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The Cædmon Poems
A Verse translation of Anglo-Saxon Christian Poetry

Damian Love

 
Cædmon is the first English poet whose name survives; thus he stands at the beginning of our literature. In Bede’s famous account, Cædmon’s nine-line Genesis hymn brought traditional oral poetry into the realm of writing some time in the latter half of the seventh century. Over the next four hundred years, a series of anonymous poets took up his challenge, producing the richest corpus of literature to emerge from early medieval Europe. High among their achievements are the works of those who followed Cædmon’s example and rewrote the stories of the Old Testament for their own time, combining Germanic tradition with the Christianity of the Mediterranean world to create vivid new renditions of the great Bible narratives. In Exodus, Genesis B, and Judith they produced masterpieces that rank beside Beowulf as monuments of the era.

This book is the first to represent the Old Testament genre comprehensively in modern English verse translation, making it available to students and non-specialist readers in a form that captures much of the vigour and rhythmic texture of the original poems.

An extensive Introduction and Explanatory Notes aid access to these unique artefacts of the early medieval world.

£9.95       200 pages  

Old English Poems, Prose & Lessons
Anglo-Saxon Language


Read by Stephen Pollington


These two CDs can be used with First Steps in Old English or just listened to for the pleasure of hearing Old English spoken well.

Kings & Dates - CD 1
1 Capture of the Five Boroughs
2 Alfred on Athelney - ASC 878
3 Cynewulf and Cyneheard - ASC 755
4 The Danes' Harrying - ASC 997
5 The Arrival of the English - Bede
6 Battle of Brunanburh Crime & Punishment
7 Extracts from the Laws of King Ine
8 The Ordeal

Health & Wellbeing
9 Leechdoms - medical texts
10 Charm Against a Dwarf
11 Charm Against a Wen
12 Charm Against Waterelf Sickness
13 Nine Herbs Charm
14 Journey Charm
15 Wið Ymbe - for a swarm of bees

Verse
16 Wulf & Eadwacer
17 Funeral of Scyld Scefing - Beowulf
18 The Wanderer
19 Deor
20 Beowulf's Greeting - Beowulf
21 Durham


General - CD 2
1-17 Reading Exercises
18-20 Pronunciation Guide
21-25 Conversational Old English



£15·00  2 CDs





The Battle of Maldon
Text and Translation


Translated and edited by Bill Griffiths

The Battle of Maldon was fought between the Englishmen of Essex and Danes in AD 991. The action was captured in an Anglo-Saxon poem whose vividness and heroic spirit has fascinated readers and scholars for generations. The Battle of Maldon includes the source text; edited text; parallel literal translation; verse translation; notes on pronunciation; review of 103 books and articles. This new edition includes notes on Old English verse.

* The edited Old English text and parallel literal Modern English translation is intended to be of help to those learning Old English.


£5·95



Beowulf
Text and Translation


Translated by John Porter

The verse in which the story unfolds is, by common consent, the finest writing surviving in Old English, a text that all students of the language and many general readers will want to tackle in the original form. To aid understanding of the Old English, a literal word-by-word translation is printed opposite the edited Old English text and provides a practical key to this Anglo-Saxon masterpiece.

£6·95  192 pages




A Departed Music
Readings in Anglo-Saxon Poetry.


Walter Nash

The readings contained in this book are passages of translation from a wide selection of Old English poems. The author paraphrases their content and discuses their place and significance in the history of poetic art in Old English society and culture. This approach gives the reader an opportunity to appreciate the cultural importance of the surviving body of poems, the worldview that inspired them, and the subtleties of individual poems.

Walter Nash has spent many years teaching university students. It is clear to see that he has brought all his knowledge, experience and (most of all) his love of the subject to the writing of this book.


£9.95  Hardback  176 pages



First Steps in Old English
An easy to follow language course for the beginner.


Stephen Pollington


If you want to teach yourself Anglo-Saxon / Old English this is the book.
A complete, well presented and easy to use Old English language course which contains all the exercises and texts needed to learn Old English. This course has been designed to be of help to a wide range of students, from those who are teaching themselves at home, to undergraduates who are learning Old English as part of their English degree course. The author is aware that some individuals have little aptitude for learning languages and that many have difficulty with grammar. To help overcome these problems he has adopted a step by step approach that enables students of differing abilities to advance at their own pace. The course includes practice exercises.


£16·95 256 pages

Some of the texts used in this book are read by the author on
the two CDs Old English Poems, Prose and Lessons £15.



Learn Old English with Leofwin

Matt Love

This is a new approach to learning old English – as a living language. Leofwin and his family are your guides through six lively, entertaining, topic-based units. New vocabulary and grammar are presented in context, step by step, so that younger readers and non-language specialists can feel engaged rather than intimidated. The author has complemented the text with a wealth of illustrations throughout. This volume is the first part of the course.

Listening, speaking, reading and writing skills addressed in each unit
Quick-reference Grammar Guide
New English to Old English Vocabulary
Old English to New English Vocabulary
Audio exercises free from the Anglo-Saxon Books website
< side bar OE audio
Background information on the Anglo-Saxon way-of-life.

The author, Matt Love, was born long ago in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. He graduated from Sussex University in 1977, and has taught Modern Languages for many years. He is usually quite poor company, but brightens up somewhat should the conversation turn to language or history.

£14·95    158 pages




An Introduction to the Old English Language and its Literature

Stephen Pollington

The purpose of this general introduction to Old English is not to deal with the teaching of Old English but to dispel some misconceptions about the language and to give an outline of its structure and its literature. Some basic knowledge about the origins of the English language and its early literature is essential to an understanding of the early period of English history and the present form of the language.

This revised and expanded edition provides a useful guide for those contemplating embarking on a linguistic journey.


£5·95   64 pages





Plain English
A Wealth of Words


Bryan Evans


Plain English has its roots in the language spoken by the English 1000 and more years ago. It is a beautiful language which fosters clear thought and speech. It is a language for those who like to say much with few words. Plain English is found in the King James Bible; it is in the works of Jane Austen; it is in the speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Churchill.

The aim of this book is to help readers find plain English words for what they want to say. First it outlines the story of English and then it offers ‘A hundred words to start you off’ (shorten rather than abbreviate, speed up instead of accelerate, drive home rather than emphasize, and so on). In the main part of the book will be found over 10,000 plain English words that are still alive and well, then a list of some 3,600 borrowed words, with suggestions about English words we might use instead. It is hoped that this book will help readers think about the words they use, and in doing so speak and write more clearly.

£9.95 332 Pages




Wordcraft
A concise Modern English to Old English dictionary and thesurus

Stephen Pollington

Wordcraft provides Old English equivalents to the commoner modern words in both a dictionary and thesaurus. Previously the lack of an accessible guide to vocabulary deterred many would-be students of Old English.

Wordcraft combines the core words relating to everyday life with a selection of terms connected with society, culture, technology, religion, perception, emotion and expression to encompass all aspects of Anglo-Saxon experience.

The Thesaurus presents vocabulary relevant to a wide range of individual topics in alphabetical lists, thus making it easy to find specific areas of interest. Each thematic listing is cross-reference from the Dictionary. The two sections will be of invaluable assistance to students of the language, as well as those with either a general or a specific interest in the Anglo-Saxon period.


£9.95   240 Pages

The Rebirth of England and English
The Vision of William Barnes

Father Andrew Phillip
s

English history is patterned with spirits so bright that they broke through convention and saw another England. Such was the case of the Dorset poet, William Barnes (1801-86), priest, poet, teacher, self-taught polymath, linguist extraordinary and that rare thing - a man of vision. In this work the author looks at that vision, a vision at once of Religion, Nature, Art, Marriage, Society, Economics, Politics and Language. He writes: 'In search of authentic English roots and values, our post-industrial society may well have much to learn from Barnes'. For the first time Saxon-English words created and used by Barnes have been gathered together and listed next to their foreign equivalents.

This book is well worth the money just for Barnes' word lists in which he gives 'Saxon' alternatives to words with Latin or Greek roots. While some of the words he suggests using are odd, most are sensible. If William Barnes were alive today he would argue forcefully against 'civic waste disposal facility' and suggest we use 'town rubbish dump'.



£9.95     160 Pages


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CD cover for Old English Poems, Prose & Lessons

CD 1 for Old English Poems, Prose & Lessons

CD2 for Old English Poems, Prose & Lessons




Book cover for The Battle of Maldon:. Text and Translation


Book cover for Beowulf. Text and Translation


Book cover for A Departed Music. Readings in Anglo-Saxon Poetry.

Book cover for First Steps in Old English : An easy to follow language course for the beginner.


Book cover for Learn Old English with Leofwin


Book cover for An Introduction to the Old English Language and its Literature


Book Cover for Plain English. A Wealth of Words


Book Cover for Wordcraft. A concise Modern English to Old English dictionary and thesurus

 

Book Cover for The Rebirth of England and English. The Vision of William Barnes

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