Friday, 11 September 2015
Words of Wisdom
If you've been following my posts about Old English wisdom here or on Twitter, you may be interested in a piece I wrote for the Oxford Dictionaries blog on the vocabulary of wisdom in Old English literature: Finding wisdom in Old English. It's really just a list of some of my current favourite Old English words, including boccræftig, rumheort and dysig...
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5 comments:
LERV the words! Rumheort deserves a revival. How does one pronounce these? And where perhaps a guideline as to that? Thanks a mill for all your posts, even if lost in the minutae always learn something and enjoy doing so. Liz Monteral
That is so fascinating! Loved Samwise, (Frodo from frod, too?)
Gemetlice sounds very like modern German, "gemutlich" meaning, nice, kindly.
But what on earth gave the Anglo-Saxon sage the idea that wives should advise their husbands? In my experience, advice is not welcomed, but seen as interference! Maybe that is because my husband, descended from Vikings by appearance and family birthplaces, sees it as necessary to show his superiority over me, the humble Anglo-Saxon.
Thank you for these words, many of which I haven't yet run across. I especially like wærwyrde. There should be a bit of wisdom with that word especially for the internet.
There is an American (and perhaps Canadian word) for a person who is silly, foolish and scatterbrained. That is ditzy. Perhaps it is a bit nearer to the Old English than "dizzy."
Just wondering if rumheort is based on magnanimus (Aristotle's megalopsyches)—sounds like it in one of your citations
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