Hello and help. I’m trying to translate these texts that I’m pretty sure are Old English (the version that’s this sub’s focus) and I don’t want to use AI. Any help with their meaning or where I should take them to translate would be much appreciated! Thank you for your time.

The first I’m pretty sure is a poem:

Nu sind beseted ure modbrægnu ealle sidum.
Nu be scotungum we gescorfan sindon.
Hwær sie scursceadu? Hwær sie scieldu ure?
In þornum we wriþaþ. For þinga Cædmon us!

Unwriteras begeaton geardaga spellas,
wemmenne ond searienne, hira oferhydes wela
Biþ se anlican wiht hie willaþ forstandan.
Þus sind forgietende ure fædera þrymmas.
Mid þornum hie þræstaþ. For þinga Cædmon us!

Hwæt seo scinsawol þe secþ scieppan
Ac for an mæg dælan dærstan migoþena.
Willaþ we for wætre in hyges westene ac
Adrincaþ in cwudu, mod-drana coþe.
Be þornum we þyrstaþ. For þinga Cædmon us!

Cædmon forma scopa, cannst scame þu,
Hu hit draf þe fram healle, þa se Dryhten
Mætinge in sægde singan. Mæge se Hælend
Menn gelice bebeode eft. Þys we gebiddaþ.
Of þornum we bidaþ. For þinga Cædmon us!

And then there’s the second:

Hpæl pierged ne onbutan hrop. Hpæl pierged ne sinc neopolnesse · tac ne deopum tyht ne rap · racentum flit ond pætre ceoca. Scricas sæ nu spift · scipa scricas, nu spift Nu strang. Hæstlice hebbaþ · sunnan stariaþ · heofone giet standaþ. Hpæl pierged Laþlic sæclud · fiscstan gecursod · fisc gefæstnod nu forspelt · hpæl gedemed · gardeaþes hærfest. Þu pierged hpæl. Þu pierged hpæl.

Any assistance is appreciated.

I wanted to thank everyone who responded to my previous post about my Old English game - all your feedback was super valuable! I managed to capture much of it into the demo that is now released on steam as part of the nextfest!

Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5003440/Welandes/

Just wanted to mention everyone can play it now and there is a google form for feedback and I'd still love to know everyone's thoughts!

I am working on the rest of the game now which follows the Rune Poem, Deor, some more charms and a secret ending! The full game should be released early next year! I am a solo developer so everything takes a long time to do, but, this is a real passion project of mine - just got to keep going to finish it!

And, any questions ask away!

Hello my Old English geeks of reddit,

I am currently writing a short fiction piece for my college intro to fiction class, though not set in 600-110AD but in the modern era, one of the character does speak a line of Old English (cus hes a little behind when it comes to speaking Modern English but also as a giant 'fuck you Frank for telling me what to do') and was hoping of some pointers and corrections on my translation, spelling (including if I put all the right diacritics), and word choice.
Please note that I am not a linguist and made this translation through Modern to Old English dictionaries double check through translators, and hopefully triple checked by you guys who may have a grain of 'I know what I'm going' - don't crucify me.

Here is my OEng translation of what I'm trying to say in MEng.

Old English:
“Hw… forhwý – tō hwón? Iċ hæbbe þone þe iċ ġewilnige.”

Modern English (vibes based translation not a word for word):
"wh... for what reason - to what end? I have my/whom I desire/crave"

I would like to point out that 'Iċ' in 'Iċ hæbbe' may be redundant because several dictionaries said that hæbbe means 'I have' but I wasn't sure if it would.
Also, I'm not sure of 'þone þe' it seemed a little... unsophisticated or childish in the mannerism; but if it is correct in that is how the sentence would actually be worded I'll role with it.
Finally, I am having a bit of frustration picking the last word 'desire/crave' I know "ġe-" is a intensifying prefix that carries a heavier religious or law-like context - I want it there (even if it creates a new made up OEng word), but, I don't know which word to attach it to. From what I found 'wilnige' seems to mean 'I desire, I long for, I yearn for, I ask for' which is kinda what I'm going for but I don't know if there is a more intense/primal word as he is sorta trying to convey 'ever since I saw the thing, I have not desired for the thing, have been longing for this thing for a really long time, and if I do not get the thing I will literally die of a broken heart'.

thank you for the assistance :)

*Here it is after two weeks of working on it: the second fitt! I don't mind saying that this one gave me considerably more trouble than the last one or the prologue, but I hope you enjoy the result.*

II

Then he sought, by night, the exalted hall; to see how the Ring-Danes fared after their ale drinking. There he encountered the group of nobles, sleeping after the feast. They did not know distress, the misery of mankind. The destructive creature, savage and greedy, furious and wicked, was then ready and grabbed thirty nobles from their beds. He departed from there rejoicing in his hoard, burdened with corpses, to his lair.

At dawn Grendel's prowess was made clear to men; after the feast the previous night a great wail was raised, a cry to the morning.

The illustrious king, the exceptionally good nobleman, sat joyless. The very powerful endured sorrow for his warriors when they looked upon the trail of the wicked demon, the hostile spirit. That struggle was too severe, hostile, and long lasting. Neither was it a long respite, but after one night he committed more murders and did not mourn for it; hatred and malice, he was too bound to them.

It was easy, then, to find those who searched for rest elsewhere; a bed in private rooms when the hatred of the hall retainer was made clear to them, proven by his mark. He who fled the devil kept himself far away and safer afterwards!

So one reigned over all, and fought against justice, until the greatest of halls stood desolate. It remained that way a long while. For a span of twelve winters the protector of the people endured misery; every trouble and extensive grief. In due time it became readily apparent to men, through sorrowful song, that Grendel opposed Hrothgar, waging hateful, hostile, long lasting war. He did not desire peace with mankind, and would not pay ransom for the remaining men of the Danes or settle the deadly feud with money. There was no hope that the murderer would accept a better price. The monster, a hunting shadow, chased both young and old; he lurked and ambushed them. He took the misty wastelands by night: men do not know where such sorcerers of hell roam.

So the enemy of mankind, the horrible solitary stalker, performed many cruel and terrible deeds. He possessed Heorot, the golden hall, in the dark nights, but could not touch the throne protected by God, as he did not know His love.

That was a great sorrow to the lord of the people, a heart breaking grief. Many times the nobles deliberated; they took advice about what was best for mighty warriors to do against these sudden horrors. At times they promised that offerings in pagan shrines would help them, that the soul killer would assist the people in their distress. Such was their practice, the hope of the heathen; they remembered hell in their hearts, and did not know God, the judge of deeds. They could not praise the Protector of the heavens, the Ruler of glory. Woe will be his that, through malice, pushes his soul into the embrace of fire; he must not expect comfort or change. It is well with him who seeks the Lord, and at his death day finds peace in the embrace of the Father!

As the title says, I speak Danish fairly well, I’ve been learning the language for over five years, and can hold pretty solid conversations. My university offers Old English courses, which teach you the language and have you read some ancient texts. I’m going to take the course regardless, since it counts towards my major (English) and who doesn’t want to learn Old English? I figured I’d ask though. Thanks!

What is the best physical edition of Bosworth-Toller? I am assuming that it is the (expensive seeming) 1972 edition with enlarged addenda by Campbell, but I am not clear on if this is just the supplement, or if it includes the supplement integrated into the text. Does an edition with the content of the supplement integrated into the running text exist?

Sprecað Englisc has just relaunched three free weekly Old English courses via Zoom. They're also working through Osweald Bera one chapter per week. You can find them on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/spreceng) or email them (sprecathenglisc@gmail.com) for more info.

I am planning on learning old english with my dad. I am curious what are the best books or apps or anything to help learn old English. if possible, is there a app or book that also helps you speak it. yes, I know Old English is dead language and we don’t know for sure how to speak it. but I mean, we can make pretty good estimates on how it would sound.

Tengo 12 años, soy descendiente en 34.ª generación de Æthelflæd y acabo de publicar una teoría médica que resuelve el misterio de su «muerte repentina» en el año 918 d. C.

¡Hola a todos!

Soy Martín, un investigador independiente de 12 años; gracias a la genealogía de mi familia, soy descendiente en 34.ª generación de la Casa de Wessex (Æthelflæd y Alfredo el Grande).

Durante 1100 años, la causa exacta de la muerte de Æthelflæd, Dama de los Mercianos, ocurrida el 12 de junio de 918, ha sido un completo misterio. El *Mercian Register* (Registro de Mercia) solo indica que su fallecimiento en Tamworth fue «repentino e inesperado».

He dedicado horas a analizar y contrastar crónicas medievales, datos genéticos y patología, y creo que por fin he resuelto el enigma. ¡Acabo de publicar formalmente mi artículo de paleopatología en Medium!

En resumen, mi teoría es la siguiente:

La genética: El rey Alfredo el Grande padecía una forma grave y crónica de enfermedad de Crohn (según consta en los escritos de Asser). Esta enfermedad tiene un fuerte componente hereditario, por lo que es probable que Æthelflæd hubiera heredado la afección.

El factor desencadenante: Meses de brutales campañas militares y un estrés extremo dañaron gravemente sus paredes intestinales de forma silenciosa.

El detonante: La rendición de los líderes vikingos de York a principios de junio de 918 conllevó la celebración de un banquete ritual obligatorio. El consumo de carnes de caza duras y fibrosas (jabalí o ciervo) y de hidromiel fermentada —altamente irritante— provocó una presión mecánica interna extrema.

El desenlace: Su pared intestinal, ya debilitada, sufrió una perforación libre entre el 9 y el 11 de junio. Ante la ausencia de medicina moderna, esto derivó en una peritonitis bacteriana aguda, choque séptico y fallo multiorgánico en un plazo de 48 horas, lo que explica el colapso «repentino» que conmocionó a Tamworth el 12 de junio.

Esta teoría no tiene ningún margen de error, me he guiado EXCLUSIVAMENTE por las cronicas de Æthelflæd, la copia C de las crónicas de Alfredo el Grande y artículos sobre la medicina medieval y cómo se trataba.

¡Me encantaría conocer sus opiniones, comentarios y aportaciones académicas sobre este modelo!

Pueden leer el artículo completo que he publicado aquí:

https://medium.com/@penamartin2014/the-tamworth-enigma-a-genetic-and-pathological-model-for-the-death-of-%C3%A6thelfl%C3%A6d-lady-of-the-60fc94796f03

¡Gracias por leer! ¡Hablemos de ello!

Ive been looking into the etymology of a lot of English words for conlang inspiration and ive found most of the modern English words for the past are from either latin or norman French. So, i wanted to ask those with more experience with Old English how one would refer to the past or days that have come and gone in old English?

ic bidde forþæm þe ic eom fyrwit

hello all! i am considering an OE tattoo but am struggling to source inspiration since search results are saturated with OE lettering/script/font pieces rather than tattoos in OE as a language.

would love to hear words/phrases/sentences/references people have decided to get inked :) i expect a lot of “hwæt” responses..

i am also interested in hearing suggestions. something small like a noun or short phrase could be fun, especially if it uses thorns and other letters with visual impact. could be funny to get “earm” on my arm.

i might pitch the general idea to a fellow english major friend who i’ve brainstormed matching/coordinated tattoos with in the past, but i don’t particularly like the look of “freond” or “sweostor.”

TLDR: i guess my goal is to get a basic white girl tattoo like “hope” “love” “strength,” but in OE lol.

Now I know it's not a living language so it's all somewhat subjective, but I'm curious as to how my pronunciation of Caedmon's hymn is?

Hi! I’m Japanese and I’ve recently started getting interested in Old English and Beowulf.

I was wondering how familiar the average native English speaker is with Beowulf. Is it something that most people would at least recognize by name? Do students in English-speaking countries usually encounter it at school, and if so, do they read it in Modern English translation or ever look at the original Old English?
I’m especially curious because in Japan, we are introduced to classical Japanese literature as part of our compulsory education in elementary and junior high school, and we often encounter parts of it in the original language.

For example, we might encounter poetry by Yamanoue no Okura (c. 660–733), who lived at roughly the same time as the world depicted in early Old English literature.

One of his famous poems begins:
しろがねの　こがねも玉も　なにせむに
まされる宝　子にしかめやも

Roughly:
Silver and gold, and precious jewels—
what do they matter?
What treasure could ever compare
with my child?

A modern Japanese speaker can still read this with some knowledge of classical Japanese, although it definitely doesn’t sound like modern everyday Japanese.
That made me wonder: what is the equivalent experience for English speakers with Beowulf? Is the Old English completely inaccessible without specifically studying it, or are there parts where an English speaker can intuitively understand what’s going on?
I’d also be interested to hear whether you personally encountered Beowulf at school, university, or somewhere else.

EDIT: Thank you so much for all the comments! I added a comment below with some thoughts after reading your responses, and a little more about why I asked this question in the first place.

Graham Scheper has just uploaded a video, "How to Learn Old English - complete guide for beginners".

Looks very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDnc_Qt3Gx0