So how did the English language come to be?

Or. . . Who won?

The Vikings* & Saxons

Constantly battled for control of England

Languages in England merged to become Old English (synonymous with Anglo-Saxon)

*another word for the peoples of Norway and Denmark. The word is actually a pursuit—”to go a-viking.”

King Alfred the Great (the ONLY “Great” in English history) because he kept united tribes to repel the Danes

(another name for the norse) Treaty: He kept London & Wessex; Vikings kept

the Danelaw(North and East England)

because he commissioned the Anglo-Saxon chronicles of Britain from the time of Caesar’s invasion to be written in ANGLO-SAXON (ENGLISH) NOT LATIN!!

Alfred Jewel

"AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN", "Alfred ordered me to be made"

In the Ashmolean in Oxford

Two Religious Centers Arose

York—Northern England Canterbury—Southern England

The Vikings Win, sort of . . .

Ethelred the Unready-weak king-took throne at age 11 was defeated by

King Canute/Knut, who was crowned King of ALL England, 1016

(this lasted until another set of Vikings/Norse, the Normans, conquered in 1066.)

Old English/Anglo-Saxon

The emergence of a written language.

Anglo-Saxon/Old English Language spoken and written from about the 5th

to 11th centuries around the time of the Battle of Hastings (1066).

Standardized in 10th century through influence of dominant kingdom of Wessex.

Based on runic script.

More than ½ of our modern words have AS origins

Old English Words & Modern Equivalents

Old English Wicu Cyning (c-k) Scort (sc=sh) Gærs Eorþ (þ & ð= th) deor cniht

Modern English Week King Short Grass Earth Deer (orig. wild beast) Knight (orig. youth)

The Book of Kells

Tradition: Written by St. Columba

Housed in Ireland at Kells Monastery

St. Aidan—illuminator(founded Lindesfarne) Written in Latin

Lindesfarne Gospels

Mixes Celtic tradition with Saxon Art

Monastery kept learning alive inthe “Dark Ages”Of Viking invasion

What are the black words between the lines?

Illuminated pages--Latin interlaced with OE translation

English added to the Latin around 970 A.D. –First English translation of the Gospels (Very significant in light of later controversies over English Bibles)

To recap: Old English influenced by

Celtic languages (fewer than 1 doz words) Latin—big influence Anglo-Saxon Old Norse

Now, see if you can translate something. . .