The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English
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- Create Date：2022-05-11 01:19:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Hana Videen
- ISBN：0691232741
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Summary
An entertaining and illuminating collection of weird， wonderful， and downright baffling words from the origins of English--and what they reveal about the lives of the earliest English speakers
Old English is the language you think you know until you actually hear or see it。 Unlike Shakespearean English or even Chaucer's Middle English， Old English--the language of Beowulf--defies comprehension by untrained modern readers。 Used throughout much of Britain more than a thousand years ago， it is rich with words that haven't changed （like word）， others that are unrecognizable （such as neorxnawang， or paradise）， and some that are mystifying even in translation （gafol-fisc， or tax-fish）。 In this delightful book， Hana Videen gathers a glorious trove of these gems and uses them to illuminate the lives of the earliest English speakers。 We discover a world where choking on a bit of bread might prove your guilt， where fiend-ship was as likely as friendship， and where you might grow up to be a laughter-smith。
The Wordhord takes readers on a journey through Old English words and customs related to practical daily activities （eating， drinking， learning， working）; relationships and entertainment; health and the body， mind， and soul; the natural world （animals， plants， and weather）; locations and travel （the source of some of the most evocative words in Old English）; mortality， religion， and fate; and the imagination and storytelling。 Each chapter ends with its own "wordhord"--a list of its Old English terms， with definitions and pronunciations。
Entertaining and enlightening， The Wordhord reveals the magical roots of the language you're reading right now: you'll never look at--or speak--English in the same way again。
Old English is the language you think you know until you actually hear or see it。 Unlike Shakespearean English or even Chaucer's Middle English， Old English--the language of Beowulf--defies comprehension by untrained modern readers。 Used throughout much of Britain more than a thousand years ago， it is rich with words that haven't changed （like word）， others that are unrecognizable （such as neorxnawang， or paradise）， and some that are mystifying even in translation （gafol-fisc， or tax-fish）。 In this delightful book， Hana Videen gathers a glorious trove of these gems and uses them to illuminate the lives of the earliest English speakers。 We discover a world where choking on a bit of bread might prove your guilt， where fiend-ship was as likely as friendship， and where you might grow up to be a laughter-smith。
The Wordhord takes readers on a journey through Old English words and customs related to practical daily activities （eating， drinking， learning， working）; relationships and entertainment; health and the body， mind， and soul; the natural world （animals， plants， and weather）; locations and travel （the source of some of the most evocative words in Old English）; mortality， religion， and fate; and the imagination and storytelling。 Each chapter ends with its own "wordhord"--a list of its Old English terms， with definitions and pronunciations。
Entertaining and enlightening， The Wordhord reveals the magical roots of the language you're reading right now: you'll never look at--or speak--English in the same way again。
Reviews
David
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I was a little worried this would be like reading a dictionary but didn't need to worry， it's in sections that build on themselves to give a clear reasoning for some of the odder words！ I'm studying Norwegian and have found it interesting to see what has remained in another Germanic that has been dropped since the Normans came calling。 Heáhcræft！ I was a little worried this would be like reading a dictionary but didn't need to worry， it's in sections that build on themselves to give a clear reasoning for some of the odder words！ I'm studying Norwegian and have found it interesting to see what has remained in another Germanic that has been dropped since the Normans came calling。 Heáhcræft！ 。。。more
Beth Knight
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Absolutely brilliant， engaging and fascinating look at Old English and the words we have lost， kept and changed over the past 1000 years。 A lot of information to be wielded for teaching too！ This made English Language Graduate Beth very happy。
Kebechet
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This is such a lovely， fantastic， little gem of a book。 It’s only March， but I’m betting this is the best read of the year。
emilia
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This book was so fun！ Quite a slow， information-heavy read but highly enjoyable and fulfilled my Old English nerd self。 Hana Videen is very good at introducing new stuff but not alienating the reader; all the new Old English words are in the context of compelling stories and anecdotes that trace through linguistic history。 This swinging back and forth through time also makes Old English feel more relevant to current life。 I liked the feminist little moments of delighting in subversive things in This book was so fun！ Quite a slow， information-heavy read but highly enjoyable and fulfilled my Old English nerd self。 Hana Videen is very good at introducing new stuff but not alienating the reader; all the new Old English words are in the context of compelling stories and anecdotes that trace through linguistic history。 This swinging back and forth through time also makes Old English feel more relevant to current life。 I liked the feminist little moments of delighting in subversive things in language。 ‘The Wordhord’ is a mixture of teaching you a bit of Old English， giving you a basic picture of Anglo-Saxon life， and putting this into the context of other countries/languages and earlier/later times。 What I personally love is how all the little stories are based in linguistics and language and what this can tell us about other things。 Even Anglo-Saxons seem to have realised how important language is to humans， as one of their words for human was “reord-berend” （speech-bearer）。Two interesting concepts I discovered from this book， and can’t stop thinking about now:1。 “hapax”， which is a term for a word that only comes up once ever （！） in a manuscript， and we have to guess its meaning from that。2。 “kenning”， which is when something is described by a metaphor; usually a creative compound of two existing words。 For example “swegel-candel” （sky-candle） means sun。Also lots of stuff on manuscripts and how one tiny line can cause ambiguities and debates about the meaning or sound of a word， and can even change future linguistic history。 I love anything to do with manuscripts and the materiality of texts， so these instances were always exciting to come across。This book is also structured very well for learning because there aren’t too many new words per chapter。 At the end of each there are mini-wordhords which list all the new words from that chapter， give a definition that reminds you of their context in the chapter， and also give helpful pronunciation guidance。 In terms of the learning curve and retaining information this is genuinely helpful！ This was my first experience with Old English and I feel like I’ve learnt a lot， and I am better equipped to encounter more。 So it definitely serves as a good introduction。 。。。more
Rob
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A unique book that manage to convey the authors clear passion for Old English， while being relevant， readable and enjoyable。 This has caused me to expand my own wordhoard and has a few words that really need to return to use （uht！）。 It also shows the perils of reading old texts - meanings shift， implications change and oft-used words become rare。 This aspect is well demonstrated and illustrates the difficulties of looking back on our own history。 An excellent read，
Megan
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I loved this！ It was super interesting and not only explained the etymology of words， but also how contemporary authors have used them to build their own worlds。 Hana Videen really leaves no stone unturned and gives a full explanation where she can， really emphasising the context and lives of the people who spoke Old English; this book also has little hints of her own favourite meanings behind the words she has chosen to explain， making this a more personal， enjoyable read。 I cannot recommend th I loved this！ It was super interesting and not only explained the etymology of words， but also how contemporary authors have used them to build their own worlds。 Hana Videen really leaves no stone unturned and gives a full explanation where she can， really emphasising the context and lives of the people who spoke Old English; this book also has little hints of her own favourite meanings behind the words she has chosen to explain， making this a more personal， enjoyable read。 I cannot recommend this book enough！ 。。。more
Luke O’Gorman
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A thoroughly enjoyable and highly accessible introduction to Old English。 Videen provides a comprehensive overview of the use of language in everyday life， covering both modern English word origins and fascinating peculiarities specific to Anglo-Saxon society。 The introduction to futhorc and the evolution of the Old English writing system was superbly written， though I felt this could be expanded on somewhat。 Whilst I appreciate this is more of a general interest book aimed at the less geeky pop A thoroughly enjoyable and highly accessible introduction to Old English。 Videen provides a comprehensive overview of the use of language in everyday life， covering both modern English word origins and fascinating peculiarities specific to Anglo-Saxon society。 The introduction to futhorc and the evolution of the Old English writing system was superbly written， though I felt this could be expanded on somewhat。 Whilst I appreciate this is more of a general interest book aimed at the less geeky population of readers， I thought it would have been pertinent to contextualise Pre-England both historically and geographically。 The book seemed almost a collection of ‘oh that’s interesting’-type facts， rather than any real nitty gritty linguistics。 An excellent overview for the casually interested， a teasing introduction for the rest。 。。。more
Nigel Thornton
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Excellent informal introduction to Old English。
Matthewcable
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Loved it。 Gave me a lot of information on a subject I knew very little about。 The structure is very approachable - short chapters of words around a theme are introduced and then repeated at the end。
Jeff
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History books are fascinating， but often dauntingly dense and academic， or maddeningly specific in their subject matter。 Needing reams of background reading to understand a subject is a situation that doesn't always shout fun！ Take for instance a studious dive into Old English， a language barely anyone knows， let alone reads these days。 A book full of terms， concepts and words that to modern ears sounds like a vaguely familiar gibberish doesn’t instantly shout fun does it？ Yet Hana Videen's jovi History books are fascinating， but often dauntingly dense and academic， or maddeningly specific in their subject matter。 Needing reams of background reading to understand a subject is a situation that doesn't always shout fun！ Take for instance a studious dive into Old English， a language barely anyone knows， let alone reads these days。 A book full of terms， concepts and words that to modern ears sounds like a vaguely familiar gibberish doesn’t instantly shout fun does it？ Yet Hana Videen's jovial tone brings to life old English in the erudite and entertaining The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English。 It is one of the funnest books on Old English you are ever likely to read。 Old English words are interrogated for their meanings， often the very literal meanings providing humours questions on the old English psyche。 Some confusingly modern sounding words have unexpected meanings， leaving a reader scratching their head wondering how a particualr word now means something completely different。 Luckily Dr Videen is on hand to explain。 Which is good as Videen's insightful enthusiasm has a knack for focusing on terms and concepts that bring old English to life。 With a single word Videen can divulge deep cultural meaning， before snowballing into more words， more cultural meaning， down through the ages until you feel like an old world is suddenly all around you， and people who lived over a millennia ago are immediately relatable， brought to life by the flow of vowels and consonants。 And what was initially a vague gibberish now sounds something a bit more familiar。 Each chapter ends with a Wordhord of old English words to learn， made easy by providing the pronunciation， speak them out loud， let them roll of your tongue and you'll be speaking old English in no time。 Videen's love for old English shines throughout enthusing the reader with her energy， it enlivens a niche subject matter， turning the dense and academic into something joyful and relatable。 Connecting history to modernity through the words we spoke， and still speak。 This boak， this Wordhord will give you endless lif-wynn （life joy） Fav words:an-genga pronounced a bit like ah！ Jenga。 A noun that means solitary walker， lone wanderer。。。。。it implies that back in the old days certain people like to wander around alone， perhaps even a certain state of mind as they took the time to notice the behaviour and give it a name。 Smega-wyrm which is burrowing worm a parasite but if you know the sitcom Red Dwarf and its use of word smeg， you'll perhaps guess why I chuckled at it。 Morgan-colla: morning rage or morning dread。。。who hasn't woken up wanting to punch the pillow at some point in the last two years？ 。。。more
Lucrezia
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Great read for language and history lovers and the curios alike。 Filled with funny and interesting anecdotes of everyday life in early medieval England and their related words， it truly helps with understanding that time period in a simple， lighthearted yet compelling way that is hard to find in other books on the subject。
KateKing58
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I love the fact that the language we speak now connects us back through time and place to people living a thousand years ago or more。 I love learning about the language they spoke then， about the other people and places they were linked to at the time， and about how their culture and lives still influence our world。 This book uses words both familiar and totally strange to show what was important to people living about 1200 years ago。 They are revealed as completely recognisable， even if we woul I love the fact that the language we speak now connects us back through time and place to people living a thousand years ago or more。 I love learning about the language they spoke then， about the other people and places they were linked to at the time， and about how their culture and lives still influence our world。 This book uses words both familiar and totally strange to show what was important to people living about 1200 years ago。 They are revealed as completely recognisable， even if we wouldn't have been able to communicate as the language has moved on so much。 A rich and rewarding book that will repay rereading。 。。。more
K。J。 Charles
，
A terrific and highly readable overview of Old English words， how they relate to and differ from modern English， and what they reveal about a time of which we know relatively little。 Particularly interesting on hapaxes （words that only appear once in the whole corpus so it's a matter of guessing what they mean） and converging and diverging etymology。 Also a beautiful object in hardback so it's a shame I've dog-eared the hell out of my copy to highlight all the bits I want to tell people。 A terrific and highly readable overview of Old English words， how they relate to and differ from modern English， and what they reveal about a time of which we know relatively little。 Particularly interesting on hapaxes （words that only appear once in the whole corpus so it's a matter of guessing what they mean） and converging and diverging etymology。 Also a beautiful object in hardback so it's a shame I've dog-eared the hell out of my copy to highlight all the bits I want to tell people。 。。。more
Ryan Lintott
，
Ok， so I'm a bit biased because my wife wrote this book。 But it's worth noting that I wouldn't have read a book like this before we met。 I read non-fiction about the brain， getting things done， and hacking the XBox， so a book about a language from 1000 years ago wouldn't be on my radar。Before I met Hana， I thought Old English was just Ye Olde English。 Luckily， her passion for all things medieval and Old English was infective。 Now I want to know more about saints lives or the etymologies of stran Ok， so I'm a bit biased because my wife wrote this book。 But it's worth noting that I wouldn't have read a book like this before we met。 I read non-fiction about the brain， getting things done， and hacking the XBox， so a book about a language from 1000 years ago wouldn't be on my radar。Before I met Hana， I thought Old English was just Ye Olde English。 Luckily， her passion for all things medieval and Old English was infective。 Now I want to know more about saints lives or the etymologies of strange English words。With this book， I was looking forward to a wonderful summary of all the things I've learned from Hana over the years。。。 but it was more than that。 Hana's extensive research meant there were even more interesting bits of history， curious words I had not heard before， and humorous bits that made me chuckle。Over the years， Hana grew my interest in Old English and I'm happy she's able to share her hord-wynn （hoard-joy） with so many more people through this book。 。。。more
M L Boutell
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Great！What a tour de force （or the A-S equivalent thereof！）。 Made easier to read by having some modern German， but a huge wow factor。 Waes hael！
Justin Perdue
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