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For me, an article in the New York Times back in 2019 [1] really made me want to learn Old English. The article pitches two features: the grammar is easy, and
by EdwardCoffin 1y ago
For me, an article in the New York Times back in 2019 [1] really made me want to learn Old English. The article pitches two features: the grammar is easy, and it has kennings. Kennings are essentially portmanteaus, Old English words made of two nouns that have been mashed together to create a new one. Later in the article some examples are given: the anonymous poet describes war and death with kennings like “battle-sweat” for blood (heaþuswate), “mind-worth” for honor (weorðmyndum), “bonehouse” for body (banhus).
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/magazine/letter-of-recommendation-old-english.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/magazine/letter-of-recomm... or https://archive.is/NIkJt https://archive.is/NIkJt
- IAmBroom 1y agoKinda the reverse for me... A radio interview quoted a linguist who described early rap music as an accidental rebirth of Beowulf-esque poetry. Internal rhymes, frequent allusions, and the rhythm of at least some matched Beofwulf's itself. After that, I moved from the "it's just talking over music!" camp to the "it's a novel form of musical interpretation!" camp. Straight outta Geatland, yo.