Robert E. Diamond

I borrowed this from the library, and I liked it so well that I bought my own copy. It’s definitely worth having on hand. It’s divided into two parts, a grammar and a reader.

Grammar: This section is straightforward and quite brief. As such, it does not weigh us down with all the complexities of the language. Many of the other books I’ve read have long grammar sections at the beginning, while the readings are brief and often relegated to the appendix. This approach is different, as it lays out only the basics that are needed for comprehension, and then it lets readers dive right in to the selections. As fond as I am of grammar, I must say that I found this approach refreshing. After all, language isn’t learnt in a vacuum; it’s an ongoing, practical experience. This was also the approach favored by Thomas Jefferson, an early champion of the Old English language in the United States. Jefferson believed that the best way for students to learn Old English was to give them reading material and let them have a go at it. I have read several books that teach Old English, but this one’s heavy focus on the texts themselves makes it, perhaps, the most interesting way to learn.

Reader: This is possibly the richest collection of Old English texts that I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. There is some history, lifted directly from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, as well as the Preface written by King Alfred the Great to Pope Gregory’s Pastoral Care. The poetry section begins with the oldest poem in the English language and continues to include such classics as “The Dream of the Rood,” “The Seafarer,” and “The Wanderer.” Poetry describing battles, religious poems, elegies, wisdom poems, riddles—this collection includes the major Old English genres in a single slender volume.

What makes this book different from the others: I have read several books on Old English, but I’ve never read one quite like this. For one thing, it is rare in a grammar book that the author’s personality shines through, but one’s does, and it’s charming. For example, in the preface, Diamond writes, “In order to keep this book simple, it has seemed best to dispense with notes, which students are unlikely to consult anyway.” And Diamond has done some things a bit different: “Because beginners in a language have enough trouble without being obliged to wrestle with a shifting and often irrational orthography, all Old English texts are presented here in regularized spelling.” I also greatly enjoyed the Modern English translations to all the Old English texts. Diamond says, “Because it is a waste of time for students to guess and to wonder if they have hit upon the correct translation, all Old English texts are here provided with literal facing-page translations.” I found this side-by-side translation immensely helpful. Confident that I knew the correct meaning, I was able to read it slowly and carefully, paying attention to the case and syntax. I think I learned more this way, knowing what it meant and trying to discern why, than I did from other Old English books, trying to figure out what. Finally, this book has provided more information about pronunciation than any other book I’ve read. Here, the book provides a different form for the letter G when it distinguishes between the different ways it’s pronounced in different words. Other books include diacritical marks for the letter G, so that by itself isn’t unusual. However, Diamond also distinguishes between the thorn and the eth, using the thorn only for voiced sounds and the eth only for the unvoiced. I’ve never seen this before—certainly the scribes of the Middle Ages used the two letters interchangeably—but as a modern reader, I greatly benefitted from the visual aid with regard to pronunciation.

All in all, an excellent aid that gives its readers the chance to learn the language by reading original writings in Old English, rather than by reading about Old English. Smart, practical, and endlessly engaging.… (more)

The author presents Old English as a language to be learned as easily as possible - reducing the phonological obstacles (leaving in some of the umlauts), using uniform orthography, and simplified grammar.

Exemplary prose and poetry includes: The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan, The Story of King Cynewulf, The Wars of King Alfred against the Vikings, Alfred's Preface to the Pastoral Care, descriptions of battle, The Dream of the Rood, The Seafarer, The Wife's Lament, and Maxims (from the Exeter Gnomes), and The Panther.

Old English has grammatical gender for all nouns, without reference to the nature of the thing referred to -- "woman" is the neuter noun WIF.

All nouns, pronouns, and adjectives have one of four grammatical Cases: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, and Accusative. The ambiguity of Modern English is impossible -- as in "The king called the man a servant." [16]

The Verbs have only two Tenses: Past and Present. to express futurity, the present is forced (called a "preterite").… (more)