this is getting good ... --- Jon Murphy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm always happy to reply to snippy snippets, But > word for word isn't the > sense of a story. Reading is for meaning, > translation is for detail. > > "Hw�t! We Gardena in geardagum, > �eodcyninga, �rym gefrunon, > hu �a ��elingas ellen fremedon. > Oft Scyld Scefing scea�ena �reatum, > > Hear this, the (Danish warriors) of olden days and > their kings had bravery > and prowess. > There existed a Scyld Scefing the bane of peoples. > > (Scyld is translated into English as shield, and a > varient is used in the > military descriptions of the Scot's tactics against > the English, (can't > remember how to spell it, something like Skyldron > meaning shield wall - a > rather less organized parallel to the ancient > phalanx of the Greeks and > Romans). > > BTW, where did you find that font, is it a standard > on M$ or an add on? And > that 4th line is normally inset in modern format as > it is the beginning of a > new thought. > > > 5 > monegum m�g�um, meodosetla ofteah, > > > OK, here we get into the fact that this was one bad > lad, he broke up the > bars and messed with the troops. > > I'll not claim I can read this without a dictionary, > nor can I read old > Gaelic without one. Come to think of it I need a > dictionary to read French > or German (which I didn't need fifty years ago). > > The real point was that languages change, but there > is a consistancy within > the change. Chaucer is easy if you know both English > and French, plus a > little Briton, he was an early combiner in writing. > The Old English of > Beowulf contains may of the root words so one can > find constructions (as in > Gardena in the first line) that can be sorted out. I > called it Danish > warriors, others have been more literal with "sword > Danes". But we see the > similar root of guard and the nation of Danes > (dena). All the Indo European > languages have similar roots, one just needs to sort > them out - sometimes a > very difficult process. > > Best, Jon > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
===== "and thus i made...a small vihuela from the shell of a creepy crawly..." - Don Gonzalo de Guerrero (1512), "Historias de la Conquista del Mayab" by Fra Joseph of San Buenaventura. go to: http://www.charango.cl/paginas/quieninvento.htm ___________________________________________________________ Moving house? Beach bar in Thailand? New Wardrobe? Win �10k with Yahoo! Mail to make your dream a reality. Get Yahoo! Mail www.yahoo.co.uk/10k
