On 1-11-2015 14:39, Stephen wrote:
> On 11/1/2015 12:32 PM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>>
https://web.archive.org/web/20150907011523/https://wmich.edu/medieval/resources/IOE/index.html
>>
>>
>>
>> Not a pdf I am afraid but well usable. I found it recently when I got
>> interested in Old English after reading the Beowulf translation by
>> J.R.R. Tolkien. Interestingly, I found that there are a lot of O.E.
>> words and sentence constructions that are similar to Dutch or Frisian
>> (and German no doubt). Not so surprising as the language was spoken on
>> both sides of the North Sea.
>
> Thanks Thomas,
> Chapters 1 and 4 give a 404, Not found.
> To be honest Early English is a bit of a black hole to me. The earliest
> I can read is Chaucer's Middle English.
> I could read or at least get the meaning of Modern Dutch on posters and
> adverts. Quite hand when travelling by train, I might add.
>

Strange about that 404. I believe that you can switch dates on the 
Wayback Machine banner and so find the missing chapters. I just did it 
now. Anyway, I downloaded the pages to be certain to have local access.

Middle English is already easier to read without help indeed. I have 
always liked the challenge to try to read old texts, especially in a 
historical settings which attracts me in the first place like the Early 
Medieval period. And I am a bit envious of people like Tolkien who could 
write and speak Old English as if it was his native tongue:

"On ǽrdagum wæs wuniende be norþdǽlum middangeardes sum cyning, þe ángan 
dohtor hæfde. On his húse wæs éac án cniht óþrum ungelíc."

I hope the special characters will be readable. This the beginning of 
Sellic Spell, a proto-Beowulf tale imagined by Tolkien and written in 
O.E. by him. Can you understand what is written? Note that 'h' is 
gutural aspiration as in German 'ach', and 'y' is 'ü', and some words 
become clear :-)

-- 
Thomas

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