Old English

[gfish]

For no good reason, I've started teaching myself Old English. (Btw, cases suck.) If I get far enough, maybe I'll start posting bits of my own, crappy Beowulf translation.

I just picked up a new book from the UW Bookstore: A Guide to Old English, 6th edition, printed in 2005. In the preface it references a couple of recommended supplemental books. Two of them went out of print in the 19th century.

I sure know how to pick 'em.

Comments

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

Btw, cases suck.

Welcome to Latin. Or Greek, Russian, or German.

[gfish.livejournal.com]

I had been avoiding them with French, Japanese and Esperanto. (And, of course, my native English, mostly.) Sigh.

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

Bright's Old English Reader is pretty good...

[memegarden.livejournal.com]

You're too cool. meowse jocularly said he hated you after seeing your list of the year's accomplishments, saying that he wished he could be that cool. In the same spirit, I hate you too.

--memegarden, with the linguistics degree, who can't speak or read anything but English, really

[gfish.livejournal.com]

Don't feel too jealous. I like studying languages, and I'm pretty good at accents, but I have no retention. I took French for 5 years and I'm lucky to remember a regular conjugation these days. I only keep looking at new ones out of sheer cussedness.

[memegarden.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I took Spanish for over five years (I think it was closer to ten, actually), and can't speak it. And a year each of college Latin and Greek, and can't read it. Lameness.