Since Dr. Mitchell decided to wow us today with his amazing skills in reciting the language of Old English, and a bit of Canadian as well :), I decided to post how much the English language has changed over the course of the years. When I was in high school, my senior Honors English class studied a lot about Old English, and even read a few short stories in their original text. Since I am a self-proclaimed nerd, and avid English major, I still have all of those papers and decided to share a bit with you. Below, you will find an excerpt that has been translated several different ways. Hope you enjoy. :)
Old English (597 AD-1100 AD): Hwact we gardena in geardagum.
Middle English (1100 AD- 1500 AD) (CHAUCER): At mortal batailles hadde he been fiftene.
Modern English (since about 1550 ): La we the spear-Danes in the days of yore.
PRESENT-day English: Of mortal battles he had fought fifteen.
- I could not read my hand writing on some of those days, so feel free to comment any corrections! :)
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Beowulf! One of my favorites. (minus the movie of course).
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