Why Old English Matters
The coolest language you’ve never heard of
Old English is the language of Beowulf and King Alfred the Great, and the ancestor of the English we speak today. Even despite the massive influence of French, our language still has Old English as its beating heart.
And yet, the ins and outs of Old English are relatively unknown by most. It’s not the language of Shakespeare, nor the tongue of Chaucer — it’s something far more primordial, and often catches you by surprise.
Here’s a brief overview of Old English, from how it shaped Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to why we used to write “Ye olde” instead of “the old”…
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What Old English Is — and What It Isn’t
First, let’s clear up a common misconception: Old English is not the language of Shakespeare. The thee’s and thou’s of his plays belong to Early Modern English, a mere few hundred years removed from the language we speak today.
Old English, by contrast, dates back over a millennium to the Anglo-Saxon period. It was spoken during the time of King Alfred (late 9th century) and looks almost nothing like English as we know it. Compare:
Shakespeare (Early Modern English):
"To be or not to be, that is the question."
King Alfred (Old English):
"Wyrd bið ful aræd." (Fate is inexorable.)
Despite this unfamiliarity, Old English still influences modern English in powerful ways. Many of our plainest, most essential words — like father, truth, and fight — come from Old English. In contrast, words like paternal, veracity, and conflict reflect the later influence of Latin via French.
This dual heritage gives modern English its unique character: a mix of elegance and simplicity.
How It Still Shapes Our Language
Beyond vocabulary, Old English provides insights into how we use words today. For instance, phrases like “old wives’ tales” may seem exclusive to married women. But in Old English, wīf simply meant woman, making the phrase really mean old women’s tales.
As the meaning of wīf narrowed to mean married woman, the language adapted by creating a new term for the general sense of woman:
Wīf + mann (person) = wīfmann, or woman.
Old English also left its mark on English pronunciation. Sounds like the “th” in thin and the “w” in water survive to this day. Modern English is also one of the few European languages to preserve the ancient “w” sound, while others shifted to “v” (as in the German wasser, pronounced with a “v”).
Even spelling quirks have roots in Old English. For example, Anglo-Saxon monks used the ancient rune “þ” to represent the “th” sound, since the Latin alphabet didn’t have a single character to represent it. This continued for centuries until the age of the printing press, where it was replaced by the letter “y.”
That’s why phrases like ye olde shoppe appear in historical recreations — even though they were always pronounced as the.
Old English as Poetry and Myth
One of Old English’s most enduring legacies is its poetic tradition, exemplified by the epic poem Beowulf. Instead of relying on rhyme, Old English poetry uses alliteration to create rhythm and structure.
For example, you might hear something like "the fierce foe fled fast."
When recited aloud, the repetition of consonants creates a drumbeat-like cadence that’s impossible to replicate in translation.
This poetic tradition also influenced modern storytelling. J.R.R. Tolkien, a scholar of Old English, wove elements of Anglo-Saxon myth into The Lord of the Rings. The dragon guarding a treasure hoard, an aging king facing the twilight of his reign, and even the phrase “The Lord of the Rings” itself — they’re all found in Beowulf.
Tolkien’s work demonstrates how Old English isn’t just a relic of the past. Rather, it continues to live on in the way we tell stories and imagine other worlds.
While Old English may seem distant, its influence is everywhere — from the words we use to the stories we cherish, this ancient tongue continues to shape our language and our lives in subtle yet enduring ways.
Remember, you can get extra content from us every Saturday: in-depth articles, subscriber-only podcasts, and breakdowns of history’s greatest art.
This weekend, we dive deep into the true history of Ancient Rome’s gladiators — and why they’re NOT what you see in the film…
Art of the Week
The Stockholm Codex Aureus is a lavish 8th-century Gospel book that highlights the synthesis of art and devotion in the early medieval world. Among its treasures is the evangelist portrait of St. Matthew and the Incipit (opening) page to his Gospel.
The portrait of Matthew embodies the transition from classical traditions to medieval abstraction. The saint is seated, holding his Gospel. But unlike the lifelike portraits of earlier Roman art, Matthew’s features are stylized — a deliberate choice to convey his symbolic role as a divinely inspired messenger.
The Incipit page is an explosion of color and design. The words of Matthew’s Gospel (it opens on Matthew 1:18, Christi autem generatio sic erat…) are crafted in an ornate, almost impenetrable script. But this complexity wasn’t just decorative — it was meditative. Readers were meant to marvel at the divine craftsmanship, using it as a means to engage deeper with the holy text.
The Codex Aureus reminds us that medieval art was more than a mere aesthetic pursuit. It was a gateway to the sacred, inviting viewers to contemplate the mysteries of faith through beauty. Even today, its pages radiate the spiritual energy and artistic ambition of the early Middle Ages.
This is really interesting and insightful. The moment you cleared the misconception around Shakespeare's English and old English, that was a moment of revelation.
As a native German speaker, we don’t pronounce „Wasser“ with a „V“. Instead we pronounce it with a „W“. Hera the different sounding between „Vater“ and „Water“. Kind regards.