> > No, Chaucer is Middle English, which is intelligible to the average speaker of modern English. Old English is not. It's a different language. Think Beowulf instead of Chaucer. ;-)
> >
> > Brunnen-"it's not hard to learn, though"G
>
> True, I'm reading Malory for a class in the original Middle English. The words are spelled weird, but you get used to it. And our professor read some of it out loud. It sounded kind of silly but I understood him perfectly. The major diffrence I found was that they pronouned every letter in a word. So knight doesn't sound like the same word as night. Ka-ni-ghtee is kinda how is sounds.
>
> Speed'Yen som men say in many pys of Inglonde that kynge Arthure ys nat dede, but h by the wyll of oure Lorde Jesu into another place; and men say that he shall com agayne, and he shall wynne the Holy Crosse'ball

Good old Malory. Marvellous stuff, I bet you're enjoying it. I thought I'd post a bit of Old English as a comparison in case anybody is still interested. I wasn't really accurate in saying it's unintelligible to a speaker of modern English - many of the words *are* the same, or recognisable as ancestors of our own vocab, as you can see below. Hearing it spoken helps. However. Make up your own mind.

"Hige sceal že heardra, heorte že cenre,
Mod sceal že mare, že ure męgen lytlaš.
Her liš ure ealdor eall forheawen,
God on greote. A męg gnornian
Se še nu fram žis wigplegan wendan ženceš.
Ic eom frod feores; fram ic ne wille,
Ac ic me be healfe minum hlaforde,
Be swa leofan men, licgan žence."

This is Byrthwold's speech from "The Battle of Maldon", which took place in the year 991. A quick (and probably very bad) translation:

"Mind shall be the firmer, heart the bolder,
Courage the greater, as our strength grows less.
Here lies our leader cut down,
The good one, into the dirt. Ever may he mourn
Who now from this war-play thinks to wend.
My life is over; from here I will not go,
But by the side of my lord,
By this man so loved, I think to lie."

It may not look intelligible at first, but you can see it if you look. "Greote" doesn't look much like "dirt", but think "grit". "Cenre" is just "keener", though "bolder" translates it better. "Ealdor" for "leader" has come through to modern English in "alderman" - an ealdorman used to be a leader or nobleman. I won't bore people by going through the whole quote, but you get the idea.

Brunnen-"yes, that is one of my favourite quotes, why do you ask?"G