MnE bagel)īeaggyfa, noun, m., ring-giver, lord (7 occurrences, poet.)īeaggyfu, noun, f., ring-giving, generosity (hapax legomenon, poet.)īeaghord, noun, n., ring-hoard, treasure (3 occurrences, all in Beowulf)īealdor, noun, m., lord (10 occurrences, poet.)īealu, noun, n., misery, harm, injury, enmityīealuhygdig, adj., intending evil, hostile (hapax legomenon, Beowulf)īealusiþ, noun, m., painful journey, bitter experience (2 occurrences, poet.)īearn, noun, n., child, son (cp. MnE bane, poet.)īanhus, noun, n., body (‘bone-house’, 6 occurrences, poet.)īanloca, noun, m., ‘bone-enclosure’, ?muscles, ?body (5 occurrences, poet.)īæl, noun, n., fire, funeral pyre (poet.)īeadu, noun, m., battle (15 occurrences, poet.)īeadurinc, noun, m., warrior (3 occurrences, poet.) īeadurof, adj., bold in battle (8 occurrences, poet.)īeag, noun, m., circular ornament (around neck, wrist, finger etc.), ring (cp. pl., origin, descent, noble lineageīana, noun, m., slayer (cp. Æstel, noun, m., ?pointer used to keep one’s place as one reads (4 occurrences) Æscplega, noun, m., spear-fight, battle (hapax legomenon, Judith) Ærgod, adj., good from old times (5 occurrences, only in Beowulf) Ærgewinn, noun, n., ancient hostility (hapax legomenon, The Dream of the Rood)

Ælfscyne, adj., beautiful as a fairy (3 occurrences, poet.) Æfterfylgan, verb, to follow, to come after MnE to stir)Īwiht, noun, n., anything (cp. MnG einfältig)Īnfloga, noun, m., solitary flier (hapax legomenon, The Seafarer)Īnhaga, noun, m., solitary one, one who dwells alone (poet.)Īr, noun, f, honour, mercy, favour, prosperityĪstyrian, verb, to remove, to move (cp. MnG antworten)Īnfeald, adj., simple, onefold (cp. MnG Antlitz)Īndwyrdan, verb, to answer (cp. MnG Widersacher)Īndwlita, noun, m., face (cp. A word signalled as ‘hapax legomenon’ is found only once in the entire Old English corpus, and was possibly coined for the passage in question.Ībutan, adv., about, around Īcennan, verb, bring forth, give birth toĪglæca, noun, m., monster, combatant, the terrible one (poet.) Īndsaca, noun, m., enemy, adversary (cp. related words) in a number of other languages are intended to make memorisation of the words easier. Languages are abbreviated as follows: OE = Old English MnE = Modern English MnG = Modern German MnDu = Modern Dutch MnDa = Modern Danish MnScots = Modern Scots MnSw = Modern Swedish L = Latin MedL = Medieval Latin MedGr = Medieval Greek.The reference ‘poet.’ signals predominant usage of a word in poetry. There are no plans for moving this page to another address.Ĭhristine Rauer, University of St Andrews If you a are a teacher of Old English and have an assessment of the materials below scheduled for this summer period, feel free to let me know the dates, so that I can work around you. News: During the summer of 2024, I will be making some changes to the vocabulary list. If you found the list below or my advice useful (if you emailed me), you may perhaps like to make a small donation to the University of St Andrews (Student Support Fund), to help those of our students who are in need. I do not charge a fee for helping you with language queries. So if you have any questions or comments regarding this vocabulary or the Old English language, feel free to contact me by emailing and I will try to answer your questions as quickly and thoroughly as I can. I do answer questions from members of the public. I am an academic staff member specialising in Old English and working for the University of St Andrews in Scotland. More soundfiles of Old English texts being read aloud, plus the pronunciation rules, can be found on this page. I have also provided soundfiles for a few representative words click on those to hear how the words should be pronounced. Tests can be made easier or harder, depending on whether the examined translation is from Old English to Modern English, or vice versa, or both, and depending on how much time students are allowed to memorise the vocabulary. It can be used in undergraduate or postgraduate Old English teaching, either for compulsory or optional assessments, or just for background. The idea is that students (or other language enthusiasts) learn this list of words by heart. This list of Old English Core Vocabulary is intended as a teaching and learning aid. Some of the words listed here are among the most frequent in Old English literature some are of particular importance on account of their literary or linguistic usage. The list below presents some 500 Old English words which could be regarded as literary core vocabulary - perhaps the most important words in Old English, a language spoken and written in England ca.

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