[Ansteorra] Pronunciation was Re: "Ansteorran: of or pertaining to the Kingdom of Ansteorra"

[HerrDetlef]

I've never completely gotten Ælfric. I did my master's thesis on his
translation of the "Life of Saint Agnes," and the original OE sounds really
bizarre next to some of the original OE poetry. I don't know if he was
trying to Anglicize too many Latin words, or coin words that never existed
before, or just what, but Ælfric's prose always sounded slightly artificial.
How much experience do you have with Ælfric, Richard?

P&B,
DT+LF
Detlef


On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 1:34 PM, Richard Culver <rbculver at sbcglobal.net>wrote:

>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: HerrDetlef <herrdetlef at gmail.com>
>
>
> [Wihtric]  I thoroughly enjoy the sounds of all of them.  My bias is toward
> Old English as for me it is the most natural to speak, rolling much better
> off my tongue than say Old Norse or even Old Frisian, all three of which I
> have used liturgically at various times in my religious life.
>
> As a grad student, I was told I should have no trouble reading Old English
> since I knew German, but Old English isn't even close enough to Modern High
> German to be that easy. Quite a lot of difference separates Old Low German
> from Modern High German.
>
> [Wihtric]  Yes some German helps but at others times that expectation
> leaves one short, though it is great fun to play with Grimm's and Verner's
> Laws at times.
>
> I had the great fortune in 2005 of hearing part of Beowulf read in Old
> English at Trinity Church in Houston. I believe the performer who read it
> was Benjamin Bagby. As he chanted the Old English text, Modern English
> surtitles were displayed on a screen, but after a while, I quit reading the
> titles and listened to the sound of the language. It's quite beautiful,
> once
> you've gotten used to it.
>
> [Wihtric]  Once I got past images of the Swedish Chef for the Muppets in my
> head, I also enjoyed it so (though part of that was hating the translation
> out in the subtitles).  I read a text like Chickering's dual-language
> edition, and my eyes mostly stay on the Old English side, or did when I was
> much better at it than I am now.  There is a certain peace and serenity that
> comes from reading originals and not translations...well at least until my
> OE instructor starts throwing Ælfric at us....then my eyes glaze over. :P
>
>
> Gódspéde!
> Wihtric
> Much of Old English is not music to anybody's modern ears...at least, until
> you've had a chance to hear a lot of it. Then it becomes quite melodious.
> Old English is even more gutteral than Modern High German. If you've ever
> had a chance to hear the Hildebrandslied read (in Old High German), or
> better yet, "Der Heliand" in Old LOW German, you might get a better taste
> of
> what those old languages sound like.
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-- 
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
--Micah 6:8