These words form part of the discussion of the readings for this section, and you should become familiar with them. You can find them defined separately in the Glossary in the back of our textbook, as well as the online glossary on this site.

Old English
wynn, thorn, eth, ash
long vowel
i-mutation (umlaut)
nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental
strong and weak verbs
grammatical gender
parataxis vs. hypotaxis
impersonal
subjunctive
alliteration
Danelaw

449, Hengest and Horsa, legendary Germanic-speaking invaders/settlers of Celtic Britain
ca. 675 Caedmon
ca. 8th century, creation of Beowulf
735 death of Bede
793 Sacking of Lindisfarne, the beginning of Viking incursions
849–899 King Alfred
10th century, Benedictine reform movement
ca. 1000, Beowulf manuscript copied
1066 Norman Conquest