig)
 OEFR, p. 102

neah near, imminent

neahte (dat., gen. sg. of niht)
nealecan draw near
nemnan call, name
nealecan draw near
neat n noun: cattle
nieten, neten beast, cattle
neawest neighbourhood
nu now, now that; just now

onbrnan kindle, inspire

ondweard present
him ondweardum they being present; in their presence
onfon recieve, accept, take up
onfeng (pret. of onfon)
onfongne (past pple of onfon)
Ongeleode the English people, England
onginnan begin
onslepan fall asleep
onstellan establish
or beginning (noun)
o up to, as far as, until (preposition)
oe or

rran lift up, offer up

reccan explain, relate
rest rest, resting place (noun)
gerestan rest (verb)
gerisenlic fitting, proper
gerisenlice fittingly, properly

gesceap creation (noun)

Scyppend God, the Creator
scipen shed (noun)
scomu shame
scopgereord poetic language (lit. bard + voice)
se e he who
is gesegen seems (lit. is seen; translating Lat. videtur)
(ge)settan set, put, set out, go, set down, compose, establish
 OEFR, p. 103

gesih sight, vision, presence

gesomnian gather, assemble
gesomnung gathering, community
sona immediately
spell story, message
sprecan speak, say
stf letter (of the alphabet)
str history
stilnes peace
stow place
sum a certain, some
swa thus, so (adv.) as, when (clause marker)
swa hwt swa whatsoever (pronoun)
swa swa just as (clause marker)
swa tte so that (clause marker)
swefn dream
swelce, swylce likewise
swelce eac, eac swelce swa also likewise, moreover
swinsung melody
symbel feast
syndriglice individually, seperately, especially

getl account, sequence

teala well, so, good
teon adorn
tid time
tintreglic tormenting (adj.)
togeeodan add
toweard coming, future (adj.)
getrymman strengthen
tungerefa steward, overseer of an estate
afian receive
eaw custom, practice
eodscipe discipline; fellowship
geeodan join
geeodnis joining?, attachment? (= undereodness submission?)
eow servant, slave
eowan serve
rowung passion, suffering
 OEFR, p. 104

uhtsong matins (lit. dawn-song)

undereodan subject, devote (verb)
upastignes ascension
utgong exodus, emigration

Weard guardian
weor worthy, dear, valuable
weoran become, happen; geworden past ptc
geweorian respect, honor; geweorad past ptc
weoruldhad secular life
wilsumnes devotion
gewis aware
wise way, manner, wise
witan know; wiston pret. pl.
wuton let us
gewitan depart; gewat pret. sg.
writan write; wreoton pret.
gewrit writing, writ, scripture (noun)
wrixendlice in turn
Wuldorfder Father of Glory (God) (gen sing)
wundor miracle, wonder
wundrian wonder, marvel at
gewunian remain, be accustomed to
wynsum delightful

yldu age, old age

 OEFR, p. 105

Collected Unit Vocabulary

Weak Nouns
weak masculine definition
se aglca combatant, belligerent, monster
se anwealda lord, ruler ("one" + "ruler")
se bana slayer
se boda messenger
se boga bow
se gefera companion
se fea foot-troop, infantry
se frea lord, master, The Lord
se geleafa belief, faith
se Gota Goth
se guma man, warrior
se lichama body
se mona mona
se nama name
se oxa ox
se papa Pope
se scima light, radiance
se sefa heart, mind
se wrcca wanderer, exile

weak neuter
t eage eye
t eare ear
t wange cheek, jaw

weak feminine
seo byrne corselet, mail coat
seo cirice church
seo eore earth
seo heorte heart
seo hlfdige lady
seo sunne sun
 OEFR, p. 106

Strong Nouns

strong masculine definition

se a oath
se bearo grove
se cyning king
se dg day
se deofol devil
se dom judgement, glory, reputation
se ende end
se engel angel
se eoh horse
se feoh money
se fugol bird
se God (Christian) God
se hle hero, warrior
se here army
se mann man
se mearh horse
se meotod creator
se mona month
se munuc monk
se scoh shoe
se sige victory
se stan stone
se stede place
se wealh foreigner, stranger, slave, Welshman
se wer man
se wine friend

strong neuter
t cild child
t ft vessel
t god (pagan) god
t gear year
t heafod head
t rice kingdom
t scip ship
 OEFR, p. 107

t spere spear
t wter water
t werod troop
t wite punishment, torment

strong feminine
seo boc book
seo giefu gift
seo lar teaching, doctrine
a leode (plural only) people
seo sprce speech
seo stow place

Adjectives
definition
ele noble
an one
ana alone
anrd singleminded, resolute
begen both
blie happy, cheerful, friendly
blodig bloody
brad broad, wide, spacious
eadig blessed
eadmod humble
earm poor, wretched
eald old, ancient
ece eternal
fst firm, fixed ("hold fast"
forma first
god good
{Note: the adjective gd has a long ;
the noun god "God" has a short o.}
hlud loud
hold loyal
lang long, tall
lytel little
 OEFR, p. 108

micel big, great, large, much

mihtig mighty, powerful
oer second
ree fierce, cruel, harsh
snotor wise
so true
swi mighty
twegen two
wid broad, wide
yfel evil
ylca same

Weak Verbs
Class 1 definition
awendan translate
deman judge
feran set out, proceed, go
fremman do, accomplish
hieran hear, obey
geliefan (look up liefan) believe
lran teach
nerian save, protect
rdan read, instruct, give counsel
rran lift up, offer up
sendan send
settan put, establish, set, appoint
tcan teach, show, direct
tcnan point out, signify, direct
wenan think, expect
wendan go, turn, wend one's way
werian defend, protect
 OEFR, p. 109

Class 1 w/vowel change definition

brengan bring
bycgan buy
cwellan kill
reccan care about, explain, relate
secan seek
sellan give, sell
encan think, intend
yncan seem
wyrcan make, form, produce

Class 2 definition
clypian call
fstnian make fast, establish
halgian hallow, consecrate
halian heal
hergian harry, devastate
lufian love
locian look
namian name
ricsian reign
siian travel
rowian suffer
weorian honor, respect, worship
wunian dwell
wundrian wonder, marvel at

Class 3 definition
habban have
hycgan think
libban live
secgan say
 OEFR, p. 110

Strong Verbs

Class I scnan shine

Class II cropan creep

brcon enjoy

Class III bregdan shake

helpan help
beorcan bark
gielpan boast
drincan drink
gelimpan happen, befall
weoran become

Class IV beran bear

Class V sprecan speak, say

tredan tread on, trample

Class VI faran go
slean strike, beat, attack

Class VII healdan hold

hatan order, be called

Adverbs
hrae swiftly
wide and side far and wide
a forever
r earlier, previously
eae easily
innan from within
neah near
nu now
oft often
symble always, unceasingly
a then
 OEFR, p. 111

r there
upp up
utan from without
wel well

Prepositions
These prepositions normally take the dative:
fter after, along, according to
r before
t at, from, by
be by, along, alongside, about
beforan before, in front of
betweox between, among
butan except, without
for before, in front of, because of
fram from, by
mid with, among, by means of
of from, of
ongean against, towards
togeanes against, towards

These prepositions normally take the accusative:

geond throughout
o up to, until
urh through
ymb around

These prepositions take different cases and, where noted, the meaning varies with the
case:
in in (dat.); into (acc.)
on in, on (dat.); into (acc.)
to at, for (gen.); towards, to, at, near, as (dat.)
under under, beneath (dat.); with sense of movement (acc.)
wi against (acc., gen., dat.)