Tutorial

Putting It Into Practice

This section is designed to help you recognise some common words and phrases and thus to identify the structure common to many Old English boundary clauses.

Text 1

We start with a boundary which will probably look pretty daunting.

Of temede gemyðan andlang temede in wynna bæces gemyðan . of wynna bæce in wuda mor . of wuda more in wætan sice . of þam wætan sice in þa bakas . 7 of þam bakan in þa ealdan dic . of ðære ealdan dic in secges mere . 7 of secges mere in þes pulles heafod . andlong to þorn brycge . of þorn brycge in kadera pull . of kadera pulle in beka brycge . of becha brycge in forewardan hipes mor . of þam more innon coforð broc . of þam broke innon þone hagan . æfter þam hagan innon kett . of kette in þa hlawas . of þam hlawan in lawern . of lawerne in þæt at sic . 7 æfter þam sice . innon þa scip ac . 7 of þære scip ac in þa gratan æspan . 7 swa in þæt hreade sloh . of þam slo innon þa hlawas . 7 of þam hlawan in fif acana weg . 7 æfter þam wege innon þa fif æcc . of þam acan innon ðrim gemæran . of þrim gemæran in lacge burnan . of ðære burnan to mila stane . of þam stane on þa haran apel treo . of þære apel treo innon doferic . æfter doferice in sæferne 7 andlang sæferne in temede muðan ;

STAGE 1

One strategy towards understanding would be to convert all the ‘þ’s and ‘ð’s into ‘th’:

Of temede gemythan andlang temede in wynna bæces gemythan . of wynna bæce in wuda mor . of wuda more in wætan sice . of tham wætan sice in tha bakas . 7 of tham bakan in tha ealdan dic . of thære ealdan dic in secges mere . 7 of secges mere in thes pulles heafod . andlong to thorn brycge . of thorn brycge in kadera pull . of kadera pulle in beka brycge . of becha brycge in forewardan hipes mor . of tham more innon coforth broc . of tham broke innon thone hagan . æfter tham hagan innon kett . of kette in tha hlawas . of tham hlawan in lawern . of lawerne in thæt at sic . 7 æfter tham sice . innon tha scip ac . 7 of thære scip ac in tha gratan æspan . 7 swa in thæt hreade sloh . of tham slo innon tha hlawas . 7 of tham hlawan in fif acana weg . 7 æfter tham wege innon tha fif æcc . of tham acan innon thrim gemæran . of thrim gemæran in lacge burnan . of thære burnan to mila stane . of tham stane on tha haran apel treo . of thære apel treo innon doferic . æfter doferice in sæferne 7 andlang sæferne in temede muthan ;

This is OK (although it may not have helped much!). But if you really want to get to grips with the texts it is well worth spending some time getting your eye in so that you can as easily read þis as you can read thæt. (Here is where the Pronunciation exercises will help.) The following texts are displayed first with the ‘þ’s and ‘ð’ and then with these replaced by ‘th’. If you read them in both forms it will give you further practice.

STAGE 2

Since boundary clauses are so formulaic it helps to start with some basic structures.

In this boundary clause the predominant structure is from a to b from b to c and so on. ‘From’ in Old English is of, and in this boundary clause the word used for ‘to’ is in: of a in b of b in c.

Here’s how it looks with these words highlighted to display its structure (ignore everything in between):

Here is the same thing with the ‘þ’s and ‘ð’s shown as ‘th’:

Of temede gemythan andlang temede in wynna bæces gemythan . of wynna bæce in wuda mor . of wuda more in wætan sice . of tham wætan sice in tha bakas . 7 of tham bakan in tha ealdan dic . of thære ealdan dic in secges mere . 7 of secges mere in thes pulles heafod . andlong to thorn brycge . of thorn brycge in kadera pull . of kadera pulle in beka brycge . of becha brycge in forewardan hipes mor . of tham more innon coforth broc . of tham broke innon thone hagan . æfter tham hagan innon kett . of kette in tha hlawas . of tham hlawan in lawern . of lawerne in þæt at sic . 7 æfter tham sice . innon tha scip ac . 7 of thære scip ac in tha gratan æspan . 7 swa in þæt hreade sloh . of tham slo innon tha hlawas . 7 of tham hlawan in fif acana weg . 7 æfter tham wege innon tha fif æcc . of tham acan innon thrim gemæran . of thrim gemæran in lacge burnan . of thære burnan to mila stane . of tham stane on tha haran apel treo . of thære apel treo innon doferic . æfter doferice in sæferne 7 andlang sæferne in temede muthan ;

These translate as:

From temede gemyðan andlang temede to wynna bæces gemyðan . from wynna bæce to wuda mor . from wuda more to wætan sice . from þam wætan sice to þa bakas . 7 from þam bakan to þa ealdan dic . from ðære ealdan dic to secges mere . 7 from secges mere to þes pulles heafod . andlong to þorn brycge . from þorn brycge to kadera pull . from kadera pulle to beka brycge . from becha brycge to forewardan hipes mor . from þam more innon coforð broc . from þam broke innon þone hagan . æfter þam hagan innon kett . from kette to þa hlawas . from þam hlawan to lawern . from lawerne to þæt at sic . 7 æfter þam sice . innon þa scip ac . 7 from þære scip ac to þa gratan æspan . 7 swa to þæt hreade sloh . from þam slo innon þa hlawas . 7 from þam hlawan to fif acana weg . 7 æfter þam wege innon þa fif æcc . from þam acan innon ðrim gemæran . from þrim gemæran to lacge burnan . from ðære burnan to mila stane . from þam stane on þa haran apel treo . from þære apel treo innon doferic . æfter doferice to sæferne 7 andlang sæferne to temede muðan ;

If you return to the unmarked text now, it would be a good exercise to ‘read’ its overall sense and structure. Let your eye pick up the ‘of’s and ‘in’s and read them as ‘from’ and ‘to’, again skipping over the sections in between.

Have a look at L60.0.00 and do the same.

STAGE 3

There are other prepositions here; for example ‘to’, ‘on’ and ‘innon’ all of which can also be translated as ‘to’, and the very common word in boundary clauses ‘andlang’ (along).

NOTE: In modern English we can shorten ‘and’ to an ampersand '&'. In Old English the equivalent to the ampersand is ‘7’. The short form for ‘andlang’ is thus ‘7lang’ (not used in this text but widely used in other boundary clauses); in fact this text prefers to use another word for ‘along’ (‘æfter’). All these words are highlighted below in green:

Of temede gemyðan andlang temede in wynna bæces gemyðan . of wynna bæce in wuda mor . of wuda more in wætan sice . of þam wætan sice in þa bakas . 7 of þam bakan in þa ealdan dic . of ðære ealdan dic in secges mere . 7 of secges mere in þes pulles heafod . andlong to þorn brycge . of þorn brycge in kadera pull . of kadera pulle in beka brycge . of becha brycge in forewardan hipes mor . of þam more innon coforð broc . of þam broke innon þone hagan . æfter þam hagan innon kett . of kette in þa hlawas . of þam hlawan in lawern . of lawerne in þæt at sic . 7 æfter þam sice . innon þa scip ac . 7 of þære scip ac in þa gratan æspan . 7 swa in þæt hreade sloh . of þam slo innon þa hlawas . 7 of þam hlawan in fif acana weg . 7 æfter þam wege innon þa fif æcc . of þam acan innon ðrim gemæran . of þrim gemæran in lacge burnan . of ðære burnan to mila stane . of þam stane on þa haran apel treo . of þære apel treo innon doferic . æfter doferice in sæferne 7 andlang sæferne in temede muðan ;

Here are those words translated:

From temede gemyðan along temede to wynna bæces gemyðan . from wynna bæce to wuda mor . from wuda more to wætan sice . from þam wætan sice to þa bakas . and from þam bakan to þa ealdan dic . from ðære ealdan dic to secges mere . and from secges mere to þes pulles heafod . along to þorn brycge . from þorn brycge to kadera pull . from kadera pulle to beka brycge . from becha brycge to forewardan hipes mor . from þam more to coforð broc . from þam broke to þone hagan . along þam hagan to kett . from kette to þa hlawas . from þam hlawan to lawern . from lawerne to þæt at sic . and along þam sice . to þa scip ac . and from þære scip ac to þa gratan æspan . and swa to þæt hreade sloh . from þam slo to þa hlawas . and from þam hlawan to fif acana weg . and along þam wege to þa fif æcc . from þam acan to ðrim gemæran . from þrim gemæran to lacge burnan . from ðære burnan to mila stane . from þam stane to þa haran apel treo . from þære apel treo to doferic . along doferice to sæferne and along sæferne to temede muðan ;

To recap: just by recognizing the following few words, the basic structure of this text should become intelligible:

Old English	Translation
in, on, to, innon	to
of	from
7	and
andlang, æfter	along

Again, a useful exercise would be to go back and try now to read all these key words, skipping over the bits of text in between and now recognizing the entire structure.

Link to unmarked text.

STAGE 4

All the words in bold are forms of the word ‘the’, and every one of them can be translated simply as 'the'. Take some time to have a look at these and see how they fit in with the 'to's and 'from's (here ‘þ’ and ‘ð’ have been replace by ‘th’).

Of temede gemythan andlang temede in wynna bæces gemythan . of wynna bæce in wuda mor . of wuda more in wætan sice . of tham wætan sice in tha bakas . 7 of tham bakan in tha ealdan dic . of thære ealdan dic in secges mere . 7 of secges mere in thes pulles heafod . andlong to thorn brycge . of thorn brycge in kadera pull . of kadera pulle in beka brycge . of becha brycge in forewardan hipes mor . of tham more innon coforth broc . of tham broke innon thone hagan . æfter tham hagan innon kett . of kette in tha hlawas . of tham hlawan in lawern . of lawerne in thæt at sic . 7 æfter tham sice . innon tha scip ac . 7 of thære scip ac in tha gratan æspan . 7 swa in thæt hreade sloh . of tham slo innon tha hlawas . 7 of tham hlawan in fif acana weg . 7 æfter tham wege innon tha fif æcc . of tham acan innon thrim gemæran . of thrim gemæran in lacge burnan . of thære burnan to mila stane . of tham stane on tha haran apel treo . of thære apel treo innon doferic . æfter doferice in sæferne 7 andlang sæferne in temede muthan ;

If you look again at the text with a slightly different eye, you should be able to clearly identify the boundary features within the text's framework of instructional terms.

The Tutorial now moves to another text to continue working on the main focus of this section: the structure of boundary clauses. You can move there directly and be returned to this point in due course, or you can look at some of the place-names in this text first before moving on.

Move to next text: Putting it Into Practice - 2 -.

LOOKING AT THE PLACE-NAMES 1

The words highlighted in blue in the text can be recognised, wholly or in part, in the following modern words and place-names (in order of occurrence): (the) Teme, mouth, wood, moor, wet, back, old, ditch, sedge, mere, pool, head, thorn, bridge, forward, brook, (the) Laughern, oat, ship, oak, great, aspen, reed, slough, five, oaks, way, three, bourn, mile, stone, hoar, apple, tree, (the) Severn and mouth. Further words have survived in dialect or specialised forms (e.g. batch ‘a stream’, sike ‘a ditch’ and low ‘a tumulus’).

See how many of these you can recognise, and perhaps have a go at a rough partial translation:

Of temede gemythan andlang temede in wynna bæces gemythan . of wynna bæce in wuda mor . of wuda more in wætan sice . of tham wætan sice in tha bakas . 7 of tham bakan in tha ealdan dic . of thære ealdan dic in secges mere . 7 of secges mere in thes pulles heafod . andlong to thorn brycge . of thorn brycge in kadera pull . of kadera pulle in beka brycge . of becha brycge in forewardan hipes mor . of tham more innon coforth broc . of tham broke innon thone hagan . æfter tham hagan innon kett . of kette in tha hlawas . of tham hlawan in lawern . of lawerne in þæt at sic . 7 æfter tham sice . innon tha scip ac . 7 of thære scip ac in tha gratan æspan . 7swa in þæt hreade sloh . of tham slo innon tha hlawas . 7 of tham hlawan in fif acana weg . 7 æfter tham wege innon tha fif æcc . of tham acan innon thrim gemæran . of thrim gemæran in lacge burnan . of thære burnan to mila stane . of tham stane on tha haran apel treo . of thære apel treo innon doferic . æfter doferice in sæferne 7 andlang sæferne in temede muthan ;

Here is the text again in its original form:

And finally, for those of you who have downloaded 'wynn':

Of temede gemyðan andlang temede in ƿynna bæces gemyðan . of ƿynna bæce in ƿuda mor . of ƿuda more in ƿætan sice . of þam ƿætan sice in þa bakas . 7 of þam bakan in þa ealdan dic . of ðære ealdan dic in secges mere . 7 of secges mere in þes pulles heafod . andlong to þorn brycge . of þorn brycge in kadera pull . of kadera pulle in beka brycge . of becha brycge in foreƿardan hipes mor . of þam more innon coforð broc . of þam broke innon þone hagan . æfter þam hagan innon kett . of kette in þa hlaƿas . of þam hlaƿan in laƿern . of laƿerne in þæt at sic . 7 æfter þam sice . innon þa scip ac . 7 of þære scip ac in þa gratan æspan . 7 sƿa in þæt hreade sloh . of þam slo innon þa hlaƿas . 7 of þam hlaƿan in fif acana ƿeg . 7 æfter þam ƿege innon þa fif æcc . of þam acan innon ðrim gemæran . of þrim gemæran in lacge burnan . of ðære burnan to mila stane . of þam stane on þa haran apel treo . of þære apel treo innon doferic . æfter doferice in sæferne 7 andlang sæferne in temede muðan ;

The aim of this exercise has not been to translate the whole text, but to recognise words and phrases, identify the structure and understand better how the translations offered in the LangScape website relate to the Old English. Go to our Glossed version to see one way of glossing the text. Note that some words have not been translated, either because their meaning is obscure, or because more time would be needed to discuss them than we have had available. L142.2.00.

Work through the next text and then return to this one to see whether Old English is now looking a little less formidable; if it is, then you are ready to challenge and modify our 'springboard' glosses and create your own translations of the boundary clauses, which is what this Website is all about.

Next text: Putting it Into Practice - 2 - or, if you have already worked through the first section of this, skip to Looking at the Place-Names 2

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The Language of Landscape: Reading the Anglo-Saxon Countryside