User-friendly Dictionary of Old English

by Bill Griffiths

This dictionary contains some 3,500 of the commonest words in Old English (OE) arranged by consonant order, plus an introduction to the OE language and a selection of representative OE texts. Beginners will be able to translate simple passages of prose and verse from the rich variety of Old English texts. Advanced students will find it a rapid reference aid. Words are listed by order of the consonants they contain, rather than by the usual strict alphabetical order of all letters in the word. The variation in Old English in stressed vowels at different times and in different dialects, plus many variants of spellings, can make it tricky to look up words in conventional Old English dictionaries as you are repeatedly referred to another entry. This problem is largely eliminated here and the user should find this dictionary offers an easy and speedy way to locate Old English words. For the fifth edition the Introduction has been fully revised and a selection of representative Old English texts included. These will start you on the path of appreciating a very special literature and the way the language works.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language

60 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2002

About the author

Born as Brian William Bransom Griffiths, was a poet and Anglo-Saxon scholar associated with the British Poetry Revival.

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, as the title suggests, a useful smallish reader and dictionary in Old English. The glossed reader is the most useful section as it selects interesting and relatively simple texts with their word-by-word explanation below. For someone learning the language this is particularly useful as it elucidates which word(s) translate exactly with which OE word, often with an indication of case. It is therefore very easy to cover the translation and do your own translation and then look up the words which you stumbled over.
I take issue with the dictionary part. I can see why this format might be useful in some contexts but it is unfamiliar to me and meant I spend more time than I should have trying to find the word I was looking for. I find a much better dictionary for me is one which shows the 4 (sometimes 5) word stages so I can get my head round cases and moods etc. But I guess it was done this way so as not to overwhelm the reader.
In conclusion this is a good book for people who already have a basic understanding of OE. It’s not stuffy like most OE text books.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazon Review

William Linley

Definitely a well written book. Might be a bit hard to learn if you're just starting out on learning Anglo-Saxon/Old English/Eald Englisc but if you've already read books such as Learning Old English with Leofwin then this dictionary might help you out with some of the activities in that book. It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but the content is superb. It's also one of a kind and a great pick up for people who are truly interested in learning this language.