Introduction to the Old English language

This course is an introduction to the key aspects of the Old English language, spoken in England before the Norman Conquest. While there are some aspects of Old English which will be familiar to English speakers, it was a more purely Germanic language, with inflection rather than word order being important for meaning. We will focus on the key characteristics of the language, and will undertake translation of Old English texts, including prose and poetry. The overall aim is to be comfortable with translation, and understanding effective ways of overcoming issues of interpretation through knowledge of the language, and also knowing how to find out the answer to questions of translation if problems arise.