... old that he hine ne besió to his ealdum9 yfelum," 90 swá91 that he that he not look to his vices, 80 that he hí fullfremme,92 swá he hí ær9 dyde.9 them practise, as he them before did. 8. We must not quit our Pure Mother-Tongue without glancing at a specimen of that very singular Poetry, of which she has transmitted to us so many efforts. Its characteristics, both in diction and in versification, have already been briefly explained. They may be sufficiently illustrated by the few following verses, taken from a passage of Cadmon, which relates the destruction of Pharoah's host in the Red Sea. That the nature of the metre may be easily perceptible, each half-couplet is marked off in the original by a colon.* Folc was afæred :' Flód-egsa2 becwóm :3 Ghosts murmuring gave (the) death-whoop: (The) folk was afraid: Gastas geomre3 : Woldon here bleathe: Hámas finden: Would (the) host blithely homes find. A'c behindan beleac:" Wyrd10 mid wæge: But behind locked (them): Fate with (the) wave. Streams stood: Storm up-went : 98 Subjunctive. See Note 73. 90 Dat. plur. of yfel, evil. 89 See Note 4. 91 Swá-swá, so-as. 92 Fullfremman, to fulfil; from full, full, and fremman, to frame. 93 Adv. earlier, ere; superlative, arst, soonest, erst, first. 94 Infin. dón, to do; pres. ic dó; thú dést, he déth or dóth, we dóth; pret. ic dyde, thú dydest, he dyde or did, we dydon; partic. gedón; imperat. dó thú. 1 Afeard, Old English. 2 Egsa is a rare word, and here obscurely used. From becuman (whence English become), to enter, to happen. 5 German, jammer; Scottish, yammer. 6 A fresh instance of the true Saxon form of our modern wh-. Nom. sing. hám; gen. hámes; Scottish, hame. Inf. belucan; partic. belocen. 10 Old English and Scottish, weird ; "The weird sisters."-Macbeth. 11 Inf. gewitan, to depart. Thorpe's "Cadmon's Metrical Paraphrase of Parts of the Holy Scriptures, with an English Translation, Notes, and a Verbal Index," 1832. Conybeare's "Illustrations of Anglo-Saxon Poetry," 1826. heó him 84 Tha sona. she to-him straightway. This 66 Inf. cwethan; pret. cwath: 67 Said to be used for giving the verb. An Adverb, meaning 68 A serf. See the manumiss 69 For-that; an example of of which we retain some; as, formed many others on the san. 70 Inf. earnian (or geearn fixed augment of derivative pa man participles) it has often i softened form of y- or i-. 7 Originally the imperat 72 The preposition under, 73 Inf. beseón (from seón, or beseáh; hine beseón, to phrase "to bethink himself. 74 Commonly, to permi to let. 76 Lost in this shape with ac, dc, or éc (also), w or add. 76 See Note 31. 77 Adv. from uneath 85 Used for this. CHAPTER II. SEMI-SAXON PERIOD. A. D. 1066-A. D. 1250. F THE SAXON TONGUE INTO THE ENGLISH. ge in this Stage-Duration of the Period.-2. The kinds of *ed by Examples.-3. Extract from the Saxon Chronicle Trans-1. Layamon's Brut-Analysis of its Language-Comparison Chronicle.-5. Extract from Layamon Translated and Ana watch the Anglo-Saxon language at the earseries of mutations, by which it passed into beh. began, it is not possible to say with precision. en much later than the Norman Conquest: it a century earlier, and probably was so. Our some tokens of them; and, as there is reason appeared soonest in the Northern Dialect. it may suffice for us to know, that the changes asweession, two very distinct types, marking two eras ilar. ine a period throughout which the old language was ering disorganization and decay, without exhibiting foms which the most intelligent observer could, at the e interpreted as presaging a return to completeness and hey. This was a Transition-era, a period of confusion, Perplexing to those who then used the tongue, and to those how endeavour to trace its vicissitudes. The state of chaos to an end about the middle of the thirteenth century, a litarlier, or a little later. One of our best antiquaries sets down Mose as occurring about the year 1230.* These approximate es give it a duration of nearly two centuries from the Conest. It is to this stage of the language that our philologers w assign the name of Semi-Saxon. With it, in the meantime, our business lies. W shall afterards study the second era, that period of Re ing the whole of which the language may c as English. dur ed in his Edition of Lay Weollon1 wæl-benna :13 Wite-ród14 gefeol :15 Rolled corpses (of) men : (the) punishment-rod fell 12 Pret. of weallan, to spring or boil up; weall, wyll, or well, a well. 13 Wal (German, wahlstatt, a battle-field), slaughter; thence a dead body. Benn, a man (rare). 14 Substantives were compounded together in Anglo-Saxon, as freely as in modern German. The wite (Scottish for blame) was the fine paid to the community by a murderer. 15 Inf. feallan; pret. feoll, gefeol; partic. gefeallen. 16 Dat. plur. of heofon; derived from heafen, partic. of hebban, to raise, to heave. Another derivative is heáfod, a head." 17 God, the Holy Name, (with short vowel,) from the adjective god, good. Inversely, man in Anglo-Saxon is used derivatively to mean sin. CHAPTER II. THE SEMI-SAXON PERIOD. A. D. 1066-A. D. 1250. TRANSITION OF THE SAXON TONGUE INTO THE ENGLISH. 1. Character of the Language in this Stage-Duration of the Period.-2. The kinds of Corruptions-Illustrated by Examples.-3. Extract from the Saxon Chronicle Translated and Analyzed.-4. Layamon's Brut-Analysis of its Language-Comparison with Language of the Chronicle.-5. Extract from Layamon Translated and Analyzed. 1. We are next to watch the Anglo-Saxon language at the earliest stages in that series of mutations, by which it passed into the Modern English. When these began, it is not possible to say with precision. It cannot have been much later than the Norman Conquest: it may have been a century earlier, and probably was so. Our manuscripts show some tokens of them; and, as there is reason to believe, they appeared soonest in the Northern Dialect. At present it may suffice for us to know, that the changes assumed, in succession, two very distinct types, marking two eras quite dissimilar. First came a period throughout which the old language was palpably suffering disorganization and decay, without exhibiting any symptoms which the most intelligent observer could, at the time, have interpreted as presaging a return to completeness and consistency. This was a Transition-era, a period of confusion, alike perplexing to those who then used the tongue, and to those who now endeavour to trace its vicissitudes. The state of chaos came to an end about the middle of the thirteenth century, a little earlier, or a little later. One of our best antiquaries sets down its close as occurring about the year 1230.* These approximate dates give it a duration of nearly two centuries from the Conquest. It is to this stage of the language that our philologers now assign the name of Semi-Saxon. With it, in the meantime, our business lies. We shall afterwards study the second era, that period of Re-construction, during the whole of which the language may correctly be described as English. * Sir Frederick Madden; in his Edition of Layamon's Brut, 1847. |