Language is a living and constantly evolving. The reason why you cannot understand this old English is because much like all languages, it becomes integrated with new words from other cultures and also disappears. Much like new word "Internet" and an old one from "Thy" or rarely used "Ergo". Thanks to the global communications, our English language will evolve even quicker. The path it'll take is unknown but I can tell you that within 100~200 Years, English will be unfamiliar to you.
@csm1025 And so is modern English. what I mean is that Old English sounds more like German than Modern English. you can even see the similarity though a sub-accent.
for example, "That's good" would be pronounced as "Das Gud" in Carabao English. mirroring "Das Ist Gut" slightly.
I did an English degree, but I never got further back than Chaucer - which was several hundred years later than Beowulf, so I really must get into Old English. It'll be a challenge! Thanks for posting and it's a very good edit.
sintendra of a hundrade hu rat shoulder gomba yulla "that was good King" from everywess after selftigeng ni djgong ni gardigong sin xD only part I understood
I've watched this again and again, finally, I think it sounds more like a Norse language (for example, Swedish) than German or Dutch. That's just my feeling for the pronounciation. If you've seen the film called "Arn" in swedish, you'll understand why I said so.
I mean memorizing the prologue of Canterbury Tales is one thing. That's Middle English, after the Normans (who spoke a Latin-centered language that would become French) conquered the Anglo-Saxons, and is at least half-intelligible me today. Old English mind as well be straight-up German to my ear. :/
@DarkPriestessLori If you're still interested, type king Alfred grammar in google and click on the first link. It's an online textbook for old english, it helped me a lot.
This was such a rude language ! Of course, it is appropriate to an epic like Beowulf, but I prefer the actual English language which is so elegant and musical.
@Vic2Guem4 By actual English I take it you mean Celtic and Gaelic? (which are, in fact, two languages and not one?) Because this is very much real English - that is, it's considered just as English as the language we're currently writing in. It's the old form of English, like an extinct version of the language if you will.
@PaddySnuffles Infact, I was just speaking about Modern English, I made a mistake, I thought that "actual" meant the same as the French word "actuel".
@Vic2Guem4 ah no, totally different. though I get why you'd think that (in Portuguese it's pretty similar too - atual -, but the meaning is like in French. :P)
I have just found this awesome poster, this poster shows our early English heroes from the 'Adventus Saxonum'499 AD and warband leaders Hengist and Horsa, through to King Harold and Hereward 'the Wake' ,all depicted against the backdrop of a dramatic cliff side setting. and below a corresponding description, Little has been done to make ourselves or our children proud of our own English heroes.This poster puts that right at last. you can get it at wyrdart (.) co (.) uk <remove brackets.
@Huzzawful no wonder, it's basically a completely different language from modern english. try and find some written old english, and you'll see just how different it is.
@neilrulz24 Where do you think the Anglo-Saxons came from? The Angles and Jutes came from Jutland in modern Denmark,and there is a state in Germany called Saxony.The saxons,Normans,Franks and vikings all came from modern Scandinavia/Northern Europe ,the only difference is the timeframe in which they invaded Britain.Ancient Britons spoke Gaelic.
@12thNameITried The joke is a reference to the fact that English is NOT native to the British Isles. The word "Saxon" is a negative epithet in Celtic societies even today.
@BBarNavi So where is English 'native' too? I love how everyone assumes that I am 1) completely English. My passport isn't even British, its Irish, 2) Happy that Anglos and Saxons invaded Britain and 3) English people today have no blood in them from the Celtic Britons (averages say that their DNA is around 65% from Celtic Britons) . I was just making comment on the fact I think Olde English was a pretty language and people are starting on me about an invasion that was nothing to do with me
@Plastrio Really? You mean I got on a boat centuries ago and invaded people did I? Not to mention the fact that no group called Anglo-Saxons came to Britain. Groups of Angles tribes and Saxon tribes came independently of each other. Its not even that accurate to call English people Anglo-Saxons as 65% of their DNA (on average) comes from ancient Britons, which is a bigger percentage than that comes from Angles or Saxons. Also I'm more Irish than English.
@12thNameITried You can mainly blame the French for that. Modern Icelandic and Norwegian are probably the closest you can get these days to Old English.
@12thNameITried Uhm...this is old english...it didnt change cause of invasion...it evolved...the languages that did change and died out was the old celtic ones that where spoken by the true brittons.
@12thNameITried Dude, that is harsh and unrifined as hell, how can anyone speak like that and not having cramps in the tongue? gwear gwar, gwfhlsih gweotondum... Argh!
@locoawise That's such a silly thing to say! In Irish Gaelic we have loads of 'gw' and 'ch' sounds and each consonant has two variants or more making it one of the most phonetically richest languages in Europe! And we manage to avoid tongue cramps too! :P
@oXSimonXo Yes. There are a number of very close similarities between modern German and old English. I speak German too (although I'm American), and I notice a great number of similarities to German and English.
@robokill387 Angles, Jutes and Saxons came from Denmark and Holland actually. "Germanic" doesn't mean "from Germany" when talking of languages and Germanic peoples.
@robokill387 actually it just means that they came from the germanic section of the indoeuropean languages. not from germany. source: im a linguistics major.
The Normans were Gallicized vikings themselves, Numerous Anglo-saxxon nobles packed up and enlisted in the service of the byzantine court as Varangian-guards, Alexis I cleverly sought to recruit the anglo-saxxons in his war his own war with the Norman rulers of Sicily, knowing that the homeless exiled anglo-saxon nobles were more then eager to take revenge on their mutual enemy at a discount price .
I would say that the first Shielding was saved ashore at Kåseberga. Nearby is Ales stenar, which ackording to me was built to celebrate the fleeing royal heir from the bronze-age kingdom between Simris(bronze-age rock carvings), Kivik(royal tomb) and Skillinge(means Scild´s mens place). He fled to old Lund, which today is called Uppåkra. There they have found a town which existed from 100 BC to 960 AD. As late as these weeks they found roman coins from M.Aurelius. Scedeland means Skåneland..!
Sounds nothing like Chinese...listen to some of those wacky consonant clusters at the beginning of the words, e.g. hr, hn, hl and the abundance of th sounds from ð and þ. Not in Chinese :-).
Agreed, the Normans had amazing luck though, things could have been very different. If the battle of Stamford Bridge against the Vikingr hadn't taken place first, forcing the English to march up north, then straight after the battle run, exhausted straight back down to defend the south the Normans would have been routed. Even taking that into account they reckon the English army only had to hold out for another half hour until nightfall for reinforcements, it was very close.
You don't really - trust me. I've been there, there's no fizzy drinks, and I have no fucking reception, and the internet takes literally forever. Plus no one fucking understands me, even if I spell everything correctly. I try to learn the language, but the Idiot's Guide to English is in Old English.
it's weird because it almost has the same cadence as english nowadays, so in a way it sounds like english. but i still can't understand it obviously XD i think this is awesome! it makes me wonder what english will sound like in 500 years o.o
@megnoggle might need a bit more than 500 years this is set more than 2000 years ago if you listen to english from 600 years ago it is very understandable read canterbury tales by Geofrey chaucer and tell me if you can understand it or not it is hard but definitely doable if you have a grasp of the english language.
Yo man it sounds lyk dis get up to speed bruv da language is aight as it iz
Hopefully not, though - In 500 years time, I think we'll be speaking English pretty much the same as we are now, as it's an international language and the structure is too global for it to change in any drastic way. Once a language has been codified, and academically define, it behaves like..well relgion, almost impossible to change. hah
What I love aboutg this is the rhythm with which it's read as well as the HUGE stress and expression with which certain words and syllables are said! GREAT WORK!!!!!!!! :)
@gakusei1028 Centuries ago, the languages of what is now Scandinavia, Germany, and England were similar enough so that people from these places could pretty much understand each other. They diverged and became more distinct later.
@stealth1692 I did it on Microsoft word. I used a website that has every different alphabet in the world. I couldn't directly copy and paste straight from the website so i have to find most of the letters on MS words. Took like forever to do.
@ShadowChidori85673 Swedish or danish. Just listen to Lars Von Trier's Kingdom intro story about the marshy and spooky lands where the hospital was build. It sounds spooky and guttural like old english.
@ShadowChidori85673 You mean northern germanic language tree (lower german, danish, swedish, norwegian and icelandic). Dutch is closer to danish and english than to german.
Someone apparently translated the Ring Verse from Tolkien's LotR into Old English. There's a cool recording of it if you search "Ring Verse Old English".
@Akterleichbent i'm no expert, but from my understanding, if there was an early Latin (i.e., pre-Christian) influence on the Anglo-Saxons, it probably would've come indirectly through the Celts. the problem with this, though, is that notoriously few Celtic words became incorporated into Anglo-Saxon (Celts were the conquered, they were pushed to the outlying lands, and there wasn't a need to learn their languages). Also, Rome's rule of Britain had been effectively over when the Germanics arrived.
I think there are many prefixes and suffixes in English that are of Latin influence. Are you implying that most of them came from the Normans who were themselves, correct me if i'm wrong, are also initially a Germanic tribe who settled in Northern France and in time also spoke French which is undoubtedly a Latin influenced language. Yes, I've heard that sometimes the conqueror also adapted to the culture of the conquered but I think you're correct with this one.
@Akterleichbent Middle, Early Modern, and Modern English were/are heavily influenced by Latin and French (among many other languages). My original comment referred to the Anglo-Saxon (Old English) dialect in Beowulf. Again, it's my understanding that there is no Latin influence that resulted from Rome's prior conquest of England. Now the Anglo-Saxons definitely converted to Christianity (i.e., exposure to Latin) at some point, but that was due to Roman missionaries, not Roman military conquest.
@DrJuice1 The influence seen from the Celts is not directly seen in contributions to the language, but rather the shift towards a less inflected language. England had many influences due to the fluid political situation. Scandinavian influences from both what would be Norwegians and the Danes. Then you have 4 different major dialects of Old English, the Celts and eventually the Normans. With all these languages and dialects, losing the inflections could possibly be the result.
Thumbs up if you think Skyrim should've had an old english language option
KevUrbie 1 week ago 3
Why does it sound so much nicer than our language now?
ABookwormAndProud 1 week ago 2
surprised to hear a lot of Frisian in it. Some words didn't change that much over time
Splinter5570 1 week ago
Your voice made me feel manly...
jocstarbunny 1 week ago
Language is a living and constantly evolving. The reason why you cannot understand this old English is because much like all languages, it becomes integrated with new words from other cultures and also disappears. Much like new word "Internet" and an old one from "Thy" or rarely used "Ergo". Thanks to the global communications, our English language will evolve even quicker. The path it'll take is unknown but I can tell you that within 100~200 Years, English will be unfamiliar to you.
tkoizumi 1 week ago
why the old English so different from the modern ones? even the English-speaking person can't understood a thing..
korneliswicaksono 3 weeks ago
@korneliswicaksono because it is nearer on an old german dialect. Both Languages has the same Roots
Fehnriss 2 weeks ago
If I was with this girl, I'd never fuck her. I'd sit her on the couch, give her something to read in Old English and masturbate to her voice.
blasty137 3 weeks ago
sounds really cool, i wish i could read old english!
eddy67 1 month ago
she sounds like she is speaking gibberish
badcaseofhomestuck 1 month ago
@badcaseofhomestuck Go listen to people speak German and Swedish on youtube and you will notice the similarities.
2550505 4 weeks ago
Nnn~ Sounds a bit like German, ya?
GarF1eId 1 month ago
@GarF1eId Stimmt!
Theus1005 1 month ago
@GarF1eId
The languages are related. Modern German and Old English are both Germanic languages.
csm1025 4 weeks ago
@csm1025 And so is modern English. what I mean is that Old English sounds more like German than Modern English. you can even see the similarity though a sub-accent.
for example, "That's good" would be pronounced as "Das Gud" in Carabao English. mirroring "Das Ist Gut" slightly.
GarF1eId 4 weeks ago
This sounds like Chinese!
spartanwarrior46 1 month ago
@spartanwarrior46
then you need an ear exam/check up PRETTY SOON
VigisKane 1 month ago
I did an English degree, but I never got further back than Chaucer - which was several hundred years later than Beowulf, so I really must get into Old English. It'll be a challenge! Thanks for posting and it's a very good edit.
Sunflowers159 1 month ago
Wow, stunningly spoken o__o Though I don't understand. Now I want to learn o__o
SyntheticSheep 1 month ago
They should have spoken this throughout the whole Beowulf movie.
zultanaX 1 month ago
sintendra of a hundrade hu rat shoulder gomba yulla "that was good King" from everywess after selftigeng ni djgong ni gardigong sin xD only part I understood
Cappuccino8537 1 month ago
This kind of makes me wish that anglo-saxon was still spoken
nmay8604 1 month ago
@nmay8604 It sort of is, in a way. English is the linguistic evolution of Ænglisc, it's the next stage.
ProudToBeNerdy 1 month ago
Excellent job. Too bad YouTube is blocked in most schools.
hofkurz 1 month ago
so badass
yogurt1337 2 months ago
Listening to this makes me want to kill someone. With an axe.
blasty137 2 months ago
sounds like a retard trying to read
silverfang1122 2 months ago
I've watched this again and again, finally, I think it sounds more like a Norse language (for example, Swedish) than German or Dutch. That's just my feeling for the pronounciation. If you've seen the film called "Arn" in swedish, you'll understand why I said so.
sdjnwhyNZ 2 months ago
I mean memorizing the prologue of Canterbury Tales is one thing. That's Middle English, after the Normans (who spoke a Latin-centered language that would become French) conquered the Anglo-Saxons, and is at least half-intelligible me today. Old English mind as well be straight-up German to my ear. :/
19andoverlol 3 months ago
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Wanna see the most epic Beowulf/Grendel fight scene? A simple search for
Beowulf Parkour
will suffice. Prepare to be baffled.
codysilc 3 months ago
I understood Gud Kugne! (sp?)
aptspire 3 months ago 4
i'm not sure, i think you pronounce the /r/ a bit the wrong way, I thought it sounded more like the r in irish english...
GhostSymphony 3 months ago
I come to this video time and time again when I need inspiration to continue learning OE! :D It's beautiful.
YautjaElder14 3 months ago
Is AYE Old English for YES ?
baceace 3 months ago
@baceace
The Old English word for "yes" was 'gea', which is modern 'yea' and 'yeah'.
The word 'yes' itself comes from Old English 'gese', which meant "so be it".
In front of some vowels(like in 'gea' and 'gese') the Old English 'g' was pronounced like a 'y'.
The word 'aye' I think comes from Middle English.
Anglom87 2 months ago
@Anglom87 'Aye' comes from Scots I believe. Many people in Ireland say it, especially in Ulster, obviously in Scotland also.
GaeilgeSpraoi 2 months ago
@Anglom87
Actually is wasn't a g. It was ʒ. The letter g was used exactly as we use it now. Examples, you ask? In the words like gehat, gehwilc, Ænglisc, etc.
ImagoCanis 1 month ago
wow... this may sound so dumb but how do i learn to speak old english. PLEASE HElp
DarkPriestessLori 3 months ago 19
@DarkPriestessLori If you're still interested, type king Alfred grammar in google and click on the first link. It's an online textbook for old english, it helped me a lot.
Shockersify 3 months ago
@DarkPriestessLori well, the best thing would probably be to learn it from someone who knows it :p
crazyjunkey98 2 months ago
@crazyjunkey98 thats not at all practical and trust me its not worth trying unless ur a scholar but u wouldn't ask something like that if u were
Antioxidantt 1 month ago
@crazyjunkey98 yeah i suppose so!!!! :D
DarkPriestessLori 1 month ago
@DarkPriestessLori there are books on speaking old english
stealth1692 4 weeks ago
@stealth1692 wow! i didnt know that!!!! ill have to go buy them. Thank you for your help!!!!!
DarkPriestessLori 2 weeks ago
@DarkPriestessLori no problem
stealth1692 2 weeks ago
that's amazing =) you were excellent! very, very cool. I loved reading Beowulf.
TheQueenElizabethAnn 3 months ago
i get goosebumps when i listen to Old English as well recited as this :]
screweduppuppy 3 months ago
sounds like norwegian
conservative717 3 months ago
@conservative717 It's true
The360Route 3 months ago
That was a good reading!
Radians51 4 months ago
all I heard was herp derp derp herp derp derp derp
yelton7 4 months ago
Hahahhaa... old english is terribly amusing.
SpriteBottleCap 4 months ago
hjsddahshkjasdhjkahdsahkadh That was GOOD Kinyg
60708 4 months ago
OK, I got the words "lange", "oft", "wear", "gut koenig", "gift" and "funf".... anybody else hear them or was it just me? lol
PaddySnuffles 4 months ago
locoawise 4 months ago
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@locoawise Ϧƿæτ! Ƿe Gaɼdena ɩn ᵷeaɼdaᵷum, þeadcýnınᵷa, þɼým ᵷeϝɼunon, hu ða æþelɩnᵷas ellen ϝɼemdon. Oϝτ Scýld Sceϝɩnᵷ ſceaþena þɼeaτum, ...moneᵷum mæᵷþum, meodoseτla oϝτeah, eᵷſode eoɼlas. Sýððan æɼeſt ƿeaɼð ϝeaſceaϝτ ϝunden, he þæs ϝɼoϝɼe ᵷebad, ƿeox undeɼ ƿolcnum, ƿeoɼðmýndum þah, oðþæτ him æᵷhƿýlc þaɼa ýmbſɩττendɼa oϝen hɼonɼade hýɼan ſcolde, ᵷomban ᵷýldan.
CeluiEtSeul 3 months ago
ENGLISH MUTHA FUCKA DO YOU SPEAK IT!?
D00mnukem 4 months ago
@D00mnukem Oi, retard, this IS English. Old English is the original version of what nowadays is called Modern English.
PaddySnuffles 4 months ago
@PaddySnuffles It's a Pulp Fiction quote... don't need to take it too seriously man.
D00mnukem 4 months ago
I'm German and understand a few words from it.
GSXR1100GV 4 months ago
@GSXR1100GV I showed a book of old English poems to a Danish friend and he understood it better than I did.
Gary190tube 4 months ago
it sounds like a scottish version of the chinese language....like the starburst contradiction..
Dinomashu 4 months ago
i don't undertand anything :O
gunnar12121 4 months ago
A little overdramatic.
johnnysbubbletop63 4 months ago
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sounds like lord of the rings
paulinotou 4 months ago
Very nicely done, and without the "scholastic" accent I have heard in the classroom. You put some of your own flare into it!
teakbridge101 4 months ago
This sounds like the most bizarre crossing of German and Welsh. It's really cool though.
ScharpenbergGallery 5 months ago
This was such a rude language ! Of course, it is appropriate to an epic like Beowulf, but I prefer the actual English language which is so elegant and musical.
Vic2Guem4 5 months ago
@Vic2Guem4 By actual English I take it you mean Celtic and Gaelic? (which are, in fact, two languages and not one?) Because this is very much real English - that is, it's considered just as English as the language we're currently writing in. It's the old form of English, like an extinct version of the language if you will.
PaddySnuffles 4 months ago
@PaddySnuffles Infact, I was just speaking about Modern English, I made a mistake, I thought that "actual" meant the same as the French word "actuel".
Vic2Guem4 4 months ago
@Vic2Guem4 ah no, totally different. though I get why you'd think that (in Portuguese it's pretty similar too - atual -, but the meaning is like in French. :P)
PaddySnuffles 4 months ago
what? *_*
dontjudgeme8484 5 months ago
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I have just found this awesome poster, this poster shows our early English heroes from the 'Adventus Saxonum'499 AD and warband leaders Hengist and Horsa, through to King Harold and Hereward 'the Wake' ,all depicted against the backdrop of a dramatic cliff side setting. and below a corresponding description, Little has been done to make ourselves or our children proud of our own English heroes.This poster puts that right at last. you can get it at wyrdart (.) co (.) uk <remove brackets.
willsgotbeer 5 months ago
I love being Germanic.
swissnor 5 months ago
if you don't read the subtitles you can understand some words
hellomistergun 5 months ago
I heard her reading the word "king" sounded like the german word "Koenig". It's around 00:57.
sdjnwhyNZ 5 months ago
Honestly to anyone who thinks this language sounds like German or Swiss, it's because English is a Germanic language. Making it very similar.
myband5982 5 months ago
What's this language? Bloody foreigners can't learn english properly.
(I'm being ironic)
superhamzah85 5 months ago
I love that J.R.R.Tolkien's "Namarie" shows up in the suggestions box!
FleetingVoid 6 months ago
@mindrestep
That doesn't surprise me, Dutch is very closely related to English.
Asarelah 6 months ago
I cant understand a word of it
Huzzawful 6 months ago
@Huzzawful no wonder, it's basically a completely different language from modern english. try and find some written old english, and you'll see just how different it is.
robokill387 4 months ago
It sounded powerful and bad ass!!!! God damn french ruined our language.
stuvo1977 6 months ago
What wonderful Old English/Anglo Saxon - great job!
Blabloo72 6 months ago
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@12thNameITried LOL the Angles and Saxons were invaders too. If you trace the human lineage back far enough, we're all 'invaders' from East Africa.
cuntylishus 6 months ago
Sounds like scandinavian...or maybe it's just the music that makes it sound like that
neilrulz24 6 months ago
@neilrulz24 Where do you think the Anglo-Saxons came from? The Angles and Jutes came from Jutland in modern Denmark,and there is a state in Germany called Saxony.The saxons,Normans,Franks and vikings all came from modern Scandinavia/Northern Europe ,the only difference is the timeframe in which they invaded Britain.Ancient Britons spoke Gaelic.
laiosto 6 months ago
it would be so cool if we talked like that
SuperAbraham1234 7 months ago
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Check out this amazing Beowulf music video (remove blanks to reassemble):
w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = y i B a S q O 7 n 9 U
MrFileshare 7 months ago
There's like two words around :59 which sound Chinese. (it sounds like "zhong")
20PercentMilk 7 months ago
Listening to this gives me the closest taste to going back in time and hearing natives speak.
lrvdnc 7 months ago
I can't find an edition of Beowulf printed in Old English with an English translation. Any help?
bookworm56227 7 months ago
@LeninKGB Yes,but the northern look of French people come from Frankish and wizigoths too.
olbodala 7 months ago
Hearing this, I can really get how English, German, and Swedish and the like are all related. Such a beautiful sounding language English once was!
sebastienaction 7 months ago
Our language was so pretty.... why did everyone invade us and mess it up!? >.<
12thNameITried 7 months ago 65
@12thNameITried Yeah, why do all languages change? What's with that? Is it just a law of linguistics or something?
yurismir1 6 months ago
@12thNameITried NO, IT IS YOU WHO WAS THE INVADERS
BBarNavi 6 months ago
@BBarNavi It 'is' you who was the invaders? Don't you mean it WAS you who was the invaders. Also I never personally invaded anywhere.
12thNameITried 6 months ago
Comment removed
cuntylishus 6 months ago
@12thNameITried The joke is a reference to the fact that English is NOT native to the British Isles. The word "Saxon" is a negative epithet in Celtic societies even today.
BBarNavi 5 months ago
@BBarNavi So where is English 'native' too? I love how everyone assumes that I am 1) completely English. My passport isn't even British, its Irish, 2) Happy that Anglos and Saxons invaded Britain and 3) English people today have no blood in them from the Celtic Britons (averages say that their DNA is around 65% from Celtic Britons) . I was just making comment on the fact I think Olde English was a pretty language and people are starting on me about an invasion that was nothing to do with me
12thNameITried 5 months ago
@12thNameITried
Well I think it sounds borderline German/Swiss. And I think thats ugly.
Jammed9000 6 months ago
@Jammed9000 Ok...That's your opinion. I clearly disagree but think what you want. Don't see why I needed to know why you think its ugly but ok.
12thNameITried 6 months ago
@12thNameITried You invaded the Britons first... :|
Plastrio 5 months ago
@Plastrio I invaded who exactly?
12thNameITried 5 months ago
@12thNameITried The ancient Britons before the arrvial of Anglo-Saxons. XD
Plastrio 5 months ago
@Plastrio Really? You mean I got on a boat centuries ago and invaded people did I? Not to mention the fact that no group called Anglo-Saxons came to Britain. Groups of Angles tribes and Saxon tribes came independently of each other. Its not even that accurate to call English people Anglo-Saxons as 65% of their DNA (on average) comes from ancient Britons, which is a bigger percentage than that comes from Angles or Saxons. Also I'm more Irish than English.
12thNameITried 5 months ago
@12thNameITried When you said "our language" i think you were refering to old english >w<
Plastrio 5 months ago
@Plastrio commenting that I think a language was pretty does not make me an invader and nor does it mean I support those that invaded others.
12thNameITried 5 months ago
@12thNameITried
Anglo Saxons WERE the invaders.
cheeseofultimatedoom 5 months ago
@12thNameITried It is surprising how the english language can go from that to eventually evolving a dialect called "Ebonics"
75egcg 5 months ago
@12thNameITried You can mainly blame the French for that. Modern Icelandic and Norwegian are probably the closest you can get these days to Old English.
karlgookey 4 months ago
@12thNameITried true but they dont have all the words we have today :L
jakefrancis11 4 months ago
They didn't mess it up. They created the language. It's a Germanic language. And before the Saxon's came England was a Celtic land.
Im not sure when the Anglo-Saxon language started to decline, possibly when the French stated having influence
GAKcarinthia 4 months ago
@12thNameITried Uhm...this is old english...it didnt change cause of invasion...it evolved...the languages that did change and died out was the old celtic ones that where spoken by the true brittons.
lorathin 4 months ago
@12thNameITried Dude, that is harsh and unrifined as hell, how can anyone speak like that and not having cramps in the tongue? gwear gwar, gwfhlsih gweotondum... Argh!
locoawise 4 months ago
@locoawise That's such a silly thing to say! In Irish Gaelic we have loads of 'gw' and 'ch' sounds and each consonant has two variants or more making it one of the most phonetically richest languages in Europe! And we manage to avoid tongue cramps too! :P
GaeilgeSpraoi 3 months ago
@12thNameITried
Yes I know, those foreigners with their damn Shakespeare drivel. :-P
superhamzah85 4 months ago
@12thNameITried I agree! :)
GaeilgeSpraoi 3 months ago
this old english is similar to scandinavian languages...anyway,it's has more interesting sound than modern english
retrofreak7777 7 months ago
Well... I am, german and I think I understood some german words in this video. Is that even possible?
oXSimonXo 7 months ago
@oXSimonXo absolutely, here's a line in Old English
"Gode wold then fandian Abrahames Gehiersumnesse ond clipode his naman"
I think Gehiersumnesse is recognisable in German today, though modern English speakers have lost this - meaning obedience
2meroyn 7 months ago
@2meroyn Youre right. Just look at this: Old English - Gehiersumnesse, English - obedience, German - Gehorsam
oXSimonXo 7 months ago
@oXSimonXo Yes. There are a number of very close similarities between modern German and old English. I speak German too (although I'm American), and I notice a great number of similarities to German and English.
VFB1210 7 months ago
@oXSimonXo because old english (and, by extension, modern english) are germanic languages. the angles originally came from germany.
robokill387 4 months ago 17
@robokill387 Angles, Jutes and Saxons came from Denmark and Holland actually. "Germanic" doesn't mean "from Germany" when talking of languages and Germanic peoples.
TheXand19 3 months ago
@robokill387 actually it just means that they came from the germanic section of the indoeuropean languages. not from germany. source: im a linguistics major.
205Godfather 2 weeks ago
@1001thewoodsman
The Normans were Gallicized vikings themselves, Numerous Anglo-saxxon nobles packed up and enlisted in the service of the byzantine court as Varangian-guards, Alexis I cleverly sought to recruit the anglo-saxxons in his war his own war with the Norman rulers of Sicily, knowing that the homeless exiled anglo-saxon nobles were more then eager to take revenge on their mutual enemy at a discount price .
Obasiliasfilosofos 7 months ago
I would say that the first Shielding was saved ashore at Kåseberga. Nearby is Ales stenar, which ackording to me was built to celebrate the fleeing royal heir from the bronze-age kingdom between Simris(bronze-age rock carvings), Kivik(royal tomb) and Skillinge(means Scild´s mens place). He fled to old Lund, which today is called Uppåkra. There they have found a town which existed from 100 BC to 960 AD. As late as these weeks they found roman coins from M.Aurelius. Scedeland means Skåneland..!
alarik36 7 months ago
Sounds nothing like Chinese...listen to some of those wacky consonant clusters at the beginning of the words, e.g. hr, hn, hl and the abundance of th sounds from ð and þ. Not in Chinese :-).
Beautifully made video, loved the drama of it!
GeologyRocks101 7 months ago 2
Sounds like Chinese to me...
Chr0maticAttack 7 months ago
@Chr0maticAttack have you heard chinese thoroughly..?
Raiden738 7 months ago
@Raiden738 Yes, certain enunciations and inflections are similar if you don't know the language of Old english.
Chr0maticAttack 7 months ago
Beautiful!
SlingsAxes 7 months ago
@1001thewoodsman dude old english did evolve it evolved into middle english, it didn't die it just changed, all things change
BarbarianBadAss 7 months ago
@1001thewoodsman
Agreed, the Normans had amazing luck though, things could have been very different. If the battle of Stamford Bridge against the Vikingr hadn't taken place first, forcing the English to march up north, then straight after the battle run, exhausted straight back down to defend the south the Normans would have been routed. Even taking that into account they reckon the English army only had to hold out for another half hour until nightfall for reinforcements, it was very close.
psaxxon 7 months ago
Best reading I've ever listened to, by far.
One problem though, where's the rest of it? :)
psaxxon 7 months ago
i really wish i had been born back then that sounds so cool
CiaranSion 8 months ago
@CiaranSion
You don't really - trust me. I've been there, there's no fizzy drinks, and I have no fucking reception, and the internet takes literally forever. Plus no one fucking understands me, even if I spell everything correctly. I try to learn the language, but the Idiot's Guide to English is in Old English.
superhamzah85 5 months ago
it's weird because it almost has the same cadence as english nowadays, so in a way it sounds like english. but i still can't understand it obviously XD i think this is awesome! it makes me wonder what english will sound like in 500 years o.o
megnoggle 8 months ago
@megnoggle might need a bit more than 500 years this is set more than 2000 years ago if you listen to english from 600 years ago it is very understandable read canterbury tales by Geofrey chaucer and tell me if you can understand it or not it is hard but definitely doable if you have a grasp of the english language.
MultiCren 8 months ago
@megnoggle well it will probably sound like internet speech,
BarbarianBadAss 7 months ago
@megnoggle
Yo man it sounds lyk dis get up to speed bruv da language is aight as it iz
Hopefully not, though - In 500 years time, I think we'll be speaking English pretty much the same as we are now, as it's an international language and the structure is too global for it to change in any drastic way. Once a language has been codified, and academically define, it behaves like..well relgion, almost impossible to change. hah
superhamzah85 5 months ago
What I love aboutg this is the rhythm with which it's read as well as the HUGE stress and expression with which certain words and syllables are said! GREAT WORK!!!!!!!! :)
teery59 8 months ago
Holy shit
60708 8 months ago
Sounds beautiful. Very stirring and emotive - especially in a female voice. Makes me proud to be English
syeo98 8 months ago
Sounds Swedish or Norwegian...
gakusei1028 8 months ago
@gakusei1028 Centuries ago, the languages of what is now Scandinavia, Germany, and England were similar enough so that people from these places could pretty much understand each other. They diverged and became more distinct later.
lichtbroeder 8 months ago
CeluiEtSeul 8 months ago
@CeluiEtSeul where did you copy and paste that from?
stealth1692 8 months ago
@stealth1692 I did it on Microsoft word. I used a website that has every different alphabet in the world. I couldn't directly copy and paste straight from the website so i have to find most of the letters on MS words. Took like forever to do.
CeluiEtSeul 8 months ago
the loud music interferes extremly with the listening to the spoken word and makes it allmost useless.
boredgrass 8 months ago
It sounds quite spooky and weird, but much more expressive and strong than modern english.
Francesko263 8 months ago
Its recited backwards.
Feedback at 0:37 i'm pretty sure its the audio feedbacking.
Fake, though really well.
Atomzdan 8 months ago
@Atomzdan Look up the text transliterated and you'll see it's the fucking same. It's not fake.
chemicalXify 8 months ago
@Atomzdan It's not fake. This is the actual text. The pronunciation just sounds a little weird in parts.
ShadowChidori85673 8 months ago
i feel so sorry for the audio translator trying so desperately to make modern english out of this.
AsiniusNaso 8 months ago in playlist Procession
It sounds like swedish or danish.
Francesko263 8 months ago
@Francesko263 Not surprising as Swedish is from the same family tree as English.
ShadowChidori85673 8 months ago
@ShadowChidori85673 Swedish or danish. Just listen to Lars Von Trier's Kingdom intro story about the marshy and spooky lands where the hospital was build. It sounds spooky and guttural like old english.
Francesko263 8 months ago
@ShadowChidori85673 You mean northern germanic language tree (lower german, danish, swedish, norwegian and icelandic). Dutch is closer to danish and english than to german.
Francesko263 8 months ago
Someone apparently translated the Ring Verse from Tolkien's LotR into Old English. There's a cool recording of it if you search "Ring Verse Old English".
Gassalasca2 9 months ago
@Gassalasca2 Thanks for mentioning that. It's quite good.
mrleedra 8 months ago
How did you learn this?
lespatmilescyrusbff 9 months ago
It certainly helped with an article I'm writing for a magazine. Thanks so much!
MiAAmistew 9 months ago
doesn't it sound a bit like Chinese?
kiliodoulos26 9 months ago
@kiliodoulos26 not even a little
Valkyriefury 9 months ago
doesn't it sound a bit like Japanese?
kiliodoulos26 9 months ago
Modern English has more in common with modern French than it does with old English.
jessemaurais 9 months ago
@jessemaurais Not true, the majority of words in the English language are of Anglo-Saxon origin.
NorthernerMatty123 8 months ago
sounds like a totally weird branch of West Scandinavian languages West Norwegian / Faroese / Icelandic.
mysteriousDSF 9 months ago
Ðe Angelfolc hwint to ða plǽs todǽ to ámyrðrþ a Norðman for fuccing ap Þǽr angle lǽdensprǽc. It wæs God's will.
KrigareavGud 9 months ago
i would guess that the one that is speaking is from Sweden.
Icelandicviking68 9 months ago
The Normans bastardized this very beautiful language. Does this have Roman influence cause before the Angles and Saxons arrived England was Roman.
Akterleichbent 9 months ago
@Akterleichbent i'm no expert, but from my understanding, if there was an early Latin (i.e., pre-Christian) influence on the Anglo-Saxons, it probably would've come indirectly through the Celts. the problem with this, though, is that notoriously few Celtic words became incorporated into Anglo-Saxon (Celts were the conquered, they were pushed to the outlying lands, and there wasn't a need to learn their languages). Also, Rome's rule of Britain had been effectively over when the Germanics arrived.
DrJuice1 9 months ago
@DrJuice1
@DrJuice1
I think there are many prefixes and suffixes in English that are of Latin influence. Are you implying that most of them came from the Normans who were themselves, correct me if i'm wrong, are also initially a Germanic tribe who settled in Northern France and in time also spoke French which is undoubtedly a Latin influenced language. Yes, I've heard that sometimes the conqueror also adapted to the culture of the conquered but I think you're correct with this one.
Akterleichbent 9 months ago
@Akterleichbent Middle, Early Modern, and Modern English were/are heavily influenced by Latin and French (among many other languages). My original comment referred to the Anglo-Saxon (Old English) dialect in Beowulf. Again, it's my understanding that there is no Latin influence that resulted from Rome's prior conquest of England. Now the Anglo-Saxons definitely converted to Christianity (i.e., exposure to Latin) at some point, but that was due to Roman missionaries, not Roman military conquest.
DrJuice1 9 months ago
@DrJuice1 The influence seen from the Celts is not directly seen in contributions to the language, but rather the shift towards a less inflected language. England had many influences due to the fluid political situation. Scandinavian influences from both what would be Norwegians and the Danes. Then you have 4 different major dialects of Old English, the Celts and eventually the Normans. With all these languages and dialects, losing the inflections could possibly be the result.
Fadedglory343 9 months ago