Really old English...

Ever curious of how English sounded hundreds of years ago?

Check this out. Its the Lord´s prayer recited in Old English. If you listen carefully you can hear some words that we use today.

Here is what a text of it would look like:

æder úre, ðú ðe eart on heofonum,
Sí ðín nama gehálgod.
Tó becume ðín rice.
Gewurde ðín willa
On eorþan swá swá on heofonum.
Urne dægwhamlícan hlaf syle ús tódæg.
And forgyf ús úre gyltas,
Swá swá wé forgyfaþ úrum gyltendum.
And ne gelæd ðu ús on costnunge,
Ac álýs ús of yfele. Sóþlice.

 

Glad you enjoyed it. I found it while looking on the web around for something recited in Old English because I wanted to here how it sounded. Its hard to believe the language we are writing in now came from that!

I also found a video of the intro to Canterbury Tales read in middle English, this sounds closer to what we speak today but is still almost impossible to understand.