4. Language and Literature

4.1 Old English

Anglo-Saxon, also called Old English, was the language spoken under Alfred the Great and continued to be the common language of England (non-Danelaw) until after the Norman Conquest of 1066 when, under the influence of the Anglo-Norman language spoken by the Norman ruling class, it changed into Middle English roughly between 1150-1500.

Anglo-Saxon is far closer to early Germanic than Middle English, i.e., it is less Latinized, and retains many morphological features (nominal and verbal inflection) that were lost during the 12th to 14th centuries. The language today which is closest to Old English is Frisian, which is spoken by a few hundred thousand people in the northern part of the Netherlands and Germany.

Before literacy in the vernacular "Old English" or Latin became widespread, the Runic alphabet, called the Futhorc (also known as Futhark), was used for inscriptions. When literacy became more prevalent, a form of Latin script was used with a few letters derived from the futhork; 'eth', 'wynn', and 'thorn'.

The letters regularly used now in printed and edited texts of OE are the following:

a æ b c d ð e f g h i l m n o p r s t þ u w x y with only rare occurrences of j, k, q, v, and z.

There are competing theories as to the origins of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc. One theory proposes that it was developed in Frisia and from there spread later to England. Another holds that runes were first introduced to England from Scandinavia where the Futhorc was modified and then exported to Frisia. Both theories have their inherent weaknesses and a definitive answer likely awaits more archaeological evidence.

The early Futhorc was identical to the Elder Futhark but had 26 runes. In England, the Futhorc was further extended to 28 and finally to 33 runes, and runic writing in England became closely associated with the Latin scriptoria from the time of Anglo-Saxon Christianization in the 7th century. The Futhorc started to be replaced by the Latin alphabet from around the 9th century. In some cases, texts would be written in the Latin alphabet but runes would be used in place of the word it represented, and the þorn and wynn came to be used as extensions of the Latin alphabet. By the Norman Conquest of 1066 it was very rare and disappeared altogether shortly thereafter. From at least five centuries of use, less than 200 artifacts bearing Futhorc inscriptions have survived.

Feoh, þorn, and sigel stood for [f], [þ], and [s] in most environments, but voiced to [v], [ð], and [z] between vowels or voiced consonants. Gyfu and wynn stood for the letters yogh and wynn which became [g] and [w] in Middle English.

A magic item that survived destruction by the clerics and shows the runic alphabet is the Franks Casket, an Anglo-Saxon royal hoard box with runic inscriptions (whalebone, early 7th century). It bears scenes of Roman and Germanic background as well as a picture of the Magi adoring Christ. These carvings along with runic inscriptions were meant to influence the fate, (OE wyrd), of its owner, a warrior king. The image of the “Holy three Kings” may have saved the box from purgatory.