Mature
Audio only
Length8h 23m
About this audiobook
This audiobook narrated by Sara Powell takes listeners on an entertaining and illuminating tour of weird, wonderful, and downright baffling words from the origins of English
Old English is the language you think you know until you actually hear or see it. Unlike Shakespearean English or even Chaucer's Middle English, Old English—the language of
Beowulf—defies comprehension by untrained modern readers. Used throughout much of Britain more than a thousand years ago, it is rich with words that haven't changed (like
word), others that are unrecognizable (such as
neorxnawang, or paradise), and some that are mystifying even in translation (
gafol-fisc, or tax-fish). In this delightful book, Hana Videen gathers a glorious trove of these gems and uses them to illuminate the lives of the earliest English speakers. We discover a world where choking on a bit of bread might prove your guilt, where fiend-ship was as likely as friendship, and where you might grow up to be a laughter-smith.
The Wordhord takes readers on a journey through Old English words and customs related to practical daily activities (eating, drinking, learning, working); relationships and entertainment; health and the body, mind, and soul; the natural world (animals, plants, and weather); locations and travel (the source of some of the most evocative words in Old English); mortality, religion, and fate; and the imagination and storytelling. Each chapter ends with its own "wordhord"—a list of its Old English terms, with definitions and pronunciations.
Entertaining and enlightening,
The Wordhord reveals the magical roots of the language you're reading right now: you'll never look at—or speak—English in the same way again.
Audiobook details
GenreLiterary Classics, History
Length8 hrs 23 mins
Narrated bySara Powell
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateMay 10, 2022
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Opening Anno, Chapter 1, The Language You Thought You Knew
8Chapter 8 - The World Outside
2Chapter 2 - Eating and Drinking
9Chapter 9 - Wildlife
3Chapter 3 - Passing the Time
10Chapter 10 - Travel
4Chapter 4 - Learning and Working
11Chapter 11 - Beyond Human
5Chapter 5 - Playing (and More Drinking)
12Chapter 12 - Searching for Meaning
Show all chaptersShow less
6Chapter 6 - Making Friends and Enemies
13Chapter 13 - Hoarding Words, Closing Anno
7Chapter 7 - Caring for Body and Mind
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