Back to: The English Language
The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages which later developed
into Old English. About half of the most common words used in English today have Old English roots.
Beowulf is a poem written in Old English. It is more than 3,000 lines long and tells the tale of a hero called Beowulf. In the poem, Beowulf battles a monster called Grendel, its mother and a dragon.
The poem was first written around 1000 A.D. – but it is believed to be much older than this and was probably passed down orally for many generations, with each version becoming slightly different. Here is an image of one of the poem’s pages:
Here are some of the opening lines of text:
HWÆT: WE GAR-DENA IN GEARDAGUM
þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon.
Hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!
Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum
monegum mægþum meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorl, syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden.
Comprehension Exercise
Exercise
There are some words in Old English that are similar to words that we use today. See if you can match them.