TOEBI: Teachers of Old English in Britain and Ireland |
Language: Learning Old English
To the non-expert, Old English looks almost like a foreign language: both the structure and the vocabulary of the language are sufficiently different from those of modern English to make a text look entirely unfamiliar. Most of the larger universities in Britain and Ireland offer language courses where Old English is taught. But it is also possible to learn Old English without the help of a professional. A selection of teaching materials is listed below; the books listed should be in print and easily available in book shops or via Amazon. (Further materials on literature and history, for example, can also be found on a separate page on this website, under Resources).
Course Books and Grammars
B. Mitchell and F. C. Robinson, A Guide to Old English, 6th edn (Oxford, 2001): one of the most popular teach-yourself guides which is also used by many university teachers.
P. S. Baker, Introduction to Old English (Oxford, 2003): a good alternative to Mitchell and Robinson, also suitable for teaching yourself.
M. Atherton, Teach Yourself Old English (London, 2010): another good introduction; assumes no previous knowledge of language learning. Includes Audio CD.
D. Parry, Old English for Beginners: an interesting and new electronic publication.
A. Campbell, Old English Grammar (Oxford, 1959): standard grammar; requires previous philological experience.
Dictionaries
J. Bosworth and T. N. Toller, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (London, 1898), with its Supplement (Oxford, 1921): the big expensive one, for serious enthusiasts.
J. R. Clark Hall, A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th edn (Toronto, 1960): the more affordable alternative.
The Dictionary of Old English: ongoing research project. Letters A-G now available on CD-ROM; website also has some on-line materials (including a searchable corpus, for instance), but is only available to subscribers.
Wendere Old English / Modern English Dictionary: can be used as an OE-to-MdnE or MdnE-to-OE dictionary.
On-line Language Learning
Peter Baker's Old English Aerobics: a complete beginners' course, keyed to the book by the same author (see above).
Murray McGillivray's Old English course
A wealth of materials (not just on language) can also be found on Stuart Lee's Woruldhord website.
Recordings
Florian Schleburg reading Old English prose and poetry (click on 'Audio Files', then on 'Se myriga...')
Peter Baker's Recordings of passages from A Guide to Old English
