Mercian Network
Resources on the History, Literature, Language and Material Culture of Mercia
Sound Recordings
The following recordings focus on a number of Old English texts which are thought to have been composed by Mercians; the manuscript copies used here preserve a particular concentration of Mercian dialect features. The readers are Christine Rauer and undergraduate students from the University of St Andrews: Ethan Cartwright, Eilidh Jordan, Laura Kelly, Saoirse Troy, Daniel Wale, and Kate Wilcox. The recordings were made at the end of the Old English language beginners' module EN3114 during the academic year 2025-26..
Note that all Old English texts on this page are translations from the Latin. The first four texts (Lord's Prayer and psalms) are glosses; glosses adhere to the accompanying Latin text (which is reproduced here) relatively closely and are not entirely free-standing Old English texts. Although composed as a free-standing Old English text, the fifth text here, the Old English Martyrology, is still fairly Latinate and not very idiomatic in its Old English syntax and lexis. For a brief overview of Anglian and Mercian dialect features, see R. D. Fulk, An Introductory Grammar of Old English (Tempe, 2014), pp. 119-21.
Opening of the Lord's Prayer
Interlinear Old English Gloss to the Latin Lord’s Prayer in the Royal Glosses, London, British Library, Royal 2. A. xx, 11v. (Only the opening verses are given here, as the later verses are glossed incompletely and with errors). The text is edited in J. Zupitza, ‘Mercisches aus der HS. Royal 2 A 20 im Britischen Museum’, Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum 33 (1889a), 47-66, at 59-66, at p. 60.
Recording 1, Christine Rauer
Recording 2, Daniel Wale
Recording 3, Eilidh Jordan
Recording 4, Ethan Cartwright
Ure feder, þu eart in heofenum, se is gehalgad þin noma, to cyme þin rice, sie willa þin, swe in heofenum, ond on eorþan, hlaf ur deghweamlice sele us to deg, ond forgef us scylda ussa.
Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum, adueniat regnum tuum, fiat uoluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra, panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra.
Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses.
Opening of Psalm 23
Interlinear Old English Gloss to the Latin Psalm 23 in the Vespasian Psalter, London, British Library, Vespasian A. i, 27rv. The text is edited in S. M. Kuhn, The Vespasian Psalter (Ann Arbour, 1965), p. 19.
Recording 1, Christine Rauer
Recording 2, Daniel Wale
Recording 3, Ethan Cartwright
Dryhten receð me ond nowiht me wonu bið, in stowe leswe ðer mec gesteaðelade, ofer weter gereodnisse aledde mec, sawle mine gecerde, gelædde me ofer stige rehtwisnisse fore noman his, weotudlice ond ðæh ðe ic gonge in midle scuan deaðes, ne ondredu ic yfel for ðon ðu mid me erð.
Dominus regit me et nihil mihi deerit, in loco pascuae ibi me conlocauit, super aquam refectionis educauit me, animam meam conuertit, deduxit me super semitam iustitiae propter nomen suum, nam etsi ambulem in medio umbrae mortis, non timebo mala quoniam tu mecum es.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Opening of Psalm 27
Interlinear Old English Gloss to the Latin Psalm 23 in the Vespasian Psalter, London, British Library, Vespasian A. i, 31r. The text is edited in S. M. Kuhn, The Vespasian Psalter (Ann Arbour, 1965), p. 22.
Recording 1, Christine Rauer
Recording 2, Saoirse Troy
Dryhten inlihtnis mine ond hælu min, ðone ic ondredo, dryhten gescildend lifes mines, from dæm ic forhtiu, ðonne toneolicað ofer me sceððende ðæt hie eten flæsc min ða ðe me fiond mine, hie geuntrumede sind ond gefeollun, gif gestondað wið me ferdwic ne ondredeð heorte min, gif ariseð in me gefeht in ðis ic gehyhtu.
Dominus inluminatio mea et salus mea, quem timebo, dominus defensor uitae meae, a quo trepidabo dum adpropiant super me nocentes ut edant carnes meas qui tribulant me inimici mei, ipsi infirmati sunt et ceciderunt, si consistant aduersum me castra non timebit cor meum, si insurgat in me proelium in hoc ego sperabo.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
Opening of Psalm 42
Interlinear Old English Gloss to the Latin Psalm 42 in the Vespasian Psalter, London, British Library, Vespasian A. i, 44v. The text is edited in S. M. Kuhn, The Vespasian Psalter (Ann Arbour, 1965), p. 39.
Recording 1, Christine Rauer
Recording 2, Laura Kelly
Swe swe heorut gewillað to wællum wetra, swæ gewillað sawul min to ðe god, ðyrsteð sawul min to gode ðæm lifgendan, hwonne ic cyme ond oteawe biforan onsien godes, wærun me tearas mine hlafas deges ond næhtes, ðonne bið cweden to me deghwæmlice, hwer is god ðin.
Sicut ceruus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te dominus, sitiuit anima mea ad dominum uiuum, quando veniam et parebo ante faciem dei, fuerunt mihi lacrimae meae panes die ac nocte, dum dicitur mihi cotidie, ubi est dominus tuus.
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
Excerpt from the entry for Rogation Days (May) in the Old English Martyrology
The final part of the entry for Rogation Days in the Old English Martyrology, London, British Library, Additional 40165 A. 2, 6v. The text is edited in C. Rauer, ed., The Old English Martyrology: Edition, Translation and Commentary, Anglo-Saxon Texts 10 (Cambridge, 2013), p. 316; the translation is from the same volume, pp. 95-7.
Recording 1, Christine Rauer
Recording 2, Kate Wilcox
[…] On ðam þrim dagum Cristene menn sceolon alætan hiera þa worldlican weorc on ða þriddan tid dæges, þæt is on undern, ond forð gongen mid þara haligra reliquium oþ ða niogoðan tid, þæt is ðonne non. Þa dagas siendan ryhtlice to gefæstanne, ond ðara metta to brucanne þe menn brucaþ on ðæt fiowertiges neahta fæsten ær eastrum. Ond ne bið alefed on ðissuum dagum ðæt monn him blod læte oþðe clæsnungdrencas drince oðþe oht feor gewite fore worldrices bisigung from ðære stowe þe he sceal Gode ætþiowian. Ðas þrie dagas siendan monnes saule læcedom ond gastlic wyrtdrenc; forþon hie siendon to haldonne mid heortan onbryrdnesse, ðæt is mid wependum gebedum ond mid rumedlicum ælmessum ond fulre blisse allra menniscra fionda, forðon þe God us forgifeð his eorre, gief we ure monnum forgifað.
On those three days Christians shall leave behind their worldly occupation at the third hour of the day, that is at ‘undern’, and process with the relics of the saints until the ninth hour, and that is ‘non’. Those days are rightly there for fasting and for the use of those foods which are used during the fast of forty days before Easter. During these days it is not permitted that blood be let or purgative drinks be drunk, or that one should travel at all far for worldly affairs from the place where one is supposed to serve God. These three days are the medicine of man’s soul and a spiritual potion; they are therefore to be kept with compunction of the heart, that is, with weeping prayers and with generous alms and the complete benevolence of all human enemies, because God will spare us his anger, if we forgive our people.
Excerpt from the entry for St George (23 April) in the Old English Martyrology
The opening of the entry for St George in the Old English Martyrology, London, British Library, Add. 23211, 2v, with some emendations and the final words supplied from other manuscripts. The text is edited in C. Rauer, ed., The Old English Martyrology: Edition, Translation and Commentary, Anglo-Saxon Texts 10 (Cambridge, 2013), p. 313; the translation is from the same volume, p. 85.
Recording 1, Christine Rauer
On ðone ðrio ond tuentegðan dæg ðæs monðes bið Sancte Iorius tid ðæs æðelan weres; ðone Datianus se casere seofon gear mid unasæcgendlicum witum hine ðreade ðæt he Criste wiðsoce, ond he næfre hine ofersuiðan meahte; ond ða æfter sefan gearum heht he hine beheafdian. Ða he ða wæs læded to ðære beheafdunga, ða cuom fyr of heofonum ond forbærnde ðone hæðnan casere ond alle ða ðe mid hine ær tintergedon ðone halgan wer. Ond he, Sanctus Georgius, him to Dryhtne gebæd ond ðus cuæð: ‘Hælende Crist, onfoh minum gaste. Ond ic ðec biddo ðæt suæ hwelc mon ðe mine gemynd on eorðan doe, ðonne afierr ðu from ðæs monnes husum ælce untrymnesse; ne him fiond sceððe, ne hungor, ne monncwild. Ond gif monn minne noman nemneð in ænigre frecennisse, oððe on sæ oððe on siðfæte, ðonne gefylge se ðinre mildheortnesse’ […]
On the twenty-third day of the month is the feast of the noble man St George; emperor Datianus forced him for seven years with unspeakable tortures to renounce Christ, but he could never overpower him; and then after seven years he ordered him to be beheaded. When he was being led to the execution, fire came from heaven and burnt the pagan emperor to death, and all those who had earlier tortured the holy man with him. And he, St George, prayed to the Lord and spoke thus: ‘Saviour Christ, receive my spirit. And I ask you that whichever man may celebrate my memory on earth, remove then from this man’s dwellings every illness; let no enemy harm him, nor hunger, nor pestilence. And if anyone mentions my name in any danger, either at sea or on a journey, may he obtain your mercy’ […]
Excerpt from the entry for Ascension (5 May) in the Old English Martyrology
The opening of the entry for Ascension in the Old English Martyrology, London, British Library, Additional 40165 A.2, 6v. The text is edited in C. Rauer, ed., The Old English Martyrology: Edition, Translation and Commentary, Anglo-Saxon Texts 10 (Cambridge, 2013), p. 316; the translation is from the same volume, p. 97.
Recording 1, Christine Rauer
On ðone fiftan dæg þæs monðes bið se dæg þe ure Dryhten on to hiofonum astag. Þy dæge hine gesegon nest his þegnas on Oliuetes dune; ðær he bletsade hie ond ða gewat mid þy lichoman on hiofon. Þy dæge eode sio eorðe in heofon, þæt is se monn ofer ængla ðrym. Ond on Oliuetes dune siendan nu get ða suaþu Dryhnes fotlæsta. Ymb þa Dryhtnes fotlæstas timbredon Cristene menn sionowalte ciercean wundorlice. Ond ne meahte sio his suaþu næfre mid nænigre oðerre wisan bion þam oðerum flore geonlicad ond gelice gehiowad. Gif ðær monn hwæt mennisces on asette, þonne nolde sio eorðe him onfon, ðeah hit wære marmanstanas, þa aswengede on ðære onsion þe ða þær on setton.
On the fifth day of the month is the day on which our Lord ascended to heaven. On that day his disciples last saw him on the Mount of Olives; there he blessed them and then he went to heaven together with his body. On that day the earth migrated to heaven, that is the man over the host of angels. And even now there are the tracks of the Lord’s footprints on the Mount of Olives. Around the Lord’s footprints Christians built a beautiful round church. In no way could his trace ever be levelled to the rest of the ground, nor made alike in profile. If something is put on it by people, the ground would not tolerate it; even if it might be marble rocks, they would come flying back into the face of the people who had put them there.