Saturday 17 September 2022

I'm An Unashamed Hoarder

 

Bob bought me this fabulous book last Christmas. It is a linguistic treasure, full of words from "Old English" - some of which we recognise and use today [like word]  and others like fneosung [pronounced f'nay-oh-zung] which means sneeze. 
The author, Hana Videen, did her doctorate in Old English at King's College, London. In 2013 she began tweeting an OE word everyday. She is now a writer and bigger based in Canada. 
Hana's research is meticulous, and her writing style is informative and readable. It's a bit like the best fruitcake - each mouthful densely packed with a huge variety of tasty morsels. 

This means I can only read a chapter at a time as there is so much to learn. Each chapter has a theme [eating and drinking, wildlife, learning and working etc] and there is a list of new words at the end of each chapter. Much of the OE writing we have is religious - but also there is poetry, like the story of the great warrior Beowulf. 
Hana explains hapax - those words which only appear once in OE literature, so there is speculation about their interpretation. She shares kennings, words which are two words combined. 
Words such as gar-leac [gar-leak] from gar [arrow/dart/spear] and leac [herb/plant] Just look at the pointy leaves of a garlic plant and you'll understand. 
I suspect that future blogposts will feature words which have really excited me - and I hope you will enjoy them too. Now I shall eat some  bread & butere. Strictly speaking bread in OE meant food, and I should say hlaf [pronounced h'lawf] This book is utterly addictive! [thanks Bob] 
And obviously, as hord means treasure, wordhord means a treasure trove of words. Some OE religious writing refers to "Christ, the Guardian of the Way, unlocking his wordhord" I love that idea! 




20 comments:

  1. Looking forward to learning more about Old English words. :)

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  2. I think one would need to take that slowly. But very interesting.

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  3. Very slowly - but very interesting

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  4. That book sounds delicious. Of course, I like to peruse the OED for fun--learning about the changing meaning/pronunciation of words across the centuries. Might have to get my own copy. Until then, I will enjoy reading your periodic items from the wordhord. :)

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    1. Check out the website, Skye has helpfully posted the link, see below

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    2. Thank you to Skye for the link. And, like Philip, I used to follow The Clerk of Oxford. Interesting to see she has publish a book.

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  5. That looks a very interesting book. There is lots of Anglo-Saxon history around here as there is your way. Just a few hundred yards up the road from us a farmer found, in 1982, the 'Undley Bracteate', a small medallion. Its claim to fame is that it has the earliest recorded words in English, dating from 450 AD. It featured in the Radio 4 series 100 objects.It is now in the British Museum. Another blog that looks at Anglo-Saxon/Old English words and literature is The Clerk of Oxford. The writer is a young Oxford academic and she posts poems in Old English and translates them. She has not posted for a year or so, but I noticed there was a review of a book she has recently published in the Guardian which might account for her, hopefully temporary, absence from her blog.

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  6. What a wonderful book and it's tailor made for you!!

    Hugs!

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  7. I love words: their history, meaning, and how they've changed over the years. Thank you for introducing me to Hana and her website: www.oldenglishwordhord.com
    ~ skye

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    1. Thanks for providing the link to the website, Skye

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    2. Thank you, I've followed. I love words so much

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  8. What a great book for you to dip into! Bob really knows you, doesn't he?
    I once read a translation of St. Julian of Norwich's "The Revelations of Divine Love" which included explanations and references to the original text. I salute anyone who could understand some parts of it.

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    1. I really must read St Julian's writings this autumn.

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  9. I love this, thank you for sharing. I have now followed on Twitter

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  10. I love old words too and write down some of my favorites, and words new to me, like "bimble", etc. I am a writer and a librarian and reader so I find new and old words in favorite books. I have found quite a few beauties in the books of Anthony Trollope, who wrote in the 1860s -1880s.

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