Alas, not me

The Lay of the Children of Húrin  exists in two versions, neither of which tells the whole story its title promises. The second version is m...

Recently I saw someone somewhere inline asking about Gandalf's characterization of Gollum in The Shadow of the Past .   The most inquisi...

"Wood and water, stock and stone, I can master." --- Treebeard The word "stock" here comes from Old English "stocc,...

While reading the Old English poem Genesis A this Monday evening (as one does) I came across the word helleheafas  in the following passage ...

If you look up the word gyst  -- 'guest, visitor, stranger, outsider, outlandish creature, enemy' -- in the Dictionary of Old Englis...

Brocken Inaglory at the English Wikipedia [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] Lately, as part of another pr...

I've been re-reading Beowulf  lately, my second time through the poem in Old English. It brings joy and laughter to my geeky so...

Lairich Rig / The Ruthwell Cross Frineð he for þære mænige   hwær se man sie, se ðe for dryhtnes naman    deaðes wolde biteres onby...

As many are aware, Tolkien derived the name 'Saruman' from Old English. The entry in Bosworth- Toller for searu starts wit...

Since I never read introductions first, I only just looked at the preface to Dunning and Bliss' edition of  The Wanderer  just las...

By the time the Iliad  reaches Book 9 the war is going so badly for the Achaeans without Achilles that even Agamemnon is willing to beg...

This morning I sat down to finish The Seafarer . As I usually do, I copied out the lines I was going to translate, trying to get a se...

Last night I returned home after a rare pleasant evening with a friend, watching the day fade into the shadow of the sea. It was late...

From A Guide to Old English , sixth edition (2001) by Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson. ...the O[ld] E[nglish verb distinguishe...

 Grendel  © John Howe There was just something about the word  aglæca  -- 'awesome opponent, ferocious fighter' as the DOE ...

In my pilgrimage through Beowulf  I often encounter phrases or passages in which the skill of the poet fills me with wonder.  In the lines...

The day after Sam rescues Frodo from the tower of Cirith Ungol, two orcs, an Uruk and a smaller tracker, nearly catch them, but a fight bre...