Preface
This Introduction to Old English is for students whose interests are primarily literary or historical rather than linguistic. It aims to provide such students with a guide to the language that is detailed enough to enable them to read with facility, but it omits a great deal of the historical linguistic material that has traditionally been included even in beginning grammars. The linguistic material that the student needs in order to read Old English well is here presented as morphological feature rather than as historical "sound change." For example, i-mutation is understood as one of several ways of inflecting nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Its origin as a phonological change is treated briefly, as a sidelight rather than as an essential fact. Students who are interested in learning more about the history of the English language than is presented here may consult one of the grammars or linguistics texts discussed under "Further Reading" and listed in the Bibliography.
This book assumes as little as possible about the student's knowledge of traditional grammar and experience of learning languages. Technical terminology is avoided where possible, and, where unavoidable, it is defined in simple terms. A brief grammar review is provided for those who need help with grammatical terminology.
The contents of this book are available both in print and via the Internet. The printed book, published by Blackwell Publishing, includes an anthology containing texts that you can also consult at the Old English Aerobics website. Additional texts will be added to the Old English Aerobics website from time to time; these will be presented in such a way that they can either be used online or printed as a supplement to the published book. The author and his publishers expect that students will find it a convenience to have this material available via the Internet as well as in printed form.
I would like to thank both the Rawlinson Center and Blackwell Publishers for agreeing to an innovative publishing venture. I would also like to thank James R. Hall of the University of Mississippi, Dan Wiley of Hastings College, and an anonymous reader for the Rawlinson Center for a number of valuable suggestions. Most of all I am indebted to my students at the University of Virginia who for the past two years have used this book and helped me to refine it. Among these students I am especially grateful to Samara Landers, John Bugbee and Arthur Rogers for specific suggestions.
P. S. B.