Studies in Major Authors (ENGL 440), Fall 2006 Dr ... - View Site

Dr. Aaron J Kleist, aka Dr. Vonk 

BEOWULF: THE HERO, THE MONSTERS, AND THE CULTURAL TEXT 

Studies in Major Authors (ENGL 440), Fall 2006 

Email: aaron.kleist@biola.edu 

Extension: x 5581 

Office: SH 216 

Office 

Hours: 

T/Th 9.30am–12.30pm and 4.30–6.00pm; 

W 9.30–12.30 and 1.30–3pm 

BY EMAIL APPOINTMENT 

ITA † : Ms. Michael Dinsmoor Email: michael.k.dinsmoor@bubbs.biola.edu 

†Illustrious Teaching Assistant. Ita in Latin means “thus” or “so”: when assistance in pedagogical skullduggery is required, therefore, ‘tis the Vonkian ITA who (in Jean-Luc’s terminology) makes it so. 

Required Texts: 

Anonymous, Beowulf, trans. Seamus Heaney (Norton, 2001) [ISBN: 0393975800] 

Clark-Hall, J. R. and Herbert T. Meritt, A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (U of Toronto P, 1984) 

[ISBN: 0802065481] 

Hasenfratz, Robert, and Thomas Jambeck, Reading Old English: An Introduction (West Virginia 

University, 2005) [ISBN: 1933202017] 

Jack, George, ed., Beowulf: A Student Edition (Oxford, 1994) [ISBN: 0198710445] 

PROPOSED SCHEDULE (subject to change in the event of blizzards, locust plagues, or alien invasion): 

Wk Date Readings Wk Date Readings 

1 T Aug 22 Summer’s End (Walawa!) 6 T Sept 26 Cumulative Quiz; Principal Parts of 

Weak Verbs; Syncopated & Irregular 

Weak I Verbs [Hasen/Jam ch. 3]; 

Heaney 2463-2711a; VENDETTA ENDS 

Th Aug 24 Introduction; Formation of Tribes 

Th Sept 28 Review of Weak I Verbs; Weak II-III 

Verbs [Hasen/Jam ch. 3]; Heaney 

2711b-2945 

2 T Aug 29 Prounciation and Strong Nouns 

7 T Oct 3 Cumulative Quiz; Preterit-Present 

[Hasenfratz/Jambeck ch. 1-2]); 

Verbs; Contract Verbs [Hasen/Jam ch. 

Beowulf in translation: Heaney lines 1- 

188; Character Quiz 

4]; Heaney 2946-3182 

Th Aug 31 n-Stems; Strong & Weak Adjectives; 

Th Oct 5 ILL Requests & Edible Offerings Due 

Comparative & Superlative Adjectives 

TRIAL BY VOICE (Duel of the Scops; 

[Hasen/Jam ch. 3 & 6]; Heaney 189- 

Duel of the Flyting; Duel of the Boast) 

661; TRIAL BY VENDETTA BEGINS 

[TRIAL BY FIRE / SWORDSMITHING TBA] 

3 T Sept 5 Cumulative Quiz; Adverbs 

8 T Oct 10 Translation Due; 

(Comparative & Superlative); Personal 

Presentation 1: Scyld Scefing; the 

& Demonstrative Pronouns [Hasen/Jam 

building of Heorot; Grendel attacks 

ch. 6-7]; Heaney 662-923 

(Jack lines 1-188). 

Th Sept 7 Preterit & Present Endings for Strong & 

Th Oct 12 Translation Due 

Weak Verbs; bēon/wesan; Heaney 924- 

Presentation 2: The coast warden’s 

1250 

challenge; arrival at Heorot (189-398). 

4 T Sept 12 Cumulative Quiz; Parsing Verbs; 

9 T Oct 17 Translation Due 

Principal Parts; Strong Verbs 1-2 

Presentation 3: Boasting; Unferth 

[Hasen/Jam ch. 8]; Heaney 1251-1724a 

(399-661). 

Th Sept 14 Strong Verbs 3 [Hasen/Jam ch. 8]; 

Heaney 1724b-1976 

Th Oct 19 Torrey Conference 

5 T Sept 19 Cumulative Quiz; Strong Verbs 4-5 10 T Oct 24 Translation Due 

[Hasen/Jam ch. 8-9]; Heaney 1977-2220 

Presentation 4: The fight with 

Grendel; Sigemund and Heremod 

(662-924). 

TRIAL BY COMBAT (Champion vs 

Champion and Tribe vs Tribe) 

Th Sept 21 Strong Verbs 6-7 [Hasen/Jam ch. 9]; 

Th Oct 26 Translation Due 

Principal Parts Assignment; Heaney 

Presentation 5: Finnsburg (lines 924- 

2221-2462 

1250 and The Fight at Finnsburh, pp. 

212-16).

11 

12 

13 

T Oct 31 Translation Due 

Presentation 6: Revenge for Grendel 

(1251-1491). 

Th Nov 2 Translation Due 

Presentation 7: The contest with 

Grendel’s mother; Hrothgar’s “Sermon” 

(1492-1724a). 

T Nov 7 Translation Due 

Presentation 8: The Sermon concludes; 

the journey home; [Mod]thryth[o] 

(1724b-1976). 

Th Nov 9 Research Paper Logical Outline Due 

Annotated Edition Due 

TRIAL BY WATER (Beowulf and Breca; 

Beowulf and the Mere-Monsters; Viking 

Longship Warfare) 

T Nov 14 Paleography Tutorial 

Presentation 9: Beowulf recounts his 

exploits; 50 years pass; the badly 

damaged folio (1977-2220). 

Th Nov 16 Translation Due 

Presentation 10: The dragon appears; an 

ill-advised raid on Frisia; some 

unpleasantness with the Scylfings; 

Herebeald and Haethcyn (2221-2462). 

14 

15 

16 

Kleist, Beowulf (Fall 2006) 2 


Presentation 11: More Swedish 

trouble; the fight with the dragon; 

Wiglaf to the rescue (2463-2711a). 

Th Nov 23 Thanksgiving 


Presentation 12: The hoard is opened; 

the hero is history; gloomy news for 

Geats (2711b-2945). 

Th Nov 30 Research Paper Due 

Conclusion (2946-3182) 

T Dec 5 Beowulf Filming 

Th Dec 7 

17 TBA Student Film Screenings & 

Anglo-Saxon Feast! 

STRATEGIC GOALS: This course will seek to hone skills and qualities crucial to your work at Biola, to your 

professional lives hereafter, and to your development as cultured, thoughtful human beings. It aims among other 

things to help you grow in your ability . . . 

EXPECTED COURSE OUTCOMES 

(What’s our goal? What do we want to learn?) 

• to think critically about a text (or, put another way:) 

• to read a text closely so as to identify subtle nuances of 

language and lines of reasoning; 

• to relate individual passages to larger themes in the work as 

a whole; 

• to express your analysis through well-planned logical 

arguments supported by textual evidence; 

• to evaluate the strengths and weakness of your arguments; 

• to understand Old English texts in their original language; 

• to gain the mental agility, acumen, and cultural sensitivity 

that comes from secondary-language learning; 

• to be disciplined in your time management; 

• to contribute effectively to and work in harmony with a 

team; 

• to lead discussion in such a way that you engage students’ 

minds, involve them actively in the learning process, help 

them remember key aspects of your analysis, and make the 

experience enjoyable; 

METHODS FOR 

AUGMENTING ABILITY 

(How are we going to do it?) 

class discussion, 

formal & informal 

presentations, and 

writing assignments 

rigorous study of 

grammar & 

vocabulary; 

translation 

small-group 

assignments & 

preparation for 

presentation 

METHODS FOR 

ASSESSING LEARNING 

(How will we know 

if we achieved our goal?) 

In-Class Contributions; 

Individual Presentation; 

Annotated Edition; 

Research Paper 

Quizzes; Translations 

Individual Presentation; 

Handout

• to situate (i.e., to view or understand) a work in its cultural 

context; 

• to understand and to appreciate Anglo-Saxon and Germanic 

ways of life; 

• to identify blatant or subtle tensions between divergent 

values (e.g., Christian and pagan) in a text; 

• to gain deeper insight into human nature and the human 

condition through contrasting (or complementary) 

narratorial perspectives; 

• to reconstruct and read a work from its original 

manuscript(s); 

• to edit a work for print, judging when emendation is 

necessary; 

• to view a text not simply as a printed work but as the 

product of paleographic study and textual editing; 

• to become familiar with the history of scholarship and the 

ongoing scholarly dialogue on key textual issues; 

• to examine a text not in isolation but in light of said 

dialogue; 

• to contribute to the current scholarly dialogue; 

corporate study and 

discussion of cultural 

& historical 

background 

examination of 

facsimiles & digital 

manuscript images; 

editing workshop 

independent 

research; 

articles for class 

• to develop your love of literature The Trials; 

Anglo-Saxon Feast 

In addition, the course will seek 

• to engage your minds and to involve you actively in the learning process; 

• to provide you with appropriate ongoing feedback about your performance; 

• to use your assessments of the course to improve my curricular approach and pedagogy; 

• to challenge you to set high expectations of yourself and to achieve them by God’s grace; 

• to encourage vivacious discussion and driven, self-motivated study through activities that 

bond the class together and make learning fun; and in consequence 

• to have a ball exploring Beowulf. 


In-Class Contributions; 


Translations; 

Mini-Editions; 



Presentation Handout; 

Presentation; 



Continuing self-assessment 

[5-10-15 years on, ask: Are you 

still reading, and if so, what? 

Where are you using the skills 

learned in this discipline?] 

The extent to which you grow in these areas will be measured by a variety of methods, including both written 

and oral assignments, formal and informal presentations, and individual as well as group-based exercises. Your 

final grade will be comprised of the following: 

Grade Distribution Grading Scale 

In-Class Contributions 20% A+ 97.5 – 100 C 75– 77.99 

Participation in the Trials 10% A 94 – 97.49 C- 72– 74.99 

Quizzes 10% A- 90 – 93.99 D+ 69– 71.99 

Translations & Editions 15% B+ 87 – 89.99 D 66– 68.99 

Individual Presentation 25% B 84 – 86.99 D- 64– 65.99 

Handout 10% B- 81 – 83.99 F 0– 63.99 

Presentation 15% C+ 78 – 80.99 

Bibliographic Beowulf Project 30% 

Annotated Edition 10% 

Logical Outline P/F 

Research Paper 20%

A BIT OF PERSPECTIVE ON OUR ENDEAVOR 


This course represents an investment on your part. It’s not simply a matter of money or of time (“You mean I’m 

spending half a year of my life doing this?!”), though you are, of course, pursuing a degree—a worthy goal that 

will pay dividends in the Life Hereafter (after Biola, that is). Rather, this course is an investment by you in your 

mind, your character, your beliefs, your understanding of the world. My job is to give you as many 

opportunities as possible to grow in such areas through corporate and individual exploration of the subject 

matter at hand: the textual, ideological, and cultural world of Beowulf. 

Hmmm—actually, that sentence bears unpacking a bit. The growth I want to foster in you, first of all, is 

multifold: growth in your ability to think critically—that is, to trace a logical argument (whether on the page or 

on the screen) and understand the ramifications of its nuances; growth in your maturity of character, expressed 

through a commitment to and perseverance in giving your best effort to the Kingdom work at hand: your study; 

growth in your appreciation for what makes a work of language and of visual art great. I want you to leave this 

course with a keener ability and a sharpened appetite for evaluating the world around you. We are made in the 

image of a highly-skilled Creator. It is our privilege and duty as Christians—one of the prime reasons we were 

made—to recognize and be drawn to and to fill our lives with good craftsmanship. As the man says, if your eyes 

are good, your whole body will be full of light. This course, like all your other courses, God willing, is about 

helping your eyes to see well. 

Now, where were we? “Opportunities to grow through corporate and individual exploration.” Alright; the 

necessity for individual exploration seems clear enough—you’re not (one hopes) paying someone else to take 

classes for you, after all—but what’s the benefit of striving in a corporate context? Two reasons at least come to 

mind: vocational, relational, and sensational. Vocational, first of all: whether it is your destiny (search your 

feelings, Luke) to pursue a high-power career in the world of international business, preside over congressional 

appropriations committees, serve on elder or school boards, or wrangle preschoolers with other patient 

pedagogues (teachers, to wit), few traits will serve you as well as the ability to work effectively in teams. Be 

warned: teams are usually made up of people. This means that your glory may be stolen, your genius o’ercast, 

your gentle and longsuffering nature put to the test by moody, ignorant, lazy team members who lack your 

virtuous traits (though clearly, such could never happen in our class). In practical terms, therefore, corporate 

endeavor is good preparation for the World. Second, there’s the relational aspect. We few, we happy few, will 

be bound together mysteriously in these months ahead as together we face the Slings and Arrows of Outrageous 

Fortune (i.e., those nefarious twins, Too Much to Do and Too Little Time to Do It). If persevere we do, 

exhorting each other on, then all these blessings shall be ours: camaraderie, unity, shared purpose, striving, and 

satisfaction in success. ‘Tis (as Hamlet says) a consummation most devoutly to be wished. And finally, there’s 

the sensational. I’ve never incorporated assassination-games, sword-smithying, and Viking longboat warfare 

into an exploration of Beowulf before, and may never do the class this way again. For all the work involved, 

however, with God’s help it has the potential to be enormously rewarding—at least if the enrolment roster is 

any indication. 

So, that’s “growth” and “corporate exploration” talked about. We also might mention “the subject matter at 

hand: the textual, ideological, and cultural world of Beowulf.” Why would this one anonymous work, surviving 

in a single, battered copy, have particular potential for producing the growth we seek? To put it crudely, why 

wouldn’t your time be better spent studying the Bible and/or Business? Actually, I hope you’re doing both those 

things: earnestly seeking the Lord through his Word and consciously equipping yourself for your vocational 

future. (The Guild of English Scholars, if you’re not already aware of it, can help you do the latter.) As human 

beings, however, and as people engaged in the discipline of literature in particular, we innately recognize the 

importance of Story in our lives. Stories—the best stories, at any rate—captivate, convey philosophical depths, 

capture and illumine aspects of the world deeply familiar to us but which we might not have recognized before. 

It’s no wonder, therefore, that Christ’s parables provide some of his most profound teachings, or that the 

attention of young and old is riveted by a sentence that begins “Once upon a time.” In an age of burgeoning


books, however, why should Beowulf be singled out as a masterpiece of this craft? It’s not an easy question to 

answer, but there are a few elements to which I’d point by way of response. First, it’s a gripping story. Even 

without the raw elements of the tale itself: the desolation wrought by the monstrous kin of Cain, the vengeance 

wreaked by his unnatural mother, the fury of the dragon that inspired Tolkien’s Smaug. Even without the 

paradox of the protagonist: his past obscurity and his audacious boasts, his unearthly triumphs as warrior and 

his fatal flaws as king. Even without the glamour of battle and the allure of fabulous beasts—still you have a 

text that for over a millennium has tantalized readers with its enigmatic complexity. One is challenged, for 

example, by the single manuscript in which Beowulf survives: charred by fire, with edges eroded and letters 

legible only through ultraviolet light, it contains passages whose interpretation has been cause for violent 

debate. Even where readings are clear, one must wrestle with such vexing questions as the text’s origin and 

theology: a possibly-eighth-century Germanic tale copied likely in a tenth-century English monastery, Beowulf 

interweaves Christian and pagan elements with such subtlety that some have seen it either as an elaborate 

allegory or a parasitic corruption of an earlier tradition. Above all, perhaps, there are the age-old questions of 

human existence which this ancient work addresses: What qualities should characterize the ideal man? For what 

goals should he strive? When does perseverance against all odds turn from heroism into folly? In the end, 

whether it be due to the riveting nature of its storytelling, its perplexing manuscript context, its ambiguous 

testimony to competing cultural values, or its ability to capture fundamental truths of the human experience in 

arrestingly-elegant language, the result is a work that more than any other written in England prior to Chaucer— 

a period comprising, temporally speaking, the first half of English literature—down through time has dominated 

the literary landscape. And that’s why we’re studying it. 

One last feature of this sentence so burdensome of explanation: “as many opportunities as possible.” It’s not 

simply a Norton edition of this text which we’ll be reading. We’ll be learning Old English to discover the work 

in the original—seeing it, if you will, in color, not black-and-white. We’ll be analyzing in detail cutting-edge 

digital reproductions of the problematic manuscript, experiencing first-hand the challenges that separate the 

modern reader from this unique work. We’ll be exploring in depth scholarly debates surrounding Beowulf, and 

crafting careful analyses that engage the contemporary discourse. We’ll be going beyond the classroom to learn 

skills central to Anglo-Saxon life: rhetorical wordplay, poetic storytelling, the forging and wielding of swords, 

and so forth. We’ll be producing a three-minute film of Beowulf entirely in Old English. And we’ll be 

celebrating our achievements with some amazing Old English food. 

This is why I say that the course is an investment: you will determine, by how much you invest, how great will 

be your returns. And how will I know (if she real-ly loves me? I say a prayer with ev-ar-ree heartbe—ahhh, 

make that) if you are miserly or bounteous in your investment, yea verily? Behold the following: 

1. IN-CLASS CONTRIBUTIONS: I place great value on earnest, enthusiastic engagement of texts. Some of the 

greatest joy I’ll have in class, in fact, will be in hearing your insights and seeing your minds at work. One of our 

goals, as we’ve seen, is to involve you actively in the learning process rather than simply deluge you with 

information; to that end, your comments and analysis will provide much of the meat of our textual repasts. 

Ne’er fear: it’s not as though you have to give stunningly brilliant observations on the first day. Critical analysis 

is like a muscle which one trains and that grows stronger with exercise. I will be watching, however, to see if 

you’re applying your grey cells to the material, and evaluating to what extent you enrich our dialogue with your 

conclusions. 

1.1. ATTENDANCE: The astute observer will note that a student’s in-class contributions are immeasurably 

assisted by said student actually coming to class (though there are occasions one is tempted to think otherwise). 

Plan on being here. This is a three-hour course meeting twice a week, so you have two skips, and in the chaos of 

the semester you may well use them. For every class you miss thereafter, it will cost you a third of a letter 

grade. The results are devastating; plan not to experience them. Similarly, I expect you to be prompt: entering 

class after I am seated will cost a third of a skip. On the other hand, if something extraordinary comes up, please 

let me know. I’ve needed to attend a funeral before, been smitten by the plague, or have found myself pursued 

by voracious hoards of half-crazed Visigoths. We can talk. Conversely, if you haven’t used your skips by the


end of the semester, I shall notice: not a few who were teetering just short of a higher grade have found that 

their diligent attendance made the difference. 

1.2. PARTICIPATION IN THE TRIALS: The world of Beowulf is a fascinating one, but distanced from us by culture 

as well as language. For the variety of activities seeking to engage the former through blood-pumping, hands-on 

ways, see [6.] THE TRIALS and particularly [6.1.5.] VENDETTA/TRIAL PARTICIPATION below. 

2. QUIZZES: In the first half of the semester, we’ll be working hard at language acquisition, getting you familiar 

with the heady language of England a thousand years and more ago. Beowulf is a text rich in nuance and 

multifarious shades of meaning that can only be appreciated through examination of the original. Such study 

will lead us inexorably to . . . 

3. TRANSLATIONS & EDITIONS: the final part of the semester we’ll be putting your new-found skills to use, 

examining major sections of the text in Old English. In addition, following paleography and editing workshops, 

you’ll be asked to reconstruct one or more passages from facsimiles (photographs of manuscripts) or highquality 

digital manuscript images and then edit these passages as if for publication. I should warn you now: it 

won’t be an easy task. There is only one manuscript copy of Beowulf in existence, and it was heavily damaged 

by a fire in 1731, shriveled into a contracted mass by the heat and judged by at least one Keeper of Manuscripts 

to be “perfectly useless to the [British] Museum in every sense of the word.” Up for the challenge? 

4. INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION: Studies over the last decade have shown that few traits are as valued by 

employers as the ability to lead effectively and to communicate clearly your ideas. At one point during the 

semester, therefore, you will take the assigned reading and lead the class through it, using whatever means you 

think appropriate. Remember the four-fold goal above: to engage your classmates’ minds, to involve them 

actively in the learning process, to help them remember key aspects of your corporate analysis, and to make the 

experience enjoyable. Take each of these objectives seriously, and your presentation should be the stronger as a 

result. 

Above all, I will be evaluating the extent to which you identify key issues and passages in the reading, help us 

comprehend and wrestle with those issues, and inform our understanding of the text through your own 

conclusions and those of other scholars. In addition to the presentation proper—your organization, professional 

demeanor, insight, thoroughness, time management, sensitivity (and firmness) in fostering and directing class 

discussion, and so forth—I will assess your written preparation for the presentation (your notes, for example, 

from articles related to relevant subjects) as well as your handout. You need reflect only on this syllabus to 

grasp the importance I place on such material. 

Remember: while I’m not emphasizing creativity for this project as much as for some of my other classes, you 

certainly don’t have to be dull about it. I’ve seen Beowulf retold as an episode in “Brothers Grimm’s Violent 

Tales for Children”; I’ve found myself in a wake—that is (ahem) a Sombre Funeral—for the misunderstood 

warrior; I’ve even seen the text’s intricate family relationships and internecine strife examined through “Danish 

Dating (and Other Ways to Avoid Those Awkward Blood-Feuds).” Just be sure that whatever creativity you 

employ facilitates rather than distracts from our textual analysis. 

In planning your presentation, it might be helpful to consider these evaluations of your predecessors: 

Sample Words of Praise: 

• “From the time you began, we were left in no doubt but that you had material to cover and a plan to 

pursue. . . . The class knew what was expected of them and felt that you knew where you were going.” 

• “The speeches [in your skit] were appropriate, were delivered with feeling, and did a good job of 

incorporating passages from the text into your dialogue. You dealt with important issues in the text, 

worked well as a team, divided responsibilities evenly, dressed in keeping with the event, and had a 

helpful order of ceremony to guide the audience.” 

• “You outlined your plan of action, . . . gave helpful historical background, . . . and got people to think


more closely about various aspects of the text, asking for their interpretation of various passages.” 

• “Throughout the above, you did an excellent job of including the class and fostering discussion: you 

punctuated your talk with questions, you called people by name (or learned those names you didn’t 

know), and you assigned passages to various folk for them to read and to analyze.” 

• “The most important weakness of the presentation might have been your failure to involve the class in 

the learning process, save that you forced the groups to demonstrate what they learned in answering the 

various riddles before allowing them to move to subsequent stages. At the end of the presentation, 

moreover, you asked the groups to further show what they learned by summarizing their experience at 

the various stages.” 

• “All the above was characterized by a superb interplay of instruction and discussion: you displayed a 

deft hand in encouraging even the shy to contribute, praising answers when given while not shying from 

re-directing misguided responses. You got people to think about the issues at hand without losing 

control of the discussion, and summed it all up with humor.” 

Sample Words of Counsel: 

• “While the presentation convinced me that you understood the material, I’m not sure to what extent it 

helped the rest of the class understand the material.” 

• “Your creativity was both your strength and your downfall: for some scenes, while you created 

fascinating characters, you left the audience wondering what the point of the episode was. What 

precisely did you want us to learn from the skit? The presentation also lacked unity: you presented us 

with a series of seemingly-unrelated episodes which left us not a little dizzy. . . . Your overarching goal 

should be to help us to identify, to understand, and to remember what is important in the section at 

hand.” 

• “You might think a bit more about how you could help the class remember the key points of your 

presentation: what do you want them to take away with them? A handout might be helpful in this regard, 

providing that you make use of it in class and don’t expect your fellows to just go home and read it on 

their own.” 

• “Emphasizing your main points and making clear transitions from one topic to another may have helped 

the class follow your arguments.” 

• “Consider how to work your audience into the learning process: rather than simply giving them your 

conclusions, how can you get them to come to those conclusions (or other insightful ones) themselves?” 

• “Asking after each point ‘Does anyone have any questions?’ is not, as you experienced, the best way to 

elicit participation save from self-motivated extroverts. How do you get the quiet people involved? Call 

people by name, if nothing else. Granted, you did ask specific questions at times, but you were all too 

ready to fill the silence with your own commentary. At some point, you’ve got to talk less and get them 

to talk more. Creatively involving people is key to getting them to internalize information.” 

• “You had a considerable amount of material to cover, ran over time, and thus were not able to spend as 

much time including less-talkative members of the audience.” 

• “Rather than leading us firmly through a clearly-defined set of points, it seemed as though you were 

making your way spontaneously through a sea of assorted facts, and the class was left a bit at sea as a 

result. Since you were pressed for time, it might have been better for you to concentrate our attention on 

fewer points which you then explored in more detail, including the class more in the analysis of those 

points and ‘lecturing’ less. I do understand: it’s not an easy thing to do.” 

4.1. PRESENTATION HANDOUT: You will have to be extremely well-disciplined, as you will have between 40–45 

minutes—not a whit more or less—to present all your information. To encourage your efforts in this regard, 

you will be required to have a handout—a handout which will be worth nearly as much as the presentation 

itself. Make no mistake: crafting an effective handout is an art. It should summarize diverse data, enable your 

audience to grasp the thrust of your argument at a glance, and help them remember your main points thereafter. 

If you have any doubts about the importance I place on these time-intensive creations, simply consider the 

material in your hand.

Handouts will be graded as follows: 

A. Analytical Content 

1. Passages/Scenes Considered (5 points) 


• Does the handout accurately reflect the contents of the presentation? 

• Is there a clear connection between the passages/scenes treated in the handout and those analyzed in 

the presentation? 

• Do the examples treated in the handout proceed in the same order as those in the presentation? 

2. Summary of Points (35 points) 

Does the handout clearly summarize the student’s points regarding: 

• the context of the passages/scenes examined 

• difficult vocabulary or other complexities in the passages 

• the significance of the passages/scenes: how they further the plot, give us insight into characters, 

reflect themes or patterns elsewhere in the work, and so forth 

3. Conclusions (10 points) 

• Does the handout present the audience with a manageable list of points to remember? 

• How does the handout help the audience remember those points? 

B. Format 

1. Clarity and Style (10 points) 

• Does the handout clearly present the analysis of each example? 

• Is the layout and style of the handout crisp, professional, and aesthetically crafted, or has it been 

thrown together in haste on an old manual typewriter? 

2. Logical flow (10 points) 

• Did the student’s treatment of examples flow in a logical order? 

• Did he provide clear transitions between his points, or did his comments seem to dart about at random? 

• In treating his examples, did the student build a case or draw some overall conclusions about the 

director’s approach to the play at hand? 

3. Organization (10 points) 

• Is the information on the handout squooshed together or organized into clearly-identifiable logical 

sections? 

• Does the format allow the reader easily to follow the progression of the student’s argument? 

4. Audience Engagement (5 points) 

• Does the handout require the audience to fill in key bits of information in the course of the 

presentation, or otherwise encourage them to pay attention and stay awake? 

• Does the handout use humor or otherwise unexpected elements to engage the audience and keep them 

interested in the presentation? 

4. Creativity (15 points) 

• Does the handout incorporate visual elements such as pictures, diagrams, or screen-captures that help 

to illustrate the student’s points and guide the audience to key scenes or aspects of scenes to which 

they should pay particular attention? 

• Is the overall concept for the handout original, hip, cool, suave, far out, or positively pulchritudinous 

(dude)? 

(100 points total) 

4.2. TIMETABLE & RESEARCH: While you will have the chance to choose the section of Beowulf on which you 

will present, you should do so quite soon in the semester: you will likely need to rely heavily on interlibrary 

loan for your secondary resources (journal articles and/or books pertaining to your subject), and these will take 

some time to arrive. As a rule, you should concentrate on more recent works (printed, say, in the last ten years), 

as older material may well have been superseded by later scholarship. In addition, you should avoid basing your 

formal papers on internet sources unless they derive from refereed (scholar-approved) journals or other


established printed work. It’s a matter of perceived academic credibility: you want your readers to have no 

doubt but that you are working from the most reputable of sources. 

Where do I go to find credible sources, you ask? 

• Bibliographies of scholarly studies of Beowulf (and oh yes, such studies are numerous) include: 

o Short, Douglas D., Beowulf Scholarship: An Annotated Bibliography (New York: Garland, 1980); 

o Hasenfratz, Robert J., Beowulf Scholarship: An Annotated Bibliography, 1979-1990 (New York: 

Garland, 1993); 

o The Old English Newsletter, published for the Old English Division of the Modern Language 

Association of America; it provides an annual bibliography of scholarly publications on Old English 

language and literature (now online at http://www.oenewsletter.org/OENDB/login.php), and 

includes an annotated “Year’s Work in Old English”; 

o Anglo-Saxon England, the premier journal for Anglo-Saxon studies, published by Cambridge 

University Press, includes an annual bibliography of scholarship in Anglo-Saxon studies; 

o Greenfield, Stanley B. and Fred C. Robinson, A Bibliography of Publications on Old English 

Literature, from the Beginnings Through 1972 (Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1980) covers 

literature prior to the OEN and ASE bibliographies. 

• Through the Biola Library website at http://www.biola.edu/admin/library/DataBase.cfm, we have access 

to three key databases about which you should know: 

o An invaluable resource for research in the humanities in general is the Modern Language 

Association’s Bibliography. At the Library’s database page, scroll down to MLA International 

Bibliography, which will take you to FirstSearch; under “Jump to Advanced Search: Select a 

Database,” choose MLA. 

o From the Library’s database page, also check out the Literature Resource Center. Search for 

Beowulf (or a more specific term), click on the “Literary Criticism” tab, and peruse articles online. 

o For books as opposed to articles, try the WorldCat database, also found in FirstSearch. 

• And finally, check out the back of Heaney’s translation and Jack’s edition of Beowulf: helpful 

bibliographies may be found therein. 

5. BIBLIOGRAPHIC BEOWULF PROJECT: Flowing from your research above, this semester will also provide you 

the opportunity to engage and to contribute to the current scholarly dialogue on Beowulf. In keeping with our 

textual focus, however, rather than examining themes, cultural elements, or theological/philosophical ideas in 

the work as a whole—all subjects we’ll discuss in depth in class—this paper will call you to focus on problems 

posed by a particular set of lines in the poem. You may wish to explore the debate over that problematic reading 

[Mod]thryth[o] (cruel queen or misunderstood quality?); examine the so-called “palimpsest page” and its 

enormous ramifications regarding Beowulf’s date; attempt to reconstruct a passage damaged by boiling steam, 

knives, and fire; or what have you. We’ll encounter any number of intriguing dilemnas posed by the manuscript 

and/or text in the course of our reading; keep your eye out for a bit of the story that particularly interests you. 

5.1. ANNOTATED EDITION: The first phase of your research will be to collect some twenty articles that address 

aspects of the lines you have chosen. You’ll then produce summaries of these articles—or rather, the points they 

make about your passage—which you’ll reproduce in conjunction with a critical edition of the Old English text. 

We’ll talk further about what a critical edition entails—I’ll give you part of a text I’m editing for a National 

Endowment for the Humanities project, for example—but in general, you’ll need to account for problems in the 

manuscript (such as letters or words that have been lost), show how other editions or translations have 

addressed these problems, and then offer your own reconstruction of the passage, providing a convincing case 

for your solutions. In the process, you’ll be wrestling with a fundamental issue that confronts all crafters of 

critical editions: how to pack all the information you want to convey into the limitations of a page. Do you 

surround the critical text with your annotations? Put your commentary into the margin? Make use of a multilayered 

apparatus for variant readings? Place translation and original text on facing pages, with additional notes 

relegated to an appendix? Take a stab at it, and see how best you can balance content and clarity.


5.3. RESEARCH PAPER: Once the Annotated Edition is complete—in other words, once the evidence related to 

your passage has been assembled and organized—you’ll seek to argue a cautious, precise, narrow thesis that 

rises from, reacts to, and interprets that evidence. I will gladly discuss ideas for your thesis with you 

individually during the semester; two tools to help refine the thrust and scope of your argument, include: 

5.3.1. GUIDELINES FOR LOGICAL ARGUMENTATION, GRAMMAR, AND MECHANICS (see the Appendix below); 

5.3.2. LOGICAL OUTLINE: To make sure you have the chance to get feedback on your paper-proposal, three 

weeks before the deadline you will submit a logical outline in which you set out your thesis, main points, and 

the evidence (direct quotations and summaries from your research) which you’ll use to support your argument. 

The outline may flow as follows: 

Introductory Paragraph 

Summary of Main Points 

Thesis Statement 

First Main Point 

Textual Evidence A (quotation or summary) 

Commentary on Textual Evidence A (tell me how it furthers your argument) 

Textual Evidence B (quotation or summary) 

Commentary on Textual Evidence B 

Textual Evidence C (quotation or summary) 

Commentary on Textual Evidence C 

Second Main Point . . . 

Third Main Point . . . 

Conclusion (recapitulation of main points and thesis) 

If the logic of the paper is weak at certain points, or if the thesis is a bit murky overall, this outline 

should reveal such things and help us to plot a solution before the Day of Reckoning comes. 

NOTE: The Logical Outline and the Annotated Edition will be due in close proximity (indeed, as it 

stands, they are booked for the same day). One reason for such scheduling is to encourage you to be 

thinking through your evidence and making connections as you compile your Edition; it will, however, 

mean a considerable amount of work if you haven’t been disciplined beforehand. Don’t leave any of this 

until the last minute, eez whatta eyem sayin to yooz. 

6. THE TRIALS 

On the first day of class, Wyrd—Implacable Fate or Divine Providence, a concept of key import in Beowulf— 

shall determine your division into three Germanic Tribes. These will be your families, your battle-shields, the 

keepers of your honor, your kith and kin. Loyalty to your Ring-Giver and comitatus—the circle of thanes or 

warriors that surround him—will result in glory; treachery will bring ignominious, lasting shame. Like Beowulf 

himself, you will be given the opportunity to prove your worth and to bring your tribe renown in a series of 

insidious trials, as so: 

6.1. TRIAL BY VENDETTA 

The world of Beowulf is populated by a complex series of kings, queens, warriors, and wives belonging to 

various Germanic tribes, the tensions between which are a convoluted but essential ingredient of the story. One 

could simply be required to sit down and memorize lists of names, of course, but another approach seems both 

more appealing and more in keeping with the spirit of this warrior culture: the blood feud. 

The goal of Vendetta is to kill off the members of the other two tribes by correctly identifying them; this is done 

by posing a series of carefully-worded and precise questions that can be answered Yes or No (or, on rare 

occasions, “Yes and No”). Questions and answers should be posted to the class’ Bubbs folder (under “Dr.


Kleist” in the English Department folder): questions must be submitted electronically by noon prior to any 

given class; answers must be posted within 24 hours thereafter. As you know, Bubbs includes a time stamp on 

every post, so it will be clear if these deadlines are not met, and penalties will be assessed accordingly (see 

[6.1.5.] VENDETTA/TRIAL PARTICIPATION below). Such a measure isn’t intended as a cudgel, but simply as a 

goad to keep the game moving: a team’s progress, after all, depends on a swift interchange of information. 

NOTE: Questions and accusations cannot be posted until 24 hours after the previous round ends. In 

Round one, for example, all questions must be submitted by noon on Thursday 31 August. Individuals 

have until noon on Wednesday 1 September to answer. At 12.01pm on Wednesday, the next round’s 

questions or accusations may be posted. 

All characters will be assigned numbers to hide their true identities; in the subject-line of your message, 

therefore, you should note the author and intended recipient of the query: “A5 question for C8” and “B3 answer 

to C1” would thus indicate an exchange between the fourth member of the York Faction and the thirteenth 

member of the Lancaster Faction. Messages lacking this author/recipient information will be declared void 

and not counted. Why? First, for clarity’s sake: every person will be scanning for his or her mail. In a game 

where hundreds of questions and answers will be exchanged, clarity is crucial. Second, because of strategy: if 

A6 persistently goes after B9, it may be in the interests of B9 (and his Tribe) to try to take A6 out. The shrewd 

team will spread their questions around: if they suspect B9 of being a Ring Giver or a Shadow Warrior (and 

thus worth extra points [see below]), a Tribe may all target B9 without making any one of them becoming a 

target himself. Make sense? 

When you’re confident of the identity of a particular person, you need to post a message with the subject line 

“ACCUSATION!” In as flowery, witty, and insulting language as possible, accuse your opponent of being a 

particular member of another tribe. If you are right, your opponent dies, and your team will gain the wergeld, or 

life value, assigned to that person. However, tread carefully, for a false accusation will result in your own death 

and the transference of your own wergeld to the other team. 

NOTE: Given the complex alliances of certain figures during this period, it is not inconceivable that the 

same character could be found in multiple tribes. Now, were you to find yourself with a doppelganger or 

evil twin in the enemy camp, clearly that twin would be responsible for any treacherous behavior your 

character might have historically committed against the True and Noble Bloodline to which you belong: 

your classmates can thus embrace you while casting condemnation (along with you) on your other, 

nefarious half. However, were you inadvisably to unmask and thus assassinate your evil opposite, you 

yourself would die in the process. This is another place where Tribes are useful: let one of your 

colleagues plunge the dagger in. 

TECHNICAL NOTE: If one is the recipient of an assassination-attempt, he must respond both to the 

accusation and to any other questions that might (for whatever reason) have been posed to him. If the 

accusation against him is accurate and he dies, his own accusations (if accurate) still bring about the 

death of his adversaries: it’s as though he slays his enemies even in the act of being slain (even as the 

soldiers of Joab and Abner, plunging their daggers into one another). To be specific: as long as (1) a 

correctly-accused character gives up the ghost (i.e., acknowledges the accuracy of the accusation) in the 

24-hour period following the round in which the accusation was made, AND (2) the character makes his 

accusation before giving up the ghost, THEN a character may accuse ONE opponent with his dying 

breath. Such a ruling seeks both to acknowledge the potential potency of one’s final, heroic efforts—to 

which Beowulf can well attest—and to avoid random wounds caused by wild flailing rigor mortis. 

6.1.1. IDENTITIES, WERGELDS, RING-GIVERS, & SHADOW WARRIORS 

Each member of the class will be given both primary and secondary identities; each Tribe therefore is playing 

eight characters that must be unmasked. Individuals’ primary identity must be discovered before their secondary


identity may be explored; opponents must therefore confine their questions to the former before seeking to 

uncover the latter. 

Each character is assigned a wergeld (literally, “man-money”), or life-value, which is retained by the player’s 

Tribe if that character is alive at game’s end, and which is won by an opposing Tribe if the character is correctly 

identified (and thus assassinated). Individuals’ secondary identities are often more obscure than their primary 

ones, but are worth getting to, as they are worth twice as much—500 rather than 250 points, for example. 

Each Tribe will have a Ring-Giver, who will be responsible for rewarding faithful and exemplary service to the 

Tribe throughout the semester in verbal and concrete ways. All due honor and ceremony may attend the Ring- 

Giver, as his thanes judge it commensurate with his or her merit. The Ring-Giver will be a primary rather than a 

secondary identity, and his wergeld will be worth double that of his companions—500 rather than 250 points. 

Each Tribe will also have a Shadow Warrior, an individual whose secondary identity may prove slightly more 

difficult to identify than that of his companions. The Shadow Warrior’s wergeld is likewise double—1000 

rather than 500 points. Find and exterminate him. 

6.1.2. BONUSES & POINTS 

Bonus points are awarded in the following manner: 

+ 500 for correctly identifying a character after 1 question 

+ 400 for correctly identifying a character after 2 questions 




NOTE: No player amasses individual points; rather, he scores points for his Tribe and for his class. (This means, 

for example, that if you don’t want to identify someone on the opposing team—being, perhaps, that evil 

character’s virtuous twin—someone else in your Tribe can make the identification without you losing points.) 

If the class feels that the other team is getting close to identifying a major player in the game—their Ring Giver 

or Shadow Warrior, for example—they may purchase an exemption or temporary immunity for that character 

using the class treasury. Exemptions are limited periods of time where no questions may be asked of and no 

accusations made towards a particular person. The cost of the exemption is directly related to the worth of the 

character and the length of the exemption. To wit: 

One-Turn Exemptions COST Two-Turn Exemptions COST Three-Turn Exemptions COST 

250-wergeld character 75 250-wergeld character 125 250-wergeld character 200 

500-wergeld character 150 500-wergeld character 275 500-wergeld character 400 

1000-wergeld character 300 1000-wergeld character 550 1000-wergeld 

800 

character1000-wergeld 

The Tribe treasury is the combined worth of all players currently alive on your team, plus any wergeld and 

bonus points accrued by identifying members of the opposite team. The only person who may authorize use of 

the class treasury is the Ring-Giver. If the Ring-Giver wishes to buy an exemption, he or she must e-mail our 

Illustrious Teaching Assistant, Ms. Michael Dinsmoor (michael.k.dinsmoor@bubbs.biola.edu) and request the 

exemption be made. 

STRATEGY NOTE: The class may spend more points than are in the treasury at a given point; at the end of the 

game, however, any points they have spent do count against them. In other words, if early in the round the 

class buys an exemption for 550 points, but at the round’s end only has 250 points in the treasury (most of 

the class having been killed off), the class’ final score is – 300 points. Conversely, however, if the class 

spends 300 points on a 1000-wergeld character who survives, the class is up 700 points. Choose wisely.

6.1.3. VENDETTA TIMETABLE 

Th Aug 31 Round 1 Th Sept 14 Round 5 

T Sept 5 Round 2 T Sept 19 Round 6 

Th Sept 7 Round 3 Th Sept 21 Round 7 

T Sept 12 Round 4 T Sept 26 Round 8 


6.1.4. ADDITIONAL TRIALS 

However bloody this Trial by Vendetta may be, the quest for Tribal Supremacy is by no means over. Three 

more Trials await, interspersed over the course of the remaining weeks of the semester. First, you will be 

required to prove your prowess in the TRIAL BY VOICE. This Trial will comprise three challenges, in which at 

least one team member must compete: the Duel of the Scops (or Bards), the Duel of the Flyting (verbal wordcombat), 

and the Duel of the Boast. All three areas, as we will see, test skills indispensable to the world of 

Beowulf. Second, there is the TRIAL BY COMBAT, involving both selected Champions from each group and pan- 

Tribal mayhem. By way of preparation, an Anglo-Saxon Warfare Workshop will introduce you to different 

martial methodologies of Germanic tribes. Finally, there is the TRIAL BY WATER, which will replicate such 

formidable struggles as that between Beowulf and Breca, Beowulf and the Mere-Monsters, and Viking 

Longship Warfare. 

At semester’s end, the Tribe scoring highest will be awarded tribute, honor, and the Ultimate Viking Trophy at 

an Anglo-Saxon Feast celebrating the triumphs and travails of all participants. 

6.1.5. VENDETTA/TRIAL PARTICIPATION 

Success in the these Trials will require decided investment: in the Vendetta, for example, you will be required to 

know thyself (yea verily) and know the character, actions, and affiliations of a fairly wide web of allies and 

enemies. In terms of your grade, however, the requirements are simple: First, in the Vendetta, individuals must 

pose sixteen questions—no more and no less—to members of the sculldugerous Other Tribes. Questions must 

be submitted electronically prior to any given class, with a maximum of two questions being permitted per 

class session. Should you be assassinated during a phase of the game, you will still be expected to help your 

Tribe informally by brainstorming about the identify of enemy characters, but you will no longer be allowed to 

pose questions to the other class; in terms of your grade, therefore, should you be slain, you will be treated as 

though you had fulfilled your quota of sixteen questions. 

Second, individuals must answer within 24 hours any questions directed at them. Questions are to be answered 

Yes, No, or Yes and No, the last only being used when absolutely necessary. Please note: you will be held 

accountable for the accuracy of your answers. Tribes may challenge answers given by members of the opposite 

class if they feel themselves to have been misled. Individuals may defend their reasoning behind an answer; if 

the challenge is upheld, however, so that an individual’s answer is deemed inaccurate or otherwise 

inappropriate, it will be ruled void and treated as if it had never been submitted—with the appropriate penalty 

being leveled in consequence. 

Reward for posing and answering all questions on time, and for participating in the other Trials: an A (94%) for 

this portion of your grade. 

Penalty for failing to pose or answer questions on time: – 3% (from 94%) for each question not submitted 

within the requisite period. As with absences, should emergencies arise, not to worry: just talk to me (preferably 

in advance). Your excuse, however, should be a good one, as the smooth running of these contests depends on 

your active and timely participation.


Looking forward to delving with you into the world of heroes, dragons, and monsters that is Beowulf, I remain 

Your servant, 

Dr. Vonk 

So—interested in babysitting? 

MAP I: The World of Beowulf MAP II: Modern Political Boundaries 

Gratuitous Family Pictures. 

(Be warned: there may be more!)

1. Work through your passage sentence by sentence. 1 

ADVICE FOR TRANSLATION 

2. Identify the major parts of each sentence, starting with the subject and the verb. 


3. To distinguish the subject from other nouns like direct and indirect objects, look at the case of each word. 

Thus, in the sentence “The boy hit the ball with the bat into the neighbor’s window” 

—”the boy” is the subject or agent of the action (nominative); 

—”the ball” is the direct object of the action (accusative); 

—”the window” is the indirect object of the action (dative); 

—”the bat” is the instrument by which the action is accomplished (instrumentive); 

—”the neighbor” is the owner or possessor of the window (genitive). 

In general terms, then, 

—genitives are translated using “of” or “ ‘s “ 

(“Hoces dohtor” = “Hoc’s daughter” or “the daughter of Hoc” [Beowulf 1076]) 

—datives are translated using “to” or “for”; 

(“Fin Hengeste benemde” = “Finn declared to Hengest” [Beowulf 1096]) 

—instrumentals are translated using “in” or “with”; 

(“sorge mændon” = “they spoke with sorrow” [Beowulf 1149]) 

—nominatives and accusatives are translated straightforwardly 

(“scyld scefte oncwyð” = “shield answers shaft”, that is, the shields deflect oncoming arrows 

[Fragment 7]) 

4. This said, watch out for verbs that “take” strange cases—in other words, that require the word associated with 

them to use a case that you wouldn’t expect. For example: 

—we might expect “neosian” (to go TO [somewhere]) to take a dative (e.g., “[to go] TO the ship”), but 

it doesn’t; it takes a genitive: “wica neosian” (“to go to [their] homes” [Beowulf 1125]) 

—we might expect “befeallen” (“deprived OF”) to take a genitive, but it takes a dative instead: 

“freondum befeallen” (“deprived of friends” [Beowulf 1125]) 

—we might expect “forwyrnan” (“to refuse”) to take an accusative (e.g., “to refuse the request”), but it 

takes a genitive instead: “he ne forwyrnde woroldrædenne” (“he did not refuse the world’s-law” 

[Beowulf 1142]) 

5. Prepositions, too, take specific cases: 

—mid (“with, among”) can take the accusative, instrumentive, or (as here) dative case 

(“þæs wæron MID EOTENUM ecge cuðe” = “the edges of it were well-known AMONG THE 

JUTES” [Beowulf 1145]) 

—æt (“at, by, in, on, with”) usually takes the dative case 

(“Ne gefrægn ic nǽfre wurþlicor ÆT wera HILDE” = “Never have I heard of worthier men IN 

BATTLE”[Fragment 37]) 

—þurh (“through, by means of, with”) takes the dative, genitive, or (as here) accusative case 

(“ne ÞURH INWITSEARO æfre gemænden” = “nor should they ever complain WITH ARTFUL 

INTRIGUE” [“inwitsearo” being a neuter with no ending in the accusative] [Beowulf 1101]) 

6. Word-order, especially in poetry (as in our texts), is by no means as important as it is in Modern English. 

While for us, “the dog ate his food” is not quite the same as “the food ate his dog,” in Old English it can 

be phrased either way—you just distinguish the subject from the object by their cases. 

Thus, you might find the verb (for example) at the beginning 

1 (You might keep in mind that nearly all the punctuation you see is not in the manuscripts and has been added by editors, so that one 

might debate where a particular sentence ends and the next begins, but that’s an issue we’ll address later in the semester.)


Wand to wolcnum wælfyra mæst 

(“The greatest of funeral flames curled to the clouds” [Beowulf 1119]) 

or at the end 

sume on wæle crungon 

(“Some [typical Old English understatement; = MANY] fell in the slaughter” [Beowulf 1113]) 

7. Old English, and especially Old English poetry, loves apposition, that is, multiple references to the same 

person, thing, or event in varied terms: “The Sea-farer, noble of birth, frigid of limbs, sat in his boat, the 

sea-scythe, breaker of waves, stout voyage-companion, and composed this verse, wrestling with words, 

because he was bored stiff and couldn’t think of anything better to do.” 

Don’t worry if there is lots of repetition, or gaps between phrases referring to the same 

person/thing/event. 

Gewiton him ða wigend wica neosian 

The warriors departed to go to their dwellings, 

freondum befeallen, Frysland geseon, 

bereft of their friends, to see Friesland, 

hamas ond heaburh. 

[their] homes and strong-hold. (Beowulf 1125-7a) 

Here, “wigend” (warriors) are further described as “freondum befeallen” (bereft of their friends); they 

depart “neosian” (to go) and “geseon” (to see) Friesland, that is, their “hamas ond heaburh” (homes and 

strong-hold). 

And that, I think, is plenty for the moment.

PRONUNCIATION 


VOWELS OE example CONSONANTS 

a like MoE (Modern English) habban (to have) ċ like MoE chalk (before e and i) 

aha or not 

c like MoE call (before a, o, u, and y) 

ā like MoE aha or father stān (stone) cg like MoE bridge 

æ like MoE hat æt (at/near/in/upon) ff like MoE father 

ǽ like MoE bad or airy dǽd (deed/act) ġ like MoE yield (before e and i) 

e like MoE met stelan (to steal) g like MoE good (before a, o, u, and y) 

ē like MoE fate dēman (to judge) g like German sagen (after/between a, o, u) 

i like MoE bit biton (they bit) h like MoE hand (initially before vowels) 

ī like MoE machine bītan (to bite/cut) h like German ich (before consonants and 

o like MoE cough or audacious holpen (helped) after vowels) 

ō like MoE note dōm (judgement) ng like MoE finger 

u like MoE pull full (full/complete) r strongly trilled with tip of tongue 

ū like MoE doom tūn (field/village) sc like MoE ship 

y like French tu or 

fyllan (to fill) ss like MoE soon 

German müssen 

þþ, like MoE thin 

ý like French ruse or týnan (to enclose/ ðð 

German kühn 

to trouble) 

DIPHTHONGS 2 Voiceless Voiced 

ea (æ + a) like MoE hat + father healp (he helped) Consonants Consonants 

ēa (ǽ + a) like MoE airy + father bēam (tree) Initially, finally, and Between vowels, or 

eo (e + o) like MoE met + poetic weorc (work) before voiceless between vowels and 

ēo (ē + o) like MoE fate + poetic bēodan (to 

consonants voiced consonants 

command) f like MoE father like MoE over 

ie 3 (i + e) like MoE bit + father ieldran (ancestor) s like MoE soon like MoE prize 

īe (ī + e) like MoE machine + hīeran (to hear/ þ, ð like MoE thin like MoE then 

father 

to obey) 

DECLENSIONS 

Parse: Gender, Number, Case 

STRONG MASCULINE DECLENSION 

(includes nearly all masculine nouns which end in a consonant or –e) 

Paradigms of sē stān (the stone), sē dæġ (the day), sē engel (the angel), and sē ende (the end) 

Singular Endings 

Nominative 

Accusative 

Genitive 

Dative 

Instrumental 

Plural 

Nom / Acc 

Genitive 

Dat / Inst 

sē 

ðone 

ðæs 

ðǽm (þam) 

ðý (þon, þē) 

ðā 

ðāra 

ðǽm (ðām) 

stān 

stān 

stānes 

stāne 

stāne 

stānas 

stāna 

stānum 

dæġ 

dæġ 

dæġes 

dæġe 

dæġe 

dagas 

daga 

dagum 

engel 

engel 

engles 

engle 

engle 

englas 

engla 

englum 

ende 

ende 

endes 

ende 

ende 

endas 

enda 

endum 

— 

— 

-es 

-e 

-e 

-as 

-a 

-um 

Note: articles agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case; articles can either mean the or that. 

2 

The diphthongs io and īo occur chiefly in Early West Saxon (EWS; c. 900 A.D.), and are usually represented in Late West Saxon 

(LWS; c. 1000 A.D.) by eo and ēo. 

3 

The diphthongs ie and īe occur chiefly in EWS, and are usually represented in LWS by y or i, and ý or i. 

-e 

-e 

-es 

-e 

-e 

-as 

-a 

-um

STRONG NEUTER DECLENSION 

(includes nearly all neuter nouns which end in a consonant or –e) 

Paradigms of ðæt lim (the limb), ðæt bān (the bone), ðæt word (the word), 

ðæt rīċe (the kingdom), and ðæt tungol (the star) 




Accusative 

Genitive 

Dative 

Instrumental 

ðæt 

ðæt 

ðæs 

ðǽm (þam) 

ðý (þon, þē) 

lim 

lim 

limes 

lime 

lime 

bān 

bān 

bānes 

bāne 

bāne 

word 

word 

wordes 

worde 

worde 

rīċe 

rīċe 

rīċes 

rīċe 

rīċe 

tungol 

tungol 

tungles 

tungle 

tungle 

Plural 

Nom / Acc ðā limu bān word rīċu tungol, 

Genitive 

Dat / Inst 

ðāra 

ðǽm (ðām) 

lima 

limum 

bāna 

bānum 

Worda 

wordum 

rīċa 

rīċum 

tunglu 

tungla 

tunglum 

STRONG FEMININE DECLENSION 

(includes nearly all feminine nouns which end in a consonant or –u) 

— 

— 

-es 

-e 

-e 

-u, — 

4 

Paradigms of sēo ġiefu (the gift), sēo lār (the teaching), sēo wund (the wound), and sēo sāwol (the soul) 



Accusative 

Genitive 

Dative 

Instrumental 

Plural 

Nom / Acc 

Genitive 

Dat / Inst 

sēo 

ðā 

ðǽre 

ðǽre 

ðǽre 

ðā 

ðāra 

ðǽm (ðām) 

ġiefu 

ġiefe 

ġiefe 

ġiefe 

ġiefe 

ġiefa, ġiefe 

ġiefa, ġiefena 

ġiefum 

lār 

lāre 

lāre 

lāre 

lāre 

lāra, -e 

lāra 

lārum 

wund 

wunde 

wunde 

wunde 

wunde 

wunda, -e 

wunda 

wundum 

PRACTICE TEXT FOR PRONUNCIATION 

sāwol 

sāwle 

sāwle 

sāwle 

sāwle 

sāwla, -e 

sāwla 

sāwlum 

-a 

-um 

-u, — 5 

-e 

-e 

-e 

-e 

-a, -e 

-a 

-um 

The Battle of Brunanburh 

Ed. Dobbie 1942, 16-20; trans. T. Kinsella, http://loki.stockton.edu/~kinsellt/ litresources/brun/brun1.html 

Pronunciation Practice: http://www.kami.demon.co.uk/gesithas/readings/brun_oe.html 

Her Æþelstan cyning,----eorla dryhten, 

beorna beahgifa, ----and his broþor eac, 

Eadmund æþeling, ----ealdorlangne tir 

geslogon æt sæcce----sweorda ecgum 

ymbe Brunanburh. ---- 

Bordweal clufan, 

heowan heaþolinde----hamora lafan, 

afaran Eadweardes, ----swa him geæþele wæs 

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-e 

-e 

-es 

-e 

-e 

-u 

-a 

-um 

In this year King Aethelstan, Lord of warriors, 

ring-giver to men, and his brother also, 

Prince Eadmund, won eternal glory 

in battle with sword edges 

around Brunanburh. 

They split the shield-wall, 

they hewed battle shields with the remnants of hammers. 

The sons of Eadweard, it was only befitting their noble descent 

4 Monosyllabic neuters with short-syllable stems, such as lim, end in –u in the Nom. / Acc. plural; monosyllabic neuters with longsyllable 

stems, such as bān or word, have no ending in the Nom. / Acc. plural. 

5 When the stem is a short syllable, the Nom. singular ends in –u; when the stem is long, the Nom. singular is without ending.

from cneomægum, ----þæt hi æt campe oft 

wiþ laþra gehwæne----land ealgodon, 

hord and hamas. 

Hettend crungun, 

Sceotta leoda----and scipflotan 

fæge feollan, ----feld dænnede 

secga swate, ----siðþan sunne up 

on morgentid, ----mære tungol, 

glad ofer grundas, ----godes condel beorht, 

eces drihtnes, ----oð sio æþele gesceaft 

sah to setle. 

Þær læg secg mænig 

garum ageted, ----guma norþerna 

ofer scild scoten, ----swilce Scittisc eac, 

werig, wiges sæd. ---- 

Wesseaxe forð 

ondlongne dæg----eorodcistum 

on last legdun----laþum þeodum, 

heowan herefleman----hindan þearle 

mecum mylenscearpan. 

Myrce ne wyrndon 

heardes hondplegan----hæleþa nanum 

þæra þe mid Anlafe----ofer æra gebland 

on lides bosme----land gesohtun, 

fæge to gefeohte. 

Fife lægun 

on þam campstede----cyningas giunge, 

sweordum aswefede, ----swilce seofene eac 

eorlas Anlafes, ----unrim heriges, 

flotan and Sceotta. 

Þær geflemed wearð 

Norðmanna bregu, ----nede gebeded, 

to lides stefne----litle weorode; 

cread cnear on flot, ----cyning ut gewat 

on fealene flod, ----feorh generede. 

Swilce þær eac se froda----mid fleame com 

on his cyþþe norð, ----Costontinus, 

har hilderinc, ----hreman ne þorfte 

mæca gemanan. 

He wæs his mæga sceard, 

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from their ancestors that they should often 

defend their land in battle against each hostile people, 

horde and home. 

The enemy perished, 

Scots men and seamen, 

fated they fell. The field flowed 

with blood of warriors, from sun up 

in the morning, when the glorious star 

glided over the earth, God’s bright candle, 

eternal lord, till that noble creation 

sank to its seat. 

There lay many a warrior 

by spears destroyed; Northern men 

shot over shield, likewise Scottish as well, 

weary, war sated. 

The West-Saxons pushed onward 

all day; in troops 

they pursued the hostile people. 

They hewed the fugitive grievously from behind 

with swords sharp from the grinding. 

The Mercians did not refuse 

hard hand-play to any warrior 

who came with Anlaf over the sea-surge 

in the bosom of a ship, those who sought land, 

fated to fight. 

Five lay dead 

on the battle-field, young kings, 

put to sleep by swords, likewise also seven 

of Anlaf’s earls, countless of the army, 

sailors and Scots. 

There the North-men’s chief was put 

to flight, by need constrained 

to the prow of a ship with little company: 

he pressed the ship afloat, the king went out 

on the dusky flood-tide, he saved his life. 

Likewise, there also the old campaigner through flight came 

to his own region in the north—Constantine— 

hoary warrior. He had no reason to exult 

the great meeting; 

he was of his kinsmen bereft,

freonda gefylled----on folcstede, 

beslagen æt sæcce, ----and his sunu forlet 

on wælstowe----wundun forgrunden, 

giungne æt guðe. 

Gelpan ne þorfte 

beorn blandenfeax----bilgeslehtes, 

eald inwidda, ----ne Anlaf þy ma. 

Mid heora herelafum----hlehhan ne þorftun 

þæt heo beaduweorca----beteran wurdun 

on campstede----cumbolgehnastes, 

garmittinge, ----gumena gemotes, 

wæpengewrixles, ----þæs hi on wælfelda 

wiþ Eadweardes----afaran plegodan. 

Gewitan him þa Norþmen----nægledcnearrum, 

dreorig daraða laf, ----on Dinges mere 

ofer deop wæter----Difelin secan, 

eft Iraland, ----æwiscmode. 

Swilce þa gebroþer----begen ætsamne, 

cyning and æþeling, ----cyþþe sohton, 

Wesseaxena land, ----wiges hremige. 

Letan him behindan----hræw bryttian 

Saluwigpadan, ----þone sweartan hræfn, 

Hyrnednebban, ----and þane hasewanpadan, 

earn æftan hwit, ----æses brucan, 

grædigne guðhafoc----and þæt græge deor, 

wulf on wealde. 

Ne wearð wæl mare 

on þis eiglande----æfre gieta 

folces gefylled----beforan þissum 

sweordes ecgum, ----þæs þe us secgað bec, 

ealde uðwitan, ----siþþan eastan hider 

Engle and Seaxe----up becoman, 

ofer brad brimu----Brytene sohtan, 

wlance wigsmiþas, ----Wealas ofercoman, 

eorlas arhwate----eard begeatan. 

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friends fell on the battle-field, 

killed at strife: even his son, young in battle, he left 

in the place of slaughter, ground to pieces with wounds. 

That grizzle-haired warrior had no 

reason to boast of sword-slaughter, 

old deceitful one, no more did Anlaf; 

with their remnant of an army they had no reason to 

laugh that they were better in deed of war 

in battle-field—collision of banners, 

encounter of spears, encounter of men, 

trading of blows--when they played against 

the sons of Eadweard on the battle field. 

Departed then the Northmen in nailed ships. 

The dejected survivors of the battle, leaving Dinges mere 

sought Dublin over the deep water, 

to return to Ireland, ashamed in spirit. 

Likewise the brothers, both together, 

King and Prince, sought their home, 

West-Saxon land, exultant from battle. 

They left behind them, to enjoy the corpses, 

the dark coated one, the dark horny-beaked raven 

and the dusky-coated one, 

the eagle white from behind, to partake of carrion, 

greedy war-hawk, and that gray animal 

the wolf in the forest. 

Never was there more slaughter 

on this island, never yet as many 

people killed before this 

with sword’s edge, according to those who tell us from books, 

old wisemen, since from the east 

Angles and Saxons came up 

over the broad sea. Britain they sought, 

Proud war-smiths who overcame the Welsh, 

glorious warriors they took hold of the land.

N-STEMS 

(includes [1] all masculine nouns ending in –a; [2] all feminine nouns ending in –e; 

[3] two neuter nouns, ēage [eye] and ēare [ear], ending in -e) 


Paradigms of hunta (hunter [masculine]), eorðe (earth [feminine]), and ēage (eye [neuter]) 

Singular Masculine Feminine Neuter Endings 


Accusative 

Genitive 

Dative 

Instrumental 

Plural 

Nom / Acc 

Genitive 

Dat / Inst 

hunta 

huntan 

huntan 

huntan 

huntan 

huntan 

huntena 

huntum 

eorðe 

eorðan 

eorðan 

eorðan 

eorðan 

eorðan 

eorðena 

eorðum 

ēage 

ēage 

ēagan 

ēagan 

ēagan 

ēagan 

ēagena 

ēagum 

ADJECTIVES: STRONG V. WEAK 

General rule: the strong declension of the adjective is used in prose unless the adjective 

• is preceded by the definite article sē or the demonstrative þēs / þēos / þis (“this”); 

• is preceded by possessive pronoun mīn / þīn / sīn (“mine” / “your” / “his/her/its”) [which are declined 

like strong adjectives]; 

• is comparative (regularly) or superlative (frequently). 

Remember: strong forms stand alone; weak forms need the support of articles or pronouns. 

Adjectives are also often weak in poetry where they would be strong in prose. 

-a 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-ena 

-um 

SHORT-STEMMED ADJECTIVES: STRONG DECLENSION 

(declension of sum [“some”]) 

-e 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-ena 

-um 



Accusative 

Genitive 

Dative 

Instrumental 

Plural 

Nom / Acc 

Genitive 

Dat / Inst 

sum 

sumne 

sumes 

sumum 

sume 

sume 

sumra 

sumum 

sumu 

sume 

sumre 

sumre 

sumre 

suma, sume 

sumra 

sumum 

sum 

sum 

sumes 

sumum 

sume 

sumu 

sumra 

sumum 

LONG-STEMMED ADJECTIVES: STRONG DECLENSION 

(declension of gōd [“good”]) 

— 

-ne 

-es 

-um 

-e 

-e 

-ra 

-um 

-u 

-e 

-re 

-re 

-re 

-a, -e 

-ra 

-um 



Accusative 

Genitive 

Dative 

Instrumental 

Plural 

Nom / Acc 

Genitive 

Dat / Inst 

gōd 

gōdne 

gōdes 

gōdum 

gōde 

gōde 

gōdra 

gōdum 

gōd 

gōde 

gōdre 

gōdre 

gōdre 

gōda, gōde 

gōdra 

gōdum 

gōd 

gōd 

gōdes 

gōdum 

gōde 

gōde 

gōdra 

gōdum 

— 

-ne 

-es 

-um 

-e 

-e 

-ra 

-um 

— 

-e 

-re 

-re 

-re 

-a, -e 

-ra 

-um 

-e 

-e 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-ena 

-um 

— 

— 

-es 

-um 

-e 

-u 

-ra 

-um 

— 

— 

-es 

-um 

-e 

—, -e 

-ra 

-um

ADJECTIVES: WEAK DECLENSION 

(declension of gōd [“good”]; endings like N-STEMS) 



Accusative 

Genitive 

Dative 

Instrumental 

gōda 

gōdan 

gōdan 

gōdan 

gōdan 

gōde 

gōdan 

gōdan 

gōdan 

gōdan 

Plural All Genders 

Nom / Acc 

Genitive 

Dat / Inst 

gōdan 

gōdena, gōdra 

gōdum 

gōde 

gōde 

gōdan 

gōdan 

gōdan 

COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES 

-a 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-an 


-e 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-e 

-e 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-an 

-ena, -ra 

-um 

General rule: to make an adjective comparative, add –ra; to make it superlative, add –ost. Thus: 

lēof (“dear”), lēofra (“dearer”), lēofost (“dearest”) 

glæd (“glad”), glædra (“gladder”), gladost (“gladdest”) 6 

Some adjectives add –est for the superlative: 

eald (“old”) 

ġeong (“young”) 

lang (“long”) 

strang (“strong”) 

hēah (“high”) 

ieldra 

ġingra 

lengra 

strengra 

hīerra 

ieldest 

ġingest 

lengest 

strengrest 

hīehst 

Characteristic endings of adverbs: -e 

-līċ 

-unga 

-an 

ADVERBS 

Irregular adjectives include: 

lýtel (“little”) 

miċel (“great”) 

yfel (“bad”) 

gōd (“good”) 

lǽssa 

māra 

wiersa 

betera, sēlra 

lǽst 

mǽst 

wierst 

betst, sēlest 

(e.g., hraþe [“quickly”]) 

(e.g., hrædlīċe [“quickly”]) 

(e.g., eallunga [“entirely”]) 

usually means “from,” as in norþan (“from the north”) 

While not all adverbs can be formed from adjectives, often you’ll see that an adverb is simply a particular 

adjective with an –e stuck on the end. Thus, 

lēoflic (“loveable”) becomes lēoflīċe (“lovingly”) 

lāð (“hostile”) becomes lāðe (“hostilely”) 

lāðlic (“horrible”) becomes lāðlice (“horribly”) 

ġeorn (“eager”) becomes ġeorne (“eagerly”) 

Careful, however, of those adjectives that end in a –e, like rīċe (“powerful”). 

If the comparative and superlative of adjectives are formed by adding –ra or –ost, 

the comparative and superlative of adverbs are formed by adding –or and –ost. Thus: 

Adjectives: Adverbs: 

lēoflic (“loveable”) lēoflicra lēoflicost lēoflīċe (“lovingly”) lēoflīcor lēoflīcost 

ġeorn (“eager”) ġeornra ġeornost ġeorn (“eagerly”) ġeornor ġeornost 

6 When the ending begins with a vowel (like –ost ), the medial vowel sometimes disappears.


PERSONAL PRONOUNS (Third Person) DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS 

þēs, þēos, þis (“this”): compare endings with Articles and Strong Declension Adjectives 

Singular Masculine Feminine Neuter Singular Masculine Feminine Neuter 


Accusative 

Genitive 

Dative 

hē 

hine 

his 

him 

hēo 

hīe, hī 

hiere, hire 

hiere, hire 

hit 

hit 

his 

him 


Accusative 

Genitive 

Dative 

Instrumental 

þēs 

þisne 

þisses, þises 

þissum, þisum 

þýs 

þēos 

þās 

þisse, þisre 



Plural All Genders Plural All Genders 

Nom / Acc 

Genitive 

Dative 


Accusative 

Genitive 

Dative 

iċ 

mec, mē 

mīn 

mē 

hīe, hī 

hiera, hira, 

heora 

him, heom 

Nom / Acc 

Genitive 

Dative 

FIRST- AND SECOND-PERSON PERSONAL PRONOUNS 

þās 

þissa 

þissum, 

þisum 

Singular Dual Plural 

þū 

þec, þē 

þīn 

þē 

wit 

uncit, unc 

uncer 

unc 

ġit 

incit, inc 

incer 

inc 

STRONG VERBS: PRETERIT (PAST-TENSE) ENDINGS 

wē 

ūsiċ, ūs 

ūre 

ūs 


1 st person 

2 nd person 

3 rd person 

Plural 

1 st person 

2 nd person 

3 rd person 

īċ 

ðū 

hē 

drāf (“I drove”) 

drife (“you drove”) 

drāf (“he drove”) 

wē drifon (“we drove”) 

ġē drifon (“you drove”) 

hīe drifon (“they drove”) 

iċ 

ðū 

hē 

sang, song 

sunge 

sang, song 

wē sungon 

ġē sungon 

hīe sungon 

— 

-e 

— 

ġē 

ēowiċ, ēow 

ēower 

ēow 

STRONG VERBS: PRESENT ENDINGS 

Think King James or Shakespearian English: “Thou sayest true, Madame”; “He hath a ready wit!” 

-on 

-on 

-on 


1 

2 

3 

īċ 

ðū 

hē 

drīfe 

drīfest 

drīfe 

singe 

singest 

singeþ 

-e 

-est 

-eþ 

Plural 

1 / 2 / 3 wē / ġē / hīe drīfaþ singaþ -aþ 

WEAK VERBS: PRESENT ENDINGS 

Singular I Endings II and III Endings 

1 

2 

3 

īċ 

ðū 

hē 

dēme 

dēmest 

dēmeþ 

-e 

-est 

-eþ 

lufie 

lufast 

lufaþ 

-ie 

-ast 

-aþ 

Plural 

1 / 2 / 3 wē / ġē / hīe dēmaþ -aþ lufiaþ -iaþ 

þis 

þis 

þisses, þises 

þissum, 

þisum 

þýs

WEAK VERBS I–III: PRETERIT ENDINGS 


1 

2 

3 

īċ 

ðū 

hē 

fremede (“I made”) 

fremedest (“you made”) 

fremede (“he made”) 


-e 

-est 

-e 

Plural 

1 / 2 / 3 wē / ġē / hīe fremedon (“we/you/they made”) -on 

BĒON AND WESAN (IRREGULAR VERBS) 

No part of this tri-partite verb is fully conjugated in Old English (i.e., bēon lacks the preterit, etc.); 

rather, forms are combined so as to comprise one fully conjugated verb. 

Singular Present Present or Future Preterit 

1 

2 

3 

Īċ 

ðū 

hē 

eom (“I am”) 

eart (“you are”) 

is (“he is”) 

Plural 

1 / 2 / 3 wē / ġē / hīe sindon (sind, sint) 

(“we/you/they are”) 

bēo (“I am / will be”) 

bist (“you are / will be”) 

biþ (“he is / will be”) 

bēoþ (“we/you/they 

are / will be”) 

wæs (“I was”) 

wǽre (“you were”) 

wæs (“he was”) 

wǽron 

(“we/you/they were”) 

PARSING VERBS 

Examples from wealdan (wēold, wēoldon, wealden [“to exercise authority, control, rule”]) 

Parse: Person, Number, Tense, Mood, Class 

CLASS 1-7 (Strong) or 

I-III (Weak) 

MOOD Indicative 

Subjunctive 

Imperative 

INFINITIVE 

Non-inflected 

Inflected 

PARTICIPLE 

Active 

Past 

TENSE Present 

Preterit 

NUMBER Singular 

Plural 

PERSON First 

Second 

Third 

[VOICE] Active 7 

7 

wealdon 

wealde 

weald 

wealdan 

tō wealdenne 

wealdende 

wealden 

wealdeþ 

wēold 

wēolde 

wealdaþ 

wealde 

wealdest 

wealdeþ 

SELECTIVE EXAMPLES 

(“we / you /they rule”) 

[1-3 plur.] 

(“I / you / he should rule” or “may rule”) [1-3 sing.] 

(“Rule!”) 

[2 sing.] 

(“to rule”) 

(“to rule”) [also called a gerund] 

(“ruling”) 

(“ruled”) 

7 The one exception: the passive form hātte (‘is called’ or ‘was called’). 

(“he/she/it rules”) 

(“he/she/it ruled”) 

(“you rule”) 

(“we / you / they ruled”) 

(“I rule”) 

(“you rule”) 

(“he/she/it rules”) 




[1-3 plur.] 




(“he ruled” as opposed to “he was ruled” [passive] 

or “he ruled himself” [middle])

STRONG VERBS 

PRINCIPAL PARTS OF STRONG VERBS 

1. The Infinitive 

2. The Preterit Indicative first/third person singular 

3. The Preterit Indicative plural 

4. The Past Participle 


(“I / he ruled”) 

(“they ruled”) 

(“ruled”) 


STRONG VERBS 1 AND 2 

Class Identifying Infinitive 1/3 Singular Plural (and 2 Singular) Past Participle 

Characteristic (and present) Preterit Indicative Preterit Indicative 

1 ī + one consonant ī ā i i 

2 

Examples: 

ēo (ū) + one consonant ēo (ū) ēa u o 

Class 1 Class 2 

bīdan (“await”) bād bidon biden bēodan (“command”) bēad budon boden 

bītan (“bite”) bāt biton biten drēogan (“endure”) drēag drugon drogen 

glīdan (“glide”) glād glidon gliden brūcan (“enjoy”) brēac brucon brocen 

snīðan (“cut”) snāð snidon 8 sniden 8 būgan (“bow”) bēag bugon bogen 

ġewītan (“go/die”) ġewāt ġewiton ġewiten lēosan (“lose/abandon”) lēas luron loren 

wrītan (“write”) wrāt writon writen ċēosan (“choose”) ċēas curon 8 coren 8 

COMPLETE CONJUGATION OF STRONG VERBS 1 AND 2 

Paradigms of bīdan (bād bidon biden [“to await”]) and bēodan (bēad budon boden [“to command”]) 

INDICATIVE 

Present Singular Endings 

1 st person 

2 nd person 

3 rd person 

bīde 

bītst, 9 bīdest 

bītt, 9 bīdeþ 

bēode 

bīetst, 9 bēodest 

bīett, 9 bēodeþ 

-e 

-est 

-eþ 

Plural 1, 2, 3 bīdaþ bēodaþ -aþ 

Preterit Singular 

1 st person 

2 nd person 

3 rd person 

bād 

bide 

bād 

bēad 

bude 

bēad 

— 

-e 

— 

Plural 1, 2, 3 bidon budon -on 

SUBJUNCTIVE 

Present Singular 1, 2, 3 bīde bēode -e 

Plural 1, 2, 3 bīden bēoden -en 

Preterit Singular 1, 2, 3 bide bude -e 

Plural 1, 2, 3 biden buden -en 

IMPERATIVE 

Present Singular 2 bīd bēod — 

Plural 2 bīdaþ bēodaþ -aþ 

8 Examples of Verner’s Law, a topic about which we will hear in a forthcoming session on Philology Fundamentals. 

9 Examples of Syncopated present forms, which we’ll be discussing in a future week.


INFINITIVE Non-Inflected bīdan bēodan PARTICIPLE Present bīdende bēodende 

Inflected 

tō bīdenne tō bēodenne Past biden boden 

PRACTICE CONJUGATION OF CLASS 1 AND 2 STRONG VERBS 

glīdan (“glide”) glād glidon gliden brūcan (“enjoy”) brēac brucon brocen 

ġewītan (“go/die”) ġewāt ġewiton ġewiten būgan (“bow”) bēag bugon bogen 

wrītan (“write”) wrāt writon writen lēosan (“lose/abandon”) lēas luron loren 

INDICATIVE Class 1 Verbs Class 2 Verbs 


1 st person 

2 nd person 

3 rd glīde ġewīte wrīte brūce būge lēose -e 

glīdest ġewītest wrītest brūcest būgest lēosest -est 

person glīdeþ ġewīteþ wrīteþ brūceþ būgeþ lēoseþ -eþ 

Plural glīdaþ ġewītaþ wrītaþ brūcaþ būgaþ lēosaþ -aþ 


1 st person 

2 nd person 

3 rd person 

glād 

glide 

glād 

ġewāt 

ġewite 

ġewāt 

wrāt 

write 

wrāt 

brēac 

bruce 

brēac 

bēag 

bige 

bēag 

Plural glidon ġewiton writon brucon bugon luron -on 

SUBJUNCTIVE 

Present Singular glīde ġewīte wrīte brūce būge lēose -e 

Plural glīden ġewīten wrīten brūcen būgen lēosen -en 

Preterit Singular glide ġewite write bruce buge lure -e 

Plural gliden ġewiten writen brucen bugen luren -en 

IMPERATIVE 

Present Singular 2 glīd ġewīt wrīt brūc būg lēos — 

Plural 2 glīdaþ ġewītaþ wrītaþ brūcaþ būgaþ lēosaþ -aþ 

INFINITIVE 

Non-Inflected glīdan ġewītan wrītan brūcan būgan lēosan 

Inflected tō glīdenne tō ġewītenne tō wrītenne tō brūcenne tō būgenne tō lēosenne 

PARTICIPLE 

Present glīdende ġewītende wrītende brūcende būgende lēosende 

Past gliden ġewiten writen brocen bogen loren 

lēas 

lure 

lēas 

— 

-e 

—

STRONG VERBS: CLASS 3 


Strong verbs of this class have stems ending in two consonants, of which the first is nearly always a liquid 

(l or r) or a nasal (m or n). They fall into four subclasses: 

(1) Verbs with stems ending in a nasal (m or n) plus a consonant: 

bindan (“to bind”) band (or bond) bundon bunden 

drincan (“to drink”) dranc (or dronc) druncon druncen 

(2) Verbs with stems ending in l plus a consonant: 

helpan (“to help”) healp hulpon holpen 

meltan (“to melt”) mealt multon molten 

ġieldan (“to yield”) ġeald guldon golden 

ġiellan (“to yell”) ġeall gullon gollen 

(3) Verbs with stems ending in r or h plus a consonant: 

weorþan (“to become”) wearþ wurdon worden 10 

weorpan (“to throw”) wearp wurpon worpen 

feohtan (“to fight”) feaht fuhton fohten 

(4) Verbs with stems ending in two consonants, neither of which are liquids or nasals: 

breġdan (“to brandish”) bræġd brugdon brogden 


Strong verbs of this class have stems ending in e and a single consonant which is nearly always a liquid (l or r) 

or a nasal (m or n). 

Examples: 

Identifying Infinitive Preterit Indicative Preterit Indicative Past Participle 

Characteristic (and present) 1/3 singular plural (and 2 singular) 

e + 1 consonant 

(liquid or nasal) 

e æ ǽ o 

beran (“to bear”) bær bǽron boren 

cwelan(“to die”) cwæl cwǽlon cwolen 

helan (“to conceal”) hæl hǽlon holen 

stelan (“to steal”) stæl stǽlon stolen 

teran (“to tear”) tær tǽron toren 

Irregular (and quite important) verbs: 

cuman (“to come”) cōm (or cwōm) cōmon (or cwōmon) cumen 

niman (“to take”) nam (or nōm) nōmon (or nāmon) numen 

And one exception (since the stem ends in c, not a liquid or nasal): 

brecan (“to break”) bræc brǽcon brocen 

10 An example of Verner’s Law—but patience, patience! 

STRONG VERBS: CLASS 5


Strong verbs of this class have stems ending in e and a single consonant which is neither a liquid (l or r) or a 

nasal (m or n). 

Examples: 



e + 1 consonant 

(not liquid or nasal) 

e æ ǽ e 

metan (“to measure”) mæt mǽton meten 

sprecan (“to speak”) spræc sprǽcon sprecen 

cweðan (“to say”) cwæþ cwǽdon cweden 1 

Irregular (and important) verbs: 11 

ġiefan (“to give”) ġeaf ġēafon ġiefen 

ġietan (“to get”) ġeat ġēaton ġieten 


Strong verbs of this class have stems ending in a and a consonant. 

Examples: 



a + 1 consonant a ō ō a 

faran (“to go”) fōr fōron faren 

galan (“to sing”) gōl gōlon galen 

standan (or stondon [“to stand”]) stōd stōdon standen (or stonden) 


Strong verbs of this class have the same vowel in (a) their infinitive and past participle, and (b) all forms of the 

preterit indicative. As for an identifying characteristic of their stem—well, that’s not as easy. Technically, they 

have an a or o, followed by a nasal, followed by ā, ǽ, ē, ea, ēa, or ō—but who’s going to remember that? This 

one may just come through experience. 



-- -- ē 

ē 

-- 

ēo 

ēo 

-- 

Examples of verbs with ē in the preterit: 

hātan (“to call”) hēt hēton hāten 

lǽtan (“to allow”) lēt lēton lǽten 

rǽdan (“to counsel”) rēd rēdon rǽden 

drǽdan (“to fear”) drēd drēdon drǽden 

11 An example of diphthongization by initial palatals—and no, I won’t tell you what that means yet.

Examples of verbs with ēo in the preterit: 

gangan (“to go”) ġēong ġēongon gangen 

cnāwan (“to know”) cnēow cnēowon cnāwen 

weaxan (“to grow”) wēox wēoxon wāxen 

feallan (“to fall”) fēoll fēollon feallen 

healdan (“to hold”) hēold hēoldon healden 

bēatan (“to beat”) bēot bēoton bēaten 

hēawan (“to hew”) hēow hēowon hēawen 

flōwan (“to flow”) flēow flēowon flōwen 

Class Identifying 

Characteristic 

SUMMARY: STRONG VERBS 1 – 7 

Infinitive 

(and 

present) 

Preterit 

Indicative 

1/3 singular 

Preterit Indicative 

plural (and 2 

singular) 


Past 

Participle 

1 ī + 1 consonant ī ā i i 

2 ēo (ū) + 1 consonant ēo (ū) ēa u o 

3 i + nasal and consonant 

i 

a (o) 

u 

u 

e (ie) + l and consonant e (ie) ea 

u 

o 

eo + r (h) and consonant eo 

ea 

u 

o 

e + 2 cons. (not liquids/nasals) e 

æ 

u 

o 

4 e + one consonant 

(liquid or nasal) 

e æ 

ǽ 

o 

5 e + one consonant 

(not a liquid or nasal) 

e æ 

ǽ 

e 

6 a + one consonant a ō ō a 

7 -- -- 

ē 

ē 

-- 

-- 

ēo 

ēo 

--

PRESENT 

PRETERIT 

ASSIGMENT: 

1. Construct the principal parts of the following: 

findan, (“to find”) fand fundon funden 

swellan, (“to swell”) sweall swullon swollen 

sweltan, (“to die/perish”) swelt swulton swolten 

beorgan, (“to guard/defend”) bearg burgon borgen 

hweorfan, (“to turn”) hwearf hwurfon hworfen 

streġdan (“to strew/scatter”) stræġd strugdon strogden 


2. Complete the table for the following: wrītan (1), brūcan (2), weorþan (3), beran (4), cweðan (5), faran (6), 

and hātan (7). 

pres 

. 

pret 

pres 

. 

INDICATIVE 

Singular 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

1 

2 12 

3 12 

wrīte 

wrītest 

wrīteþ 

brūce 

brūcest 

brūceþ 

weorþe 

weorþest 

weorþeþ 

bere 

berest 

bereþ 

cweðe 

cweðest 

cweðeþ 

fare 

farest 

fareþ 

hāte 

hātest 

hāteþ 

Plural 1, 2, 3 wrītaþ brūcaþ weorþaþ beraþ cweðaþ faraþ hātaþ -aþ 

Singular 

1 

2 

3 

wrāt 

write 

wrāt 

brēac 

bruce 

brēac 

wearþ 

wurþe 

wearþ 

bær 

bǽre 

bær 

cwæð 

cwǽðe 

cwæð 

Plural 1, 2, 3 writon brucon wurdon 13 bǽron cwǽdon 13 fōron hēton -on 

SUBJUNCTIVE 

Sing. 1, 2, 3 wrīte brūce weorþe bere cweðe fare hāte -e 

Plural 1, 2, 3 wrīten brūcen weorþen beren cweðen faren hāten -en 

Sing. 1, 2, 3 write bruce wurþe bǽre cwǽde fōre hēte -e 

Plural 1, 2, 3 writen brucen wurden 13 bǽren cwǽden 13 fōren hēten -en 

IMPERATIVE 

Singular 2 wrīt brūc weorþ ber cweð far hāt — 

Plural 2 wrītaþ brūcaþ weorþaþ beraþ cweðaþ faraþ hātaþ -aþ 

Uninflected wrītan brūcan weorþan 

INFINITIVE 

beran cweðan faran hātan 

Inflected tō wrītenne tō brūcenne tō 

weorþenne 

tō berenne tō cweðenne tō farenne tō hātenne 

PARTICIPLE 

Present wrītende brūcende weorþende berende cweðende farende hātende 

Past writen brocen worden 13 boren cweden 13 faren hāten 

12 Note the vowel-changes produced by i-Umlaut, and the syncopated present forms, both of which are discussed below. 

13 Consonant change (ð to d) according to Verner’s Law. 

fōr 

fōre 

fōr 

hēt 

hēte 

hēt 

-e 

-est 

-eþ 

— 

-e 

—

I-UMLAUT 

and SYNCOPATED PRESENT FORMS OF STRONG VERBS 


Given what we’ve learned thus far about Strong Verbs, we would expect to make second- and third-person 

present indicative forms by adding –est and –eþ to the stem of the verb: weorþest (“you become”) and weorþeþ 

(“he becomes”) from weorþan, and so on. In fact, however, what we often find are strange forms such as wiertst 

and wiertt. What’s going on? 

This is one of the times that some of the Philological Rules at which we’ll be looking next week (yes, some of 

you are saying; at last!) become significant for your everyday reading. There are two we need to consider: i- 

Umlaut and Syncopation. 

I-UMLAUT 

This is one of the most important sound-changes that took place in Old English. Umlaut in general is a change 

produced in a vowel by some other sound which follows it; i-Umlaut was a change produced in a vowel or 

diphthong by an i, ī, or j in the following syllable. 

The changes which resulted from i-Umlaut took place around the sixth century, a date earlier than any extant 

Old English text. By Alfred the Great’s death at end of the ninth century, the sounds which had caused umlaut 

had largely disappeared from the language. We know that they existed at an earlier period, however, partly 

because of the forms which we find in the earliest surviving texts (eighth and ninth century), and partly through 

a reconstruction of Prehistoric Old English by comparison of Old English with other Germanic languages such 

as Old Saxon, Old High German, Old Norse, and especially Gothic. 

It worked as follows: 

a (o) before nasals 

(m/n) became e as in menn (“men”) from Prehistoric OE *manni 14 

ā became ǽ as in hǽlan (“to cure”) from Prehistoric OE *hāljan 

æ became e as in eġe (“fear”) from Prehistoric OE *æġi 

e 15 became i as in sittan (“to sit”) from Prehistoric OE *setjanan 

o became e as in dehter (dat. sg. of 

dohtor 

“daughter”) 

from Prehistoric OE *dohtri 

ō became ē as in dēman (“to judge”) from Prehistoric OE *dōmjan 

u became y as in fyllan (“to fill/fulfil”) from Prehistoric OE *fulljan 

ū became ý as in týnan (“to enclose”) from Prehistoric OE *tūnjan 

ea became ie 

(LWS i or y) 16 

as in fielþ (pres. 3 sg. of from Prehistoric OE *fealliþ 

feallan “to 

fall/die”) 

ēa became īe as in hīeran (“to from Prehistoric OE *hēarjan 

(LWS ī or ý) 

hear/obey”) 

io (eo) became ie as in wierpþ (pres. 3 sg. of from Prehistoric OE *wiorpiþ 

(LWS i or y) 

weorpan “to 

cast/throw”) 

io (ēo) became īe 

(LWS ī or ý) 

as in ġeþēodan (“to join”) from Prehistoric OE *ġeþīodjan 

14 The asterisk (*) indicates that this is a reconstructed form, as opposed to one encountered in extant literature. 

15 Technically, the change of e to i was not a part of the OE umlaut, but a Primitive Germanic change which preceded that by several 

centuries. We may treat the changes together, however, for our understanding of syncopated forms of strong verbs. 

16 LWS = Late West Saxon, the language c. 1050, as opposed to Early West Saxon, the language c. 900-1050 in which the majority of 

Old English texts are composed.


There is a pattern here, which might help you to remember these shifts in vowels: they’re moving from Low 

Back Vowels to High Front Vowels. 

Oh dear, you say: some new terms. 

• With “front” vowels, the front (not tip) of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate (the roof of your 

mouth right behind your front teeth); 

• With “back” vowels, the back of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate (the place where peanut butter 

gets stuck); 

• The “higher” the vowel, the closer the tongue is to the roof of the mouth; 

• The “lower” the vowel, the farther the tongue is from the roof of the mouth. 

So, as you say i, e, æ (Modern English bit, met, 

hat), you’ll notice a gradual lowering of the jaw 

and the front of the tongue as you move from 

high-front to low-front vowels. 

Similarly, when you say a, o, u (Modern English 

not, cough, pull), you’ll notice the progressive 

raising of the jaw and the back of the tongue, and 

your lips becoming more rounded, forming a 

progressively smaller circle, as you move from 

low-back to high-back vowels. 

In i-Umlaut, then, word-pronunciation generally 

shifts from Low Back Vowels to High Front 

Vowels (left and up in our diagram). 

SYNCOPATION 

Whew. Now that we’ve got the reason for the vowel shift in these strange present forms of strong verbs, what 

about the truncated endings? Syncopation is the loss of a vowel between two consonants. Once the vowel is 

gone, one or more of the merged consonants may either change or drop out altogether, simply because the 

combination is difficult to say; this is called assimilation (yes, think of Borgs and you’ll get the idea). 

Second-person present (-est) forms 

In verbs whose stems end in d, þ, or s, assimilation takes place when the vowel of the ending –est is 

syncopated. Thus, 

d + st = tst (as in bītst from bīdan) 

þ + st = tst or st (as in snītst from snīðan or cwist from cweðan) 

s + st = st (as in ċīest from ċēosan)

Third-person present (-eþ) forms 


In verbs whose stems end in d, t, þ, or s, assimilation takes place when the vowel of the ending –eþ is 

syncopated. Thus, 

d + þ = tt or t (as in bītt or bīt from bīdan) 

t + þ = tt or t (as in wrītt or wrīt from wrītan) 

þ + þ = þþ or þ (as in cwiþþ or cwiþ from cweðan) 

s + þ = st (as in ċīest from ċēosan) 

For our example verbs, then, 

Second-Person Present Third-Person Present 

i-Umlaut Syncopation Result Syncopation Result 

wrītan (“to write” [1]) ī => ī (same) t + (e)st = t(e)st wrīt(e)st t + (e)þ = t(t) wrīt(t), 

wrīteþ 

brūcan (“to enjoy” [2]) ū => ý c + (e)st = c(e)st brýc(e)st c + (e)þ = c(e)þ brýc(e)þ 

weorþan (“to become” [3]) eo => ie þ + (e)st = (t)st wier(t)st, þ + (e)þ = þ(þ) wierþ(þ), 

weorþest 

weorþeþ 

beran (“to carry” [4]) e => i r + (e)st = r(e)st bir(e)st r + (e)þ = r(e)þ bir(e)þ 

cweðan (“to say” [5]) e => i ð + (e)st = (t)st cwi(t)st, ð + (e)þ = ð(ð) cwið(ð), 

cweðest 

cweðeþ 

faran (“to go” [6]) a => æ r + (e)st = r(e)st fær(e)st r + (e)þ = (e)þ fær(e)þ 

hātan (“to command” [7]) ā => ǽ t + (e)st = t(e)st hǽt(e)st t + (e)þ = t(t) hǽt(t), 

hāteþ 

ASSIGNMENT: I-UMLAUT AND SYNCOPATION 

Construct the syncopated and umlauted forms of the second- and third-person present indicative umlauted forms 

of the following strong verbs: 

2 nd -Person 3 

Present 

rd -Person 

2 

Present 

nd -Person 3 

Present 

rd -Person 

Present 

etan (“to eat” [5]) it(e)st it(t), iteð helan (“to cover” [4]) hil(e)st hil(e)ð 

būgan (“to bend/turn” [2]) býg(e)st býg(e)ð cnāwan (“to know” [7]) cnǽw(e)st cnǽw(e)ð 

drincan (“to drink” [1]) drinc(e)st drinc(e)ð healdan (“to hold/rule” 

[7]) 

hieltst hielt(t) 

helpan (“to help” [3]) hilp(e)st hilp(e)ð flōwan (“to flow” [7]) flēw(e)st flēw(e)ð 

weorpan (“to throw” [3]) wierp(e)st wierp(e)ð rīsan (“to rise [1]”) rīst rīst 

ċēosan (“to choose” [2]) ċīest ċīesð beorgan (“to conceal” [3]) bierg(e)st bierg(e)ð 

wrecan (“to revenge” [5]) wric(e)st wric(e)ð galan (“to sing” [6]) gæl(e)st gæl(e)ð 

PRINCIPAL PARTS OF WEAK VERBS 

1. the infinitive 

2. the third-person singular preterit indicative 

3. the past participle 


(“I / he ruled”) 

(“ruled”) 

Unlike strong verbs, the principal parts of weak verbs do not include the preterit plural indicative; rather, all you 

need to know is the third-person singular preterit indicative, the stem of which is the same for all preterit forms. 

As with strong verbs, however, syncopation means that there are some variations to be wary of, this time in the 

preterit and the past participle.

SYNCOPATED FORMS OF CLASS I WEAK VERBS 

As we noted in the second week, the preterit endings of Class I Weak Verbs are as follows: 

Singular 1 fremede (“I made”) -e 

2 fremedest (“you made”) -est 

3 fremede (“he made”) 

-e 

Plural 1, 2, 3 fremedon (“we/you/they made”) -on 


To determine the base of the preterit forms, however (fremed- in this case), we must identify whether the verb 

stem was originally short or long. The rule of thumb is this: 

• If the stem was originally short, the Old English stem will contain a short vowel or a short diphthong 

followed by an r or a “geminated” (doubled) consonant. 17 

• If the stem was originally long, the Old English stem will contain either (1) a long vowel or long 

diphthong or (2) a short vowel or short diphthong followed by two consonants. 18 

For verbs with originally short stems, the first person preterit indicative is –ede, and the past participle is –ed. 

Examples: 

1 st -person preterit 

indicative 

past participle 

fremman (“to make”) fremede fremed 

trymman (“to strengthen”) trymede trymed 

nerian (“to save”) nerede nered 

ferian (“to carry”) ferede fered 

For verbs with originally long stems, the first person preterit indicative is syncopated: when the stem ends in a 

voiced consonant, the preterit ending is –de; when the stem ends in a voiceless consonant, the preterit ending is 

–te. 

Voiced consonants: d, b, g, f (as MoE over), s (as MoE prize), ð (as MoE then), most others. 

Voiceless consonants: t, p, c, f (as MoE father), s (as MoE soon), ð (as MoE thin), sc, h 

The past participle is again –ed. Examples: 




dēman (“to judge”) dēmde dēmed 

dǽlan (“to share”) dǽlde dǽled 

cemban (“to comb”) cembde cembed 

ærnan (“to gallop”) ærnde ærned 

cēpan (“to keep”) cēpte cēped 

scierpan (“to sharpen”) scierpte scierped 

ādwǽscan (“to quench”) ādwǽscte ādwǽsced 

fyllan (“to fill”) [see 7 ] fylde 19 fylled 

However, verbs whose stems end in d or t always syncopate the middle vowel of the preterit (and sometimes of 

the past participle) regardless of whether the stem was originally short or long. In such cases, the preterit ending 

becomes either –de or –te, and the ending of the past participle becomes –d(d) or –t(t). 

17 

Gemination, about which we’ll hear more next week, occurred when a single consonant (besides r) preceded by a short vowel was 

‘geminated’ or doubled by a following j. 

18 

Or by a double consonant that is not the result of gemination, but this can only be determined by a knowledge of the etymology of 

the particular word. This usually isn’t a problem, however, because it’s rare for double consonants not to be the product of gemination 

(one key exception: fyllan [‘to fill’]). 

19 

Note that in these exceptional cases, the double consonant was simplified in the preterit.

Examples: 




hreddan (“to save”) hredde hreded, hred(d) 

settan (“to set”) sette seted, set(t) 

lǽdan (“to lead”) lǽdde lǽded, lǽd(d) 

mētan (“to meet”) mētte mēted, mēt(t) 


Verbs whose stems end in d or t preceded by another consonant have only a single d or t in the preterit and 

syncopated form of the past participle. 

wendan (“to turn”) wende wended, wend 

fæstan (“to make fast”) fæste fæsted, fæst 

IRREGULAR CLASS I WEAK VERBS 

INFINITIVE PRETERIT 

SINGULAR 

PAST 

PARTICIPLE 

sēċan (“to seek”) sōhte sōht 

sellan (“to give”) sealde seald 

cwellan (“to kill”) cwealde cweald 

þenċan (“to think”) þōhte þōht 

brenġan (“to bring”) brōhte brōht 

þynċan (“to seem”) þūhte þūht 

bycgan (“to buy”) bohte boht 

wyrċan (“to work”) worhte worht 

ASSIGNMENT: PRINCIPAL PARTS OF WEAK VERBS 

Construct the principal parts for the following Class I Weak Verbs: 

originally 1 

short/long 

st -person past 

originally 1 

preterit participle 

short/long 


st -person past 

preterit participle 


hǽlan (“to heal”) long hǽlde hǽled bētan (“to repair”) long bētte bēt(t) 

herian (“to praise”) short herede hered hlynnan (“to roar”) short hlynnede hlynned 

fēdan (“to feed”) long fēdde fēded, fēd(d) wēnan (“to think”) long wēnde wēned 

sendan (“to send”) long sende sended, send erian (“to 

plough”) 

short erede ered 

spryttan (“to 

sprout”) 

short sprytte spryted, spryt glengan (“to adorn”) long glengde glenged

RECAP: PRETERIT AND PAST PARTICIPLE OF CLASS I WEAK VERBS 


From previous sessions, you may just be able to recall that we need to look at the stem of Class I weak verbs to 

determine their preterit and past participle endings. In short, the rule went like this: 

• If the stem contains a short vowel/diphthong followed by an r or a double consonant (= originally shortstemmed), 

the first person preterit indicative is usually –ede, and the past participle is –ed. 

• If the stem contains either (1) a long vowel or long diphthong or (2) a short vowel or short diphthong 

followed by two different consonants (= originally long-stemmed), the preterit ending is either –de 

or –te, and the past participle is again –ed. 

Thus: 

COMPLETE CONJUGATION OF CLASS I WEAK VERBS 

Paradigms of originally short-stemmed verbs fremman (fremede fremed [“to make”]) 

and nerian (nerede nered [“to save”]), 

and originally long-stemmed verb dēman (dēmde dēmed [“to judge”]) 

INDICATIVE 


20 

1 st person 

2 nd person 

3 rd person 

fremme 21 

fremest 

fremeþ 

nerie 

nerest 

nereþ 

dēme 

dēmest, dēmst 

dēmeþ, dēmþ 

-e 

-est 

-eþ 

Plural 1, 2, 3 fremmaþ neraþ dēmaþ -aþ 


1 st person 

2 nd person 

3 rd person 

fremede 

fremedest 

fremede 

nerede 

neredest 

nerede 

dēmde 

dēmdest 

dēmde 

-e 

-est 

-e 

Plural 1, 2, 3 fremedon neredon dēmdon -on 

SUBJUNCTIVE 

Present Singular 1, 2, 3 fremme nerie dēme -e 

Plural 1, 2, 3 fremmen nerien dēmen -en 

Preterit Singular 1, 2, 3 fremede nerede dēmde -e 

Plural 1, 2, 3 fremeden nereden dēmden -en 

IMPERATIVE 

Present Singular 2 freme nere dēm -e, — 

Plural 2 fremmaþ neriaþ dēmaþ -(i)aþ 

INFINITIVE 

Non-Inflected fremman nerian dēman 

Inflected tō fremmenne tō nerienne tō dēmenne 

PARTICIPLE 

Present fremmende neriende dēmende 

Past fremed nered dēmed 

20 

Remember that the present endings for Class I weak verbs are exactly the same as for strong verbs; only Class II and III have 

different present forms. 

21 

You’ll note that fremman sometimes loses an m, nerian sometimes loses its i, and dēman sometimes loses an e in its inflectional 

endings (e.g., dēmst and dēmþ); none of these should hinder you from recognising the verbs.

CLASS II AND III WEAK VERBS 


Weak II verbs have –ian in the infinitive, -ode in the preterit indicative first person singular, and –od in the past 

participle; there are only four Weak III verbs, and they are a bit anomolous. Just memorize them. 

COMPLETE CONJUGATION OF CLASS II AND III WEAK VERBS 

Paradigms of Class II.lufian (lufode lufod [“to love”]) 

and Class III.habban 

libban 

hycgan 

secgan 

(hæfde hæfd [“to have”]), 

(lifde lifd [“to live”]), 

(hodge hogod [“to think”]), and 

(sæġde sæġd [“to say”]) 

INDICATIVE 

CLASS II Endings CLASS III 

Present Singular 1 lufie -ie hæbbe libbe hycge secge 

2 lufast -ast hæfst, hafast liofast, lifast hyġst, hogast sæġst, seġ(e)st 

3 

lufaþ 

-aþ 

hæfþ, hafaþ 

Plural 1, 2, 3 lufiaþ -iaþ hæbbaþ, 

habbaþ 

liofaþ, lifaþ hyġþ, hogaþ sæġþ, seġ(e)þ 

libbaþ hycgaþ secgaþ 

Preterit Singular 1 lufode -e hæfde lifde, leofode hog(o)de sæġde, sǽde 

2 

lufodest -est hæfdest [lifdest, 

leofodest] 

3 

lufode -e hæfde 

22 

hog(o)dest sæġdest, 

sǽdest 

lifde hog(o)de sæġde, sǽde 

Plural 1, 2, 3 lufodon -on hæfdon lifdon, hog(o)don sæġdon, 

leofodon 

sǽdon 

SUBJUNCTIVE 


Present Sing 1, 2, 3 lufie -ie hæbbe libbe hycge secge 

Plural 1, 2, 3 lufien -ien hæbben libben hycgen secgen 

Preterit Sing 1, 2, 3 lufode -e hæfde lifde, leofode hog(o)de sæġde, sǽde 

Plural 1, 2, 3 lufoden -en hæfden lifden, 

leofoden 

hog(o)den sæġden, 

sǽden 

IMPERATIVE 


Present Singular 2 lufa -a hafa liofa, leofa hoga, hyġe saga, seġe 

Plural 2 lufiaþ -iaþ habbaþ libbaþ, leofaþ hycgaþ secgaþ 

INFINITIVE 

CLASS II CLASS III 

Non-Inflected lufian habban libban hycgan secgan 

Inflected tō lufienne tō habbenne tō libbenne tō hycgenne tō secgenne 

PARTICIPLE 

CLASS II CLASS III 

Present lufiende hæbbende libbende, 

lifiende 

hycgende secgende 

Past lufod hæfd lifd hogod sæġd 

22 This form not actually found in extant Old English literature.


OLD ENGLISH SOUND CHANGES 

I. PRIMITIVE GERMANIC PERIOD (Primitive Germanic [Prim Gmc] to Germanic [Gmc]) 

1a. Umlaut of e to i The change of e to i was not a part of the OE umlaut, but a Primitive Germanic 

change which preceded that by several centuries. It appears in the early stage of 

all Germanic languages. 

The change took place under the following circumstances: 

1. e followed by a nasal and a consonant became Gmc i; 

2. e followed by in the next syllable by i, ī, or j became Gmc i (i-Umlaut) 

1b. Umlaut of eu to iu The apparent umlaut of ēo to īe which appears, e.g. in clīefþ, 3 sing. pres. indic. 

of clēofan (2, to split), is really an unlaut of īo to īe. In Primitive Germanic 

clēofan was *cleufanan and clīefþ was *cleufiþ. But the diphthong eu was 

umlauted to iu in Primitive Germanic whenever it was followed in the next 

syllable by i, ī, or j, so that *cleufiþ became *cliufiþ. 

In OE these diphthongs developed respectively into ēo and īo, so that the 

Prehistoric OE forms were *clēofan and *clīofiþ. Then in the period of OE 

umlaut, *clīofiþ became *clīefiþ, and later clīefþ. 

So: [Primitive Gmc: eu => iu] *cleufiþ => *cliufiþ => 

[OE period: i-Umlaut & loss of i] *clīofiþ => *clīefiþ => clīefþ 

2a. Change of eu to eo 

2b. Change of eu to iu 

3. Change of e to i before 

a nasal plus 

another consonant 

eu followed in the next syllable by a, ē, or ō became Gmc eo; 

eu followed in the next syllable by i, ī, j or u became Gmc iu (i-Umlaut). 

Prim Gmc e followed by a nasal plus another consonant or by a double nasal 

became Gmc i. 

* Grimm’s Law (1) Indo-European [IE] voiceless stops (p, t, k) became the corresponding 

voiceless spirants (f, þ, h); 

(2) IE voiced stops (b, d, g) became the corresponding voiceless stops (p, t, k); 

(3) IE voice aspirated stops ([that is, voiced stops followed by h:] bh, dh, gh) 

became the corresponding voiced spirants (b, ð, ġ). 

* Verner’s Law However, there were exceptions, as noted by one Mr. Verner: in the middle and 

end of words, IE p, t, k, and s did not simply develop, as expected, into Prim Gmc 

f, þ, h, and s. Instead, 

IE p => Prim Gmc f => Later Prim Gmc b => OE voiced f (i.e., v) 

IE t => Prim Gmc þ => Later Prim Gmc ð => OE d 

IE k => Prim Gmc h => Later Prim Gmc ġ => OE g 

IE s => Prim Gmc s => Later Prim Gmc z => OE r 

Thus: 

Prim Gmc Later Prim Gmc Gmc OE 

*wurþūn => *wurðūn => *wūrðun => wurdon 

*fluhūn => *fluġūn => *flūġun => flugon 

*wǽsūn => *wǽzūn => *wǽzun => wǽron 

II. WEST GERMANIC PERIOD (Germanic [Gmc] to West Germanic [WGmc]) 

Gemination 

Single consonants (except r) preceded by a short vowel were geminated, or 

doubled, by a following j. 

Gmc *satjan => WGmc *sattjan 

[=> PrehOE *sættjan => *settian => OE settan] 

Gmc *habjan => WGmc *habbjan 

[=> PrehOE *hæbbjan => *hebbian => OE hebban]


III. OLD ENGLISH PERIOD 

(Prehistoric Old English [PrehOE (c. 500-700 A.D.)] to Early West Saxon [EWS (c. 900 A.D.)]) 

1a. Change of a to æ One of the earliest OE sound changes; a remained a only when it was followed by 

w or a nasal, or when it occurred before a single consonant followed by a, o, or u 

(save for h + a, o, or u). Elsewhere a became æ. So: 

PrehOE *dag => OE dæġ 

PrehOE *dagas => OE dagas (remained the same, because a followed by a single 

consonant + a; same with 

PrehOE *daga / *dagum => OE daga / dagum (unchanged). 

1b. Change of a to o When a was followed by a nasal (m or n), it did not become æ, but either 

remained a or was changed to o. o is more common in EWS; a is standard in 

LWS. 

2. Breaking The front vowels æ, e, and i, when followed by certain consonants, were 

converted into diphthongs as follows: 

Before r plus a consonant (exluding j), l plus a consonant, or h, 

(1) æ [from older a] became ea 

(2) e became eo 

(3) i became io 

[(3b) ī became īo (which later became ēo) before h] 

3. Diphthongization by 

initial palatals 

æ, ǽ, and e, when preceded by the initial palatals ċ, ġ, or sc, were changed into 

diphthongs as follows: 

(1) æ became ea 

(2) ǽ became ēa 

(3) e became ie [LWS i or y] 

4. i-Umlaut See above, VI.2-3. To summarise: Umlaut is a change produced in a vowel by 

some other sound which follows it; i-Umlaut was a change produced ina vowel or 

diphthong by an i, ī, or j in the following syllable. The result: the Great Sound 

Shift (refer to diagrams on VI.3). 

5. Loss of final u and i 

after long syllables 

Remember how the Nom/Acc plural of neuter nouns or the Nom/Acc singular of 

feminine nouns can either have no ending or end in –u (see I.2 above)? These 

forms lost their –u ending after long-syllable stems. 23 Thus: 

Neuter plural nouns: ðā limu (“the limbs”); ðā bān_ (“the bones”) 

Feminine singular nouns: sēo ġiefu (“the gift”); sēo lār_ (“the teaching”) 

Final i also disappeared after a long syllable. 

6. Syncopation On syncopation, see above, VI.3-4. In short, syncopation is the loss of a vowel 

between two consonants; in Old English, this is seen particularly in (1) the 2 nd - 

and 3 rd -person present indicative forms of strong verbs, and (2) the preterit 

indicative forms of weak verbs. 

7. loss of medial j Medial j disappeared after all consonants except single r preceded by a short 

vowel or short diphthong; when retained it is written i. 

8. Change of unstressed 

i to e 

9. Loss of intervocalic 

h 

Final unstressed i, if it had not disappeared after a long syllable (see 5. above), 

became e; 

medial i became e except when followed by ċ, ġ, sc, or ng. 

As we shall see below, the loss of an h between two vowels contracted those 

vowels into a single long vowel or diphthong; those verbs which show 

23 Exception: dissyllabic neuters ending in –e, like rīċe, may or may not have the ending –u in the Nom/Acc plural.

10. Change of īo, 

io to ēo, eo 

irregularities as a result are called Contract Verbs. 


In Early West Saxon texts ([EWS] c. 900), īo and ēo are often used 

interchangeably; by the time we come to Late West Saxon ([LWS] c. 1050), ēo 

has become the predominant form. 

SAMPLE EXERCISES 

1. Convert the following Primitive Germanic forms into the Old English forms that would occur in the language 

of the year 900 (Early West Saxon): 

*werpiþ *satjan(an) *teuhan(an) *tūnjan(an) 

*setjan(an) 24 *sehiþ *farjan(an) *framjan(an) 

*felhiþ *teuhiþ *fleutan(an) *dōmjan(an) 

*fleutiþ *bendan(an) *stapjan(an) *fulljan(an) 

2. Convert the following Prehistoric Old English forms into the forms that would occur in the language of the 

year 900 (Early West Saxon): 

*faht *ēaċjan *dōide *halp 

*ċǽce *ġǽton *flīohiþ *mahte 

*lārjan *langira *sihiþ *ġǽr 

*ġellan *slahan *manni *fehtan 

*swarjan *sceran *dōmiþ *ahta 

*huġi *scǽp *sōċjan *sceld 

*ġirnjan *hāljan *falh *ġeldan 

*sehan *bandjan *þīhan *þīhiþ 

*flēohan *huldi *wrēohu *aldista 

*morġin *wirþiþ *starf *sculdiġ 

PRETERIT-PRESENT (OR STRONG-WEAK) VERBS 

Once upon a time, there was a group of strong verbs whose preterit indicative and preterit subjunctive forms 

acquired a present meaning. These verbs then formed weak preterit forms based on their strong plural presents. 

Take the verb munan, for example: originally, man and munon were the 3 rd -singular and plural preterit 

indicative forms of a strong verb meaning “to remember.”. Their meaning changed from preterit to present, and 

a new weak 3 rd -singular preterit indicative—munde—was formed from the stem of munon. So: 

• In an originally strong verb, preterits change to presents; 

• The new strong presents beget new weak preterits. 

• The result: a strong-weak, or preterit-present verb. 

The Principal Parts, therefore, are (1) the infinitive, (2) the 1 st - and 3 rd -person present indicative, (3) the plural 

present indicative, and (4) the 3 rd -person singular preterit indicative. 

These are the most important pret-pres verbs to know: 

Infinitive PRESENT PRESENT PRETERIT 

1/3 singular plural 1/3 singular 

āgan (“to possess”) āh āgon āhte 

cunnan (“to know, be able”) cann, conn cunnon cūðe 

dugan (“to avail”) dēag dugon dohte 

durran (“to dare”) dearr durron dorste 

magan (“to be able”) mæġ magon meahte, mihte 

mōtan (“to be permitted”) mōt mōton mōste 

24 The letters in parentheses represent a syllable that was lost, in all probability, before the end of the Germanic period.

PRESENT 

PRETERIT 

munan (“to remember”) man, mon munon, munaþ munde 

(ġe)nugan (“to suffice”) neah nugon nohte 

sculan (“to be under obligation”) sceal sculon sc(e)olde 

ðurfan (“to need”) ðearf ðurfon ðorfte 

unnan (“to grant”) ann, onn unnon ūðe 

witan (“to know”) wāt witon wisse, wiste 

nitan (“not to know”) nāt niton niste 

FYI, if you want to organise them this way: 

Originally Class [1] āgan, witan [4] munan, sculan 

[2] dugan [5] magan, (ġe)nugan 

[3] cunnan, durran, ðurfan, unnan [6] mōtan 

[7] [none] 

pres 

. 

Pret 

pres 

. 

CONJUGATION OF PRETERIT-PRESENT VERBS 


INDICATIVE 

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] 

Singular witan dugan cunnan sculan magan mōtan 

1 

2 

3 

wāt 

wāst 

wāt 

dēag 

-- 25 

dēag 

cann, conn 

canst, const 

cann, conn 

sceal 

scealt 

sceal 

mæġ 

meaht 

mæġ 

mōt 

mōst 

mōt 

Plural 1, 2, 3 witon dugon cunnon sculon magon mōton -on 3 


1 

2 

3 

wisse, wiste 

-- 2 

wisse,wiste 

Plural 1, 2, 3 wisson, 

wiston 

dohte 

dohtest 

dohte 

cūþe 

cūþest 

cūþe 

sceolde 

sceoldest 

sceolde 

meahte, mihte 

meahtest, mihtest 

meahte, mihte 

mōste 

mōstest 

mōste 

dohton cūþon sceoldon meahton, mihton mōston -on 

SUBJUNCTIVE 

Sing. 1, 2, 3 wite duge, dyġe cunne scyle, scule mæġe, muge mōte -e 

Plural 1, 2, 3 witen dugen, dyġen cunnen scylen, sculen mæġen, mugen mōten -en 

Sing. 1, 2, 3 wisse, wiste dohte cūþe sceolde meahte, mihte mōste -e 

Plural 1, 2, 3 wissen, 

wisten 

dohten cūþen sceolden meahten, mihten mōsten -en 

IMPERATIVE 

Singular 2 wite -- -- -- -- -- — 

Plural 2 witaþ -- -- -- -- -- -aþ 

INFINITIVE 

Uninflected witan dugan cunnan sculan magan mōton 

Inflected 

tō witenne, 

tō witanne 

-- tō cunnenne, 

tō cunnanne 

-- -- -- 

PARTICIPLE 

Present witende dugende -- -- -- -- 

Past witen -- Cunnen, cūþ -- -- mōten 

25 Omitted forms are not actually found in the extant Old English corpus. 

26 Note the strong-verb preterit endings that have moved to the present. 

27 Note the weak-verb preterit endings. 

— 26 

-(s)t 

— 3 

-e 27 

-est 4 

-e 4


CONTRACT VERBS 

Around the beginning of the historical period of Old English and after the period of i-Umlaut, intervocalic h was lost and the two 

vowels thus brought together contracted into a single long vowel or diphthong. As a result, irregularities arose in those strong verbs 

whose stems ended in –h. The principal parts of the most important of these contract verbs are as follows: 

Infinitive 1/3 Sing 

Pret Indic 

Plural 

Pret Indic 

Past Ptcp 

Class I ðēon (“to thrive”) [from Prehistoric OE *ðīhan] ðāh ðigon ðiġen 

wrēon (“to cover”) [from Prehistoric OE *wrīhan] wrāh wrigon wriġen 

Class II flēon (“to flee”) [from Prehistoric OE *flēohan] flēah flugon flogen 

tēon (“to draw”) [from Prehistoric OE *tēohan] tēah tugon togen 

Class III fēolan (“to reach”) [from Prehistoric OE *felhan] fealh fulgon fōlgen 

[Class IV] -- 

Class V sēon (“to see”) [from Prehistoric OE *sehan] seah sāwon sewen 

fēon (“to [from Prehistoric OE *fehan] feah fǽgon -- 

rejoice”) 

Class VI slēan (“to strike”) [from Prehistoric OE *slæhan] slōg slōgon slagen 

ðwēan (“to wash”) [from Prehistoric OE *ðwæhan] ðwōg ðwōgon ðwagen 

Class VII fōn (“to seize”) [from Prehistoric OE *fōhan] fēng fēngon fongen, 

fangen 

hōn (“to hang”) [from Prehistoric OE *hōhan] hēng hēngon hongen, 

hangen 

PRESENT 

PRETERIT 

pres 

. 

pret 

pres 

. 

CONJUGATION OF CONTRACT VERBS 

INDICATIVE 

1 2 [3] [4] 5 6 7 

Singular ðēon flēon sēon slēan fōhan 

1 

2 

3 

ðēo 

ðī(e)hst 

ðī(e)hþ 

flēo 

flī(e)hst 

flī(e)hþ 

sēo 

si(e)hst 

si(e)hþ 

slēa 

si(e)hst 

si(e)hþ 

fō 

fēhst 

fēhþ 

Plural 1, 2, 3 ðēoþ flēoþ sēoþ slēaþ fōþ -(a)þ 


1 

2 

3 

ðāg, ðāh 

ðige 

ðāg, ðāh 

flēah 

fluge 

flēah 

sæh, seah 

sǽðe 

sæh, seah 

slōg 

slōge 

slōg 

fēng 

fēnge 

fēng 

Plural 1, 2, 3 ðigon flugon sāwon slōgon fēngon -on 

SUBJUNCTIVE 

Sing. 1, 2, 3 ðēo flēo sēo slēa fō — 

Plural 1, 2, 3 ðēon flēon sēon slēan fōn -n 

Sing. 1, 2, 3 ðige fluge sāwe slōge fēnge -e 

Plural 1, 2, 3 ðigen flugen sāwen slōgen fēngen -en 

IMPERATIVE 

Singular 2 ðēoh flēoh seoh sleah fōh — 

Plural 2 ðēoþ flēoþ sēoþ slēaþ fōþ -aþ 

INFINITIVE 

Uninflected ðēon flēon sēon slēan fōn 

Inflected 

tō ðēonne tō flēonne tō sēonne tō slēanne tō fōhanne 

PARTICIPLE 

Present ðēonde flēonde sēonde slēande fōnde 

Past ðiġen flogen sewen slagen fongen, 

fangen 

— 

-st 

-þ 

— 

-e 

—

AN INTRODUCTION TO OLD ENGLISH METRICS 

I. WORD ACCENT (SENTENCE STRESS) 


A . Syllables 

1. Word Division 

General rule for dividing words into syllables: any non-initial syllable begins with one or more 

consonants regardless of the length of the preceeding or succeeding vowel. Thus sīþas (“journeys”) 

is divided sī-þas, and healdan (“to rule”) is divided heal-dan. 28 

2. Open and closed syllables 

General rule: it takes one consonant to close a syllable at the end of a word or member of a compound; it 

takes two consonants to close a syllable in the middle of a word. Thus sīþ (“journey”), wīd–cūþ 

(“well-known” or “famous”), and heal-dan are closed syllables, even though the ld of heal-dan 

actually ends one syllable and begins another. Sī-þas, by contrast, is an open syllable. 

3. Long and short syllables 

General rule: a syllable is long if it contains a long vowel or diphthong (such as ǽ), or is closed by a 

consonant; otherwise it is short. Thus dæg (“day”) is long, because it is closed by a terminal 

consonant; þan-cas (“thoughts”) and sōþ (“true”) are long as well. Da-gas (“days”), however, is 

short. 

4. Syllable Stress 29 

General rule: most words are stressed on the first syllable. 

Main exception: Prefixes. 

Prepositional Prefixes before 

Nouns: Stressed 

æ- ǽ-wielm fountain 

æt- ǽt-spyr-ning offence 

and- ánd-sa-ca apostate 

bī- bí-gen-ġa inhabitant 

or- ór-þanc mind 

ūþ- úþ-gen-ġe evanescent 

wiþer- wí-þer-sa-ca adversary 

Exceptions: be- before a noun is often 

unstressed (e.g. be-bód command); 

for- is occasionally so (e.g., 

for-bód prohibition) 

un- Usually accented, save where it 

stands for the prepositional prefix 

on- or an- 


Verbs: Unstressed 

a- a-wéal-lan well up 

ot- ot-spúr-nan stumble 

on- on-sá-ca deny 

be- be-gán occupy 

a- a-þén-ċan devise 

oþ- oþ-gán escape 

wiþ- wiþ-sá-can refuse 


Adverbs: Unstressed 

to-dǽġ be-fó-ran be-hín-dan 

ġe- Never accented 

Secondary stress always falls on the first syllable of the second element of a compound when both the 

elements retain their full semantic meaning: gámolfèax grey-haired; fýrhèard hardened by fire; 

fýrġenstrèam mountain-stream. Syllables with secondary stress are referred to as half-lifts. 

28 Stevick, Firstbook, p. 45 and Mitchell and Robinson, Guide, p. 20; cf. Pope, ‘Versification’, p. 106. 

29 For more on syllable accent, see Campbell, Old English Grammar, pp. 30-5.

B. Words 30 

Stressed Words 

Words that are almost always bear 

primary stress: 

• All words with a significant 

amount of meaning 

• Nouns 

• Adjectives 

• Most participles 

• Most infinitives 

Words that sometimes bear primary 

stress, depending on their 

position in and importance to 

the verse: 

• Many adverbs (especially if 

they have more than one 

syllable) 

• Finite verbs (i.e., verbs 

inflected for person, tense, etc.) 

• Personal pronouns (he/she/it) 


Half-stressed Words Unstressed Words 

Words that usually bear 

secondary- or half-stress: 

• Adverbs 

• Finite verbs 

Note: these can be “promoted” 

to primary stress if they are 

next to a non-stressed word, 

and “demoted” to nonstress 

if next to a stressed 

word. 

Never stressed: 

• Inflectional endings in final 

syllables 

Almost never stressed: 

• Prepositions 

• Demonstrative pronouns 

• Possessive pronouns 

• Relative pronouns 

• Conjunctions 

• Articles 

Note: Prepositions, demonstrative 

pronouns and possessive 

pronouns can take full stress if 

they are emphasised by being 

placed somewhere other than 

directly before their objects 

Any rule for sentence stress may be broken through special rhetorical emphasis. 

Look for the words that are important to the meaning of the verse. 

II. METRICAL STRESS 

General rules: 

• Lines of Old English poetry are composed of two half-lines or “verses”; lines are therefore also known as 

verse-pairs. 

• The first verse in the pair is the on-verse, or “a” half-line; the second is the off-verse, or “b” half-line. These 

are separated by a pause, or caesura. 

• Each half-line or verse must have at least four syllables. 

• Each half-line or verse must have at least two stresses. 

• Metrical stress usually falls only on a single long syllable or “resolved” syllables. 

It works like this: according to the rules of sentence stress, it is the first syllable of words that is usually 

stressed (see I.d. above). Not all first syllables, however, are long. For metrical purposes, therefore, 

short, stressed syllables are counted along with their following syllables as a single beat, being treated as 

if they are a single long syllable. These are called “resolved” syllables. 

Exceptions: Types A4, C2, and D3 [RARE] below. 

ABBREVIATIONS: Brun 

Beo 

Cæd 

Dream 

SIEVER’S FIVE TYPES 

(as modified by Pope, “Old English Versification”) 

= The Battle of Brunanburh 

= Beowulf 

= Cædmon’s Hymn 

= The Dream of the Rood 

30 For more on word accent, see Campbell, Old English Grammar, pp. 35-7. 

Mald 

Seaf 

Wand 

= The Battle of Maldon 

= The Seafarer 

= The Wanderer


KEY 

. ′ . = lift (a long stressed syllable) | = foot division 

= lift (a short stressed syllable) 

. ` . = half-lift (a long syllable with half- or secondary stress) 

– = compound word division 

(e.g., wīg–fruma “war-chief”) 

x = drop (unstressed syllable[s]; 

in this schema, x may be expanded to as many as seven 

- = syllable division 

unstressed syllables, except [1] at the end of a verse, Italics = stressed syllable 

where no more than one unstressed syllable may 

occur, or [2] in anacrusis) 

Dotted underline = half-stressed syllable 

= “resolved” lift (two syllables, the first being short and stressed, counted together as one beat) 

= “resolved” half-lift (two syllables, the first short and half-stressed, counted together as one beat) 

Types A-E, listed in order of frequency: 

TYPE A: . ′ .x |. ′ .x (“falling-falling”: lift, drop; lift, drop) 

Note: the first drop can have up to five syllables: . ′ .x (x x x x x) |. ′ .x 

Also: like Type D, Type A can include anacrusis, a prefix of one to three unstressed syllables that are 

not counted when scanning the line. 

A1 basic form: . ′ .x |. ′ .x ē-ċe Dryh-ten (“eternal Lord” [Caed 4a]) 

with Resolution: 31 x | x cy-ning and æ-ðe-ling (“king and prince” [Brun 58a]) 

with Anacrusis: x |. ′ .x x x x x |. ′ .x ġe-bid-daþ him to þis-sum bēac-ne 

(“they pray to this sign” [Dream 83a]) 

with both: x | x x x x |. ′ .x ġe-bæd iċ mē þā to þam bēa-me 

(“I then prayed to the Tree” [Dream 122a]) 

Alliteration: on first lift or (in the on-verse) on both lifts. 

A2a half-lift replaces first drop (i.e., a half-stress replaces the first unstressed syllable): 

. ′ .. ` .|. ′ .x un-rīm her-ġes (“countless of the army [lay dead]” [Brun 31b]) 

with Resolution: . ′ . |. ′ .x ferhþ–lo-ca frēo-riġ (“[His fate is] a frozen heart” [Wand 33a]) 

A2b half-lift replaces second drop (i.e., half-stress replaces second unstressed syllable): 

. ′ .x |. ′ .. ` . fǽ-ġer feorh–bold (“fair dwelling of the soul” [Dream 73a]) 

with Resolution: . ′ . x x |. ′ . heal-de his hord–co-fan (“[The mark of a man is that he] 

guards his thoughts” [Wand 14a]) 

[this resolved form often indistinguishable from subtype D*2] 

A2ab half-lifts replace both drops: 

. ′ .. ` .|. ′ .. ` . brēost–hord blōd–rēow (“bloodthirsty heart” [Beo 1719a]) 

with Resolution: . ′ . |. ′ .. ` . nýd–wra-cu nīþ–grim (“cruel persecution” [Beo 193a]) 

A3 half-lift replaces first lift (i.e., half-stress replaces first stressed syllable); 

this form is usually found only in the on-verse: 

. ` .x x |. ′ .x Nū scu-lon he-rian 32 (“Now we must praise [the guardian of the 

heavenly kingdom]” [Cæd 1a]) 

Alliteration: on second lift only. 

31 I.e., two syllables, the first being short and stressed, counted together as one beat. 

32 In weak verbs of the first class, like herian (‘to praise’), the ‘i’ functions as a consonant, like ‘y’ in modern English ‘year’; as a 

result, herian is pronounced heh-ryahn and only has two syllables. In weak verbs of the second class, however, like lufian (‘to love’), 

although they look the same, the ‘i’ functions as a vowel and usually takes secondary stress; in consequence, lu-fi-an has three 

syllables (Pope, ‘Versification’, p. 110, n. 24). (This is extra strange because the syllable -an doesn’t begin with a consonant.) Don’t 

worry; you may be tearing your hair out now, but this will all come with time.

A4 second lift consists of single short syllable (variants of A1, A2, and A3): 

Short A1: x x | x fæ-ġe-re ġe-try-med (“[When he had] fairly arrayed [that 

host for battle . . .]” [Mald 22b]) 

Short A2a: . ′ .. ` .| 


x Bord–weall clu-fon (“They split the shield-wall” [Brun 5b]) 

Short A3: x |. ′ .x x x ġe-siehþ him be-fo-ran (“He sees before him . . .” [Wand 46a]) 

A* additional half-lift (lift, half-lift, drop; lift, drop) [RARE]: . ′ .. ` .x |. ′ .x 

TYPE B: x. ′ .| x. ′ . (“rising-rising”: drop, lift; drop, lift) 

Alliteration: on first lift alone or (in the on-verse) on both lifts. 

The first drop can have up to five or six syllables: 33 (x x x x x) x. ′ .| x. ′ . 

The second drop is limited to one or two syllables. Thus: 

B1 one syllable in second drop: 

with Resolution: x x | x. ′ . 

x. ′ .| x. ′ . þā mid-dan–ġeard (“the earth” [Cæd 7a]) 

and his su-nu for-lēt (“and he abandoned his son” [Brun 

42b]) 

B2 two syllables in second drop: 

x. ′ .| x x. ′ . Mē sen-don to þē (“they sent me to you” [Mald 29a]) 

with Resolution: x x x x x | x x. ′ . þā-ra–þe him biþ eġesa to mē (“[I may heal each] of 

those who hold me in awe” [Dream 86b]) 

TYPE C: x. ′ .|. ′ .x (“clashing”: drop, lift; lift, drop) 

Alliteration: usually on first lift alone; occasionally (in the on-verse) on both lifts. 

The first drop can have up to six syllables: (x x x x x) x. ′ .|. ′ .x 

The second has one long or short syllable. Thus: 

C1 long syllable (or its resolution) in second lift: 

x. ′ .|. ′ .x fram cnēo–māg-um (“from [their] ancestors” [Brun 8a]) 

with Resolution: x x x | x þam–þe þǽr bry-ne þo-lo-don (“[Joy was renewed] to those 

who had suffered fire there” [Dream 149b]) 

C2 short syllable in second lift: 

x. ′ .| x′. on camp–ste-de (“in [the] battle-field” [Brun 49a]) 

TYPE D: . ′ .|. ′ .. ` .x (“falling by stages”: lift; lift, half-lift, drop) OR 

. ′ .|. ′ .x. ` . (“broken fall”: lift; lift, drop, half-lift) 

Alliteration: when single, on first lift alone; in the on-verse, may be on both lifts. 

Like Type D, Type A can include anacrusis, a prefix of one to three unstressed syllables that are not 

counted when scanning the line. 

[D1-3: “falling by stages”; drop limited to one syllable] 

D1 basic form; half-lift in the third position and long: 

. ′ .|. ′ .. ` .x Frēa æl-mih-tiġ (“[the] Lord Almighty” [Cæd 9b]) 

with Resolution: |. ′ .. ` .x sca-du forþ ēo-de (“darkness went forth” [Dream 54b]) 

33 Pope says six (‘Versification’, p. 111); Mitchell and Robinson say five (Guide, p. 164).

D2 half-lift in the third position and short: 

. ′ .|. ′ . x Weorc Wuldor 34 —Fæ-der (“[the] work of the 

Glorious Father” [Cæd 3a]) 

with Resolution: . ′ .|. x bord ha-fe-no-de (“He grasped the shield” [Mald 42b]) 

D3 half-lift in the third position and long; second lift short [RARE]: . ′ .|. . ` .x 

[D4: “broken fall”; drop may have two syllables] 

D4 basic form: . ′ .|. ′ .x. ` . hār hil-de–rinc (“grey-haired warrior” [Brun 39a]) 

with Resolution: |. ′ .x. ` . cy-ning ūt ġe-wāt (“out went the king” [Brun 35b]) 


D*1, D*2, AND D*4 expanded forms of D1, D2, and D4; extra drop of one to two syllables before the first 

lift. 35 For example: 

D*2 . ′ .x |. ′ . x beor-na bēag–ġie-fa (“[Æthelstan,] ring-giver to men” 

[Brun 2a]) [cf. A2b above] 

TYPE E: . ′ .. ` .x | . ′ . (“fall and rise”: lift, half-drop; drop, lift) 

The first drop can have up to two syllables: . ′ .. ` .x (x) | . ′ . 

Alliteration: on first lift alone or (in the on-verse) on both lifts. 

. ′ .. ` .x | . ′ . mann–cyn-nes Weard (“Guardian of mankind” [Cæd 7b]) 

with Resolution: . ` .x |. ′ . heo-fon–rī-ċes Weard (“Guardian of the heavenly 

kingdom” [Cæd 1b]) 

E* expanded form of E; extra drop after first lift [RARE]: . ′ .x. ` .x | . ′ . 

III. ALLITERATION 

General rules: 

• One of the two stressed syllables in the first half-line must alliterate with the first stressed syllable in the 

second half-line. 

• Both stressed syllables in the first half-line commonly alliterate with each other. 

• Only the first stressed syllable in the second half-line may alliterate with the first half-line. Put another way, 

the first lift in the off-verse must alliterate, and the second must not. 

• Palatal (“soft”) g and gutteral (“hard”) ġ alliterate, as do c and ċ, though this is not common. 

• Sp only alliterates with sp; sc alliterates with sc. 

• A vowel alliterates with any other vowel; this is called “vocalic alliteration”. The poets actually tend to 

avoid the alliteration of identical vowels, and make no distinction between simple vowels and diphthongs. 

Alliteration can be a great help in quickly identifying the metrical stress of a verse, since usually those syllables 

that alliterate are stressed. But beware! On the one hand, this won’t help you identify the second lift in the 

off-verse, since this lift cannot alliterate. What is more, you may find that the poet throws in extra 

alliteration on non-stressed syllables just for fun. Don’t assume that just because something alliterates, it 

automatically must be stressed. 

Take line 29 of Beowulf, for example: 

. ′ . x (x) |. ′ .x (x) x . ′ .| x . ′ . 

swǽ-se ge-sī-þas, swā hē sel-fa bæd, 

Dear companions just as he himself commanded 

[bore him to the sea] 

34 Here pronounced as one syllable (Wuldr) rather than two (Wul-dor). 

35 Three syllables are possible, but rare; see Pope, ‘Versification’, p. 114 and Mitchell and Robinson, Guide, p. 165.


Here, the first stressed syllable in the off-verse (which must alliterate with one of the stressed syllables in 

the on-verse) is selfa, not swā. As a result, only the s-alliteration in gesīþas and selfa counts; the alliteration 

of sw- in swǽse and swā is simply there to confus—that is, to further ornament the verse-pair. 

This said, extra alliteration that counts—that is, extra alliteration in the four stressed syllables—can occur; keep 

an eye peeled for it. Thus, in addition to the three basic possibilities for single alliteration (where a = an 

alliterating syllable, and x and y = miscellaneous non-alliterating syllables): 

/ / / / 

(1) a a : a x Me-to-des meah-ta and his mōd–ġe-þanc “[Now we must praise] the might and 

purpose of the Creator” (Cæd 2) 

/ / / / 

(2) a x : a y ē-ċe Drýh-ten, ōr as-teal-de “Eternal Lord, he established the 

beginning” (Cæd 4) 

/ / / / 

(3) x a : a y Nū scu-lon he-rian 36 heo-fon–rī-ċes Weard “Now we must praise the Guardian of the 

heavenly kingdom” (Cæd 1) 

There are three possibilities for double alliteration: 

Crossed Alliteration 

/ / / / 

(5) a b : a b Norþ–man-na bre-gu, nīe-de ġe-bǽ-ded “The North-mens’ chief [was there put 

to flight], constrained by need [to 

retreat to the ship]” (Brun 33) 

Tranverse Alliteration 

\ / / / 

(6) b a : b a Swel-ce þā ġe-brō-ðor bē-ġen æt-sam-ne “Likewise the brothers both together 

then [sought their home]” (Brun 57) 

Crossed Alliteration with Extra Secondary Stress 

/ / \ / / 

(7) a a b : a b ba-ðian brim–fug-las, brǽ-dan feð-ra “[He sees before him] birds bathing 

with wings outstretched” (Wand 47) 

C1: x . ′ . x A1: . ′ . x (x) . ′ . x 

IV. ÞE VONKIAN ME-ÞOD FOR MUD- DLING ÞROUGH MET- RICS 

Step One: Divide the verse into syllables. 

Step Two: Identify primary stresses: 

Look for alliteration; 

Look for long syllables; 

Look for key (“meaningful”) words; 

If the stress falls on a short syllable, see if you 

can “resolve” the syllable. 

36 On the syllabic division of herian, see note 5 above. 

Step Three: If there are compound words in the 

verse, mark the first syllable of the second part 

of the compound with secondary stress. 

Step Four: Write out the metre with x’s and stressmarks, 

then look at your list of Types and see 

what you got! Should your proposed metre not fit 

any of the Types, see if you can scan the line 

another way.

IV. EXAMPLE 

Klaeber, Beowulf, 3 rd ed. (London, 1950), lines 1-10 


Trans. Seamus Heaney (London, 1999) 

C2: x. ′ .| x C2: x. ′ .| x 

Hwæt, Wē Gār–De-na in gēar-da-gum, 37 1 

Listen! We of Spear-Danes in olden days So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by 

D3: . ′ .| . ` .x A1: . ′ .x |. ′ .x 

þēod-cy-nin-ga þrym ge-frū-non, 2 and the kings who ruled them had courage 

of kings glory [we] have heard and greatness. 

C1: (x) x |. ′ .x A1: . ′ .x |. x 

hū ðā æ-þe-lin-gas el-len fre-me-don! 3 We have heard of those princes’ heroic 

how the nobles [deeds of] valour did! campaigns. 

C1: x. ′ .|. ′ .x A1: x |. ′ .x 

Oft Scyld Scē-fing scea-þe-na þrēa-tum, 4 There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of 

Often Scyld Scefing of enemies bands many tribes, 

A1: x |. ′ .x 

mo-ne-gum mǽg-þum, 

E: . ` .x (x) | . ′ . 

meo-do-set-la of-tēah, 38 5 a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging 

many tribes of mead-benches deprived among foes. 

A1: . ′ .x (x) |. ′ .x B1: (x) x. ′ .| x. ′ . 

eg-so-de eor-las, syð-ðan ǽ-rest wearð 6 This terror of the hall-troops had come 

[he] terrified warriors after first [he] was far. 

A1: . ′ .x |. ′ .x B1: (x) x | x. ′ . 

fēa-sceaft fun-den; hē þæs frōf-re ge-bād, 7 A foundling to start with, he would 

destitute found he this solace experienced flourish later on 

A1: . ′ .x (x) |. ′ .x E: . ′ .. ` .x | . ′ . 

wēox un-der wolc-num, weorð-myn-dum þāh, 8 as his powers waxed and his worth was 

[he] grew under [the] skies with honours [he] prospered proved. 

A2a: . ′ .. ` .(x) |. ′ .x OR 

A3?: . ` .x (x) |. ′ .x 39 D1: . ′ .|. ′ .. ` .x. 

oð þæt him ǽg-hwylc ymb-sit-ten-dra 9 In the end each clan on the outlying 

until to him every one of [the] neighbouring peoples coasts 

C1: (x) x. ′ .|. ′ .x A1: . ′ .x |. ′ .x 

o-fer hron-rā-de hý-ran scol-de, 10 beyond the whale-road had to yield 

ofer [the] whale-road to obey had to him 

A1: . ′ .x |. ′ .x C2: (x) x. ′ .| x 

gom-ban gyl-dan. Þæt wæs gōd cy-ning! 11 and begin to pay tribute. That was 

tribute to pay. That was [a] good king! one good king. 

37 Note the transverse alliteration here (Gār-Dena . . . gēardagum) as well as in verses 32 and 34. 

38 Oftēon takes the dative of person and genitive of thing: to deprive someone (dative) of something (genitive). 

39 Remember that with Type A3 alliteration can only take place on the second lift; oð, therefore, which could alliterate with the other 

words beginnng with a vowel, would not count.


V. PRACTICE 

Klaeber, Beowulf, lines 26-36 Trans. Seamus Heaney (London, 1999) 

B1: (x) x. ′ .| x. ′ . C1: (x) x. ′ .|. ′ .x 

Him ðā Scyld ge-wāt tō ge-scæp-hwī-le 26 Shield was still thriving when his time 

[him] then Scyld departed at [the] fated hour came 

A2a: . 

` .|. ′ .x C1: x. ′ .|. ′ .x 

fe-la-hrōr fē-ran on Frēan wǽ-re; 27 and he crossed over into the Lord’s 

strong [he] went into of the Lord [the] keeping keeping. 

a: x x x x x |. ′ .x [or A3?] C1: x | x 

hī hy-ne þa æt-bǽ-ron tō bri-mes fa-ro-ðe, 28 His warrior band did what he bade them 

They him then bore to of the sea [the] current 

A1: . ′ .x (x) |. ′ .x B1: (x) x. ′ .| x. ′ . 

swǽ-se ge-sī-þas, swā hē sel-fa bæd, 40 29 when he laid down the law among the 

dear companions as he himself commanded Danes: 

B1: (x) x. ′ .| x. ′ . D1: |. ′ .. 4 .x 

þen-den wor-dum wēold wi-ne Scyl-din-ga— 30 they shouldered him out to the sea’s 

while words [he] wielded [the] friend of the Scyldings flood, 

D2: . ′ .| . ′ . x A1: . ′ .x |. ′ .x 

lēof land-fru-ma lan-ge āh-te. 31 the chief they revered who had long 

beloved land-chieftan long [he] ruled. ruled them. 

B1: (x) x. ′ .| x. ′ . A1: . ′ .x |. ′ .x 

Þǽr æt hy-ðe stōd hrin-ged-stef-na, 32 

There in [the] harbour stood [a] ring-prowed ship A ring-whorled prow rode in the harbour, 

A1: . ′ .x (x) |. ′ .x E: . 4 .x | . ′ .. 

ī-sig ond ūt-fūs, æ-þe-lin-ges fær; 33 

icy and eager to set out of [the] noble vessel ice-clad, outbound, a craft for a prince. 

B: x. ′ .| x. ′ . A1: . ′ .x |. ′ .x 

ā-lē-don þā lēof-ne þēo-den, 34 They stretched their beloved lord in 

[they] laid then [their] beloved lord his boat, 

A1: . ′ .x |. ′ .x C2: x. ′ .| x 

bēa-ga bryt-tan, on bearm sci-pes, 35 

of rings giver in [the] bosom of the ship laid out by the mast, amidships, 

A1: . ′ .x (x) |. ′ .x 

mǽr-ne be mæs-te. 36 

illustrious [man] by [the] mast. 41 the great ring-giver. 

40 

Note that in metrical terms, only the s-alliteration in gesīþas and selfa counts, for these contain stressed syllables; the alliteration of 

sw- in swǽse and swā is simply an added bonus. 

41 

WORKS CITED: Campbell, A., Old English Grammar (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1959); Mitchell, B. and Robinson, F. C., A Guide to Old 

English, 5th ed. (Oxford, 1992); Pope, J. C., ‘Old English Versification’, in his Seven Old English Poems (New York, 1966), pp. 97- 

138; Stevick, R. D., A Firstbook of Old English . For a 

thorough understanding of metre, also work through Bliss, A., Metre of Beowulf (Oxford, 1958), which is not long. For an overview of 

studies on metrics, see Donoghue, D., ‘Old English Meter’, ANQ 3 (1990), 69-74. My thanks also are due to Fulk, R., ‘Essentials of 

Old English Metrics’ (compiled handout, Beowulf seminar 1995-96).

Appendix: 

GUIDELINES FOR LOGICAL ARGUMENTATION, GRAMMAR, AND MECHANICS 

I. THE THINGS MOST IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO KNOW (in this context, in any event) 


1. Every word, every line, every paragraph should further your thesis. Craft each phrase with these two goals in 

mind: Control and Precision. Ask: “Is this the best word to use? “How does this statement advance my 

argument?” 

2. Prove what you assert. If you don’t intend to prove something, either be silent on the point or modify your 

assertion to something you can and will prove. 

• “Both of these monsters are also described in a way that would have resonated with the listeners of the 

period.” [Where’s your proof? The assertion assumes facts not in evidence.] 

3. Beware of making sweeping, universal, absolute assertions. While such statements may be true, they are far 

more difficult to prove than cautious and precise assertions that can be defended with textual evidence. 

Leave room for the exceptions. 

VULNERABLE ASSERTIONS: 

• “Everyone was happy in those days”; 

• “Peasants were always illiterate in the Middle Ages”; 

• “No example of such imagery occurs elsewhere”; 

• “Shakespeare always has flawed characters for protagonists.” 

DEFENSIBLE ASSERTIONS: 

• “In this passage, we find that . . .”; 

• “One possible reason for this change is . . .”; 

• “While one might understand the change in such-and-such a way, it could be that . . .”; 

• “It might be argued that . . .”. 

Exception to this rule (grin): you can sometimes get away with a sweeping statement in the introduction 

of your paper as a lead-in to your more specific arguments. In that case, you’re using a throw-away 

statement just to get the ball rolling. You might begin, for example, by saying “In dreams the 

unexpected seems commonplace,” before going on to assert that “It is upon this premise that The Dream 

of Rhonabwy is founded.” 

4. Clearly present your main points and thesis in your introductory paragraph. This approach guides your reader 

through the argument to come. 

• NOTE: Address your points in the order in which you’ve presented them: anything else runs the risk of 

surprising and confusing your audience. 

5. Give clear transitions. 

It is not enough simply to list your points and their supporting evidence in order. You must show the reader 

how one point leads logically to the next, or at least indicate that you are moving from one assertion to 

another. Your paper should flow seamlessly from one section of assertion-and-evidence to another, moving 

inexorably from thesis to conclusion. Don’t assume that your reader will always recognize where you’re 

going with a particular argument; instead, through your transitions and commentary on your evidence, try to 

lead the reader by the nose through your argument from beginning to end.


6. Use key terms and define them. 

Use key terms or phrases in your main points and repeat them in the body of your paper. It’s an easy way to 

help your audience follow your train of thought. 

Define these terms. The more precise your definition, the more useful the term will be to you. If you say that 

courtesy, for example, is marked by three particular characteristics, you can evaluate to what extent a 

character is courteous by measuring him/her against those three criteria. 

DON’T JUST SAY: 

• “Beowulf was an ideal hero”, OR 

• “Gawain was the epitome of all knights”, OR EVEN 

• “For the purposes of this paper, chivalry will be defined as the virtue encompassing all of those qualities 

that are praised and lauded in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” 

NOTE: it’s better to draw your criteria from the text itself—using, for example, the criteria on Gawain’s shield 

by which he ostensibly lives—than to pick criteria arbitrarily. Doing so makes it harder for others to 

challenge your definition of the term in question. 

7. One or two pieces of evidence are usually not enough to convince your audience of a major point, especially 

if those pieces of evidence are pithy and weak. State your case, and then bury your reader with evidence! 

• “He is just one of many examples throughout Beowulf that show . . . .” [One example is a weak case for 

asserting “many”.] 

NOTE: At times, you may need to acknowledge an opposing argument. Briefly do so, and then obliterate it with 

your evidence. 

8. Be succinct. Make your point and then move on. 

9. Avoid mere plot summary. Recap events only insofar as they establish the context for your quotations or 

otherwise serve as evidence for your thesis. 

10. Give context, quotation, and reference, in this order. 

One of your overall goals for your papers is to make it as easy as possible for your audience to follow you. 

When you write articles for publication, determining who your audience is may be difficult, since you’re not 

quite sure who might read them. You don’t want to talk down to people by assuming they know nothing, 

and yet you don’t want to lose them either by alluding to things of which they may be ignorant or which 

they might not recall. For our purposes, however, things are not as complex: essentially, you’re writing to 

people like yourself—your colleagues and your prof. Now, while in your professor’s case you may do better 

to assume that he’s addled and can’t remember anything about the text, when you think about your 

colleagues you’ll probably assume that they’ve read the text and will remember the bits you discuss as long 

as you jog their brains appropriately. Thus, when you refer to a scene, while it’s essential that you cite the 

appropriate page numbers after your quotation, it’s not as useful to introduce the scene in this fashion: “On 

page 64, we see,” or “in chapters 4 and 5, we find.” While your audience has probably read the page and 

chapters, it’s not at all certain whether they will remember that page offhand. Can YOU recall what happens 

on page 64 of the last text we read? Rather, gently resurrect those memories in your reader’s mind by 

describing the scene a bit, giving the context of your quotation. You don’t have to take long about it; you 

might only need a phrase. Your goal, however, is to do what’s needed to help the reader say, “Oh yes, I 

know the bit you’re talking about,” so that you can move along and make your point. Lay out your evidence 

in such a way that the reader never has to pick up his text unless he wants to double-check your point for 

himself.


In short, follow this paradigm: 

A. Briefly recall the scene to the reader’s mind, 

B. Segway into your quotation, 

C. Give the page reference, and 

D. Make your point, drawing the reader’s attention to the elements in the quotation that support your 

thesis. 

11. Please have mercy on my blood pressure and use the following format for quotations: 

“Here is the quotation” (page). 

“Is this the quotation?” (page). 

“Oh yeah, baby, thizzis thuh quotation!” (page). 

For quotations of more than four lines of prose or three lines of verse, cite the text as a block quotation. 

< ONE INCH MARGIN > < ONE INCH MARGIN > 


Here I am merrily writing along, composing 

profound sentences. Now I think that I shall quote 

something: 

This is a quotation from the text, indented one 

full tab stop (about an inch). Note that you omit 

the outer quotation marks. Should the passage 

include some speech, such as “O what a witty 

example this is,” then enclose the speech in 

double rather than single quotation marks. Put 

one space after your last punctuation mark, and 

then give the page number. (page) 

Here, of course, I include my insightful and detailed commentary on 

the quoted passage above. Ta-daaah! 

< ½ INCH 

> 

Lastname 3 

< ONE INCH MARGIN >


12. Briefly introduce characters or terms when you first refer to them, even in a phrase. Not only does this serve 

as a helpful reminder to your audience, but shows them in what capacity or context you’re going to be 

discussing the character or term: are you talking, for example, about Beowulf the victorious warrior, 

Beowulf the faithful vassal, or Beowulf the imperfect king? 

• “Margot, the protagonist’s wife”; 

• “Cordelia, Lear’s youngest daughter”; 

• “Hrothgar, king of the Danes.” 

13. Avoid “I think / feel / believe . . . .” Your paper shouldn’t appear to be based on opinion, but on hard, 

substantiated fact. To this end, use the third person in formal papers (such as “one” or “the reader”): your 

assertions will appear more objective than statements made in the first person. 

SAY: “In The Mabinogion, one quickly confronts . . .” 

RATHER THAN: “In reading The Mabinogion, I was quickly confronted with . . . .” 

14. Aim for a dry, “objective,” academic tone. Avoid informal speech and any hint of melodrama. (It’s often 

vague rather than precise, for one thing.) 

AVOID: 

• “Riding headlong into unexplored territory, Arthur’s gallant knights often find themselves in weird and 

wonderful predicaments that pale the ordinary and suspend their conventions of reality.” 

• “Ultimately, the ‘otherworld’ is far grander a place than we could possibly imagine. It is a mystical 

place somewhere beyond our wanderings, floating in its own space and time like Brigadoon . . . .” 

• “Knowing that he will be facing horrors beyond his wildest nightmares, Beowulf crosses the threshold 

into the legendary hall of Heorot, looks the once-all-powerful Hrothgar in the eye, and explains his 

death-defying mission.” 

15. Avoid beginning sentences with a conjunction (such as and, but, or yet). Instead, you might use Even so, 

however, nevertheless, or some other appropriate transition. 

16. Your title is not merely something slapped on at the end; it is a finely distilled representation of the paper as 

a whole, even more compact than the thesis statement itself. Spend time crafting it. 

17. Omitting bits of quotations: the mechanics of ellipses. 

The MLA, blast its hide, keeps changing its rules on formatting ellipses every few years; it’s no wonder that 

students feel confused on the issue. I include more detailed instructions on the subject further below, but in 

brief (as of May 2003) this is how ellipses work: 

• ELLIPSIS IN THE MIDDLE: The astute author states that “In brief . . . this is how ellipses work” (page). 

• ELLIPSIS AT THE END: With his typical lightning wit, the pundit reflects: “The MLA, blast its hide, keeps 

changing its rules. . . .” 

OR: “The MLA, blast its hide, keeps changing its rules . . .” (page). 

N.B.: Only use such ellipsis if your extract appears to be a complete sentence when in fact it’s not. 

• ELLIPSIS OF A SENTENCE: The extraordinarily-insightful analyst comments, “It’s no wonder that students 

feel confused on the issue. . . . This is how ellipses work” (page). 

• ELLIPSIS FROM THE MIDDLE OF ONE SENTENCE TO THE MIDDLE OF ANOTHER: This most perspicuous writer 

notes that while the MLA “keeps changing its rules . . . . this is how ellipses work” (page); 

OR: “The MLA, blast its hide, keeps changing its rules. . . . I include more detailed instructions 

on the subject further below” (page); 

OR: the MLA changes its rules “every few years; . . . this is how ellipses work” (page); 

OR: a pox on “the MLA, blast its hide, . . . this is how ellipses work” (page).


However, be thee warned: Microsoft Word—a pox of toadstools upon its programming—may take your 

carefully-spaced-out ellipses and squoosh them together automatically to form “...”. You must be 

ever-vigilant. 

18. Note that there are two major ways of proving your point. You may focus on a couple of large quotations or 

scenes which you then explain in detail, or you may need to quickly establish a point by following your 

assertion with a series of brief references [e.g., “After all, it is through the eyes that the Duke (1.1.20), 

Olivia (1.5.10 and 2.2.20), and even Viola (2.4.24 and 51.135) have been ensnared by love.”]. 

19. Avoid ambiguous pronouns. “It,” “he,” or “they” may be useful enough if their antecedent (the noun to 

which they refer) is clear; otherwise, they damage the precision of your argument and may lead your reader 

astray. Most of all, however you may be tempted, DO NOT introduce a sentence with a naked “This.” 

This—that is to say, this practice, forces the reader to assume (yea, to assume powers of mind-reading to 

recreate) your meaning. Even if said reader gets the gist of your logic, he may not get the precise nuance, 

and in an argument nuance is key. 

And finally, the one for which you’ve been waiting: 

20. Quote is a verb. Quotation is a noun. In formal writing, do not use quote as a shortened form of quotation, 

or I shall send huge hairy hooligans to come and break your thumbs. 

II. STYLE 

A. SUMMARIZE THE FACTUAL; QUOTE THE MEMORABLE. 

Memorable: “‘Prop up the forks under my eyelids so I can see what my son-in-law is like’” (152). 

B. VOICE 

As a point of style, construct your sentences using an active rather than a passive voice: “The alliance for a time 

cements the peace” rather than “The peace for a time is cemented by the alliance.” 

III. MECHANICS 

A. ELLIPSES 

To condense a quoted passages, you can use the ellipsis mark, . . . , to indicate omitted words (note the 

spaces in between the periods). Some guidelines: 

1. “Whenever you wish to omit a word, a phrase, a sentence, or more from a quoted passage, you should be 

guided by two principles: fairness to the author quoted and the grammatical integrity of your writing.” 42 

2. The remaining sentence must be grammatically correct. 

3. As a rule, you do not use ellipses at the beginning or the end of a quotation; your readers will understand 

that the quoted material is taken from a longer passage. 

Original: “What man wants is simply independent choice, whatever that independence may cost and 

where it may lead” (Dostoevsky 18). 

42 Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6 th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 

2003. 114.


Quoted Phrase: Dostoevsky affirms that what humans desire is “simply independent choice” (18). 

4. If you omit words at the end of a sentence of passage, however, and your quotation is a complete 

sentence that can stand on its own, you might want to show the reader that there was more to the original 

passage. This practice will help guard you against the charge of taking the passage out of context. For 

example: 

Dostoevsky states that “what man wants is simply independent choice . . .” (18). 

(Note that if you aren’t including a page reference after your quotation, place the period immediately before 

the quotation mark, and eliminate the space before the first period, as so: 

Dostoevsky states that “what man wants is simply independent choice. . . .”) 

5. When omitting a sentence or more, use four periods instead of three, making sure that you still have 

grammatically complete sentences preceding and following the ellipsis. 

Grovzenor states that “Presidential control reached its zenith under Andrew Jackson. . . . For a time, 

the media seemed merely an extension of the ruling party” (7). 

6. The omission of words or phrases in poetry is indicated by three or four periods, as in prose. However, 

the omission of a line or more of poetry is indicated by a line of spaced periods approximately the length 

of a complete line of the quoted poem. 

We see a similar motif repeated in Elizabeth Bishop’s “In the Waiting Room”: 

I went with Aunt Consuelo 

to keep her dentist’s appointment 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

It was winter. . . . (2-3 and 6)


B. FORMAT 

Cover pages are unnecessary (unless one is including an outline before the paper). Instead, the format should be 

as follows: 

Successive pages: 



Albert Einstein 

Dr. Vonk 

• 1" margins on all sides, please. 

ENGL 251, 0234 [COURSE NUMBER, SECTION NUMBER] 

10 October 2004 [NO COMMA] 

My Profound Paper Title [CENTERED] 

In this introduction [INDENTED ONE TAB STOP (ABOUT 1/2 

INCH)], we shall examine this insightful thesis statement and these 

stunningly-brilliant points. So there. 

Here is assertion number one, which of course is 

being supported with oodles of textual evidence. 

< ½ INCH 

< ½ INCH 

> 

> 

Einstein 1 

< ONE INCH MARGIN > 

Einstein 2 

< ONE INCH MARGIN > 

• Note that the title should be plain text; don’t use special fonts (such as bold) or larger type. Italics may 

be used, however, to indicate the name of the work in question, as in: 

Suffering and the Soul in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness 

• Note too that all of this is double-spaced. No extra blank lines around the title needed. 

To insert a header in Word: 

• First, type Alt-F [File], U [Page Setup], Alt-M [Margins], and make sure that it shows 1” all the way 

around with 0.5” headers. Hit OK. 

• Second, type Alt-V [View], H [Header], Alt-R [to make it right-justified], your last name, and one 

space, and then click on the # button [Insert Page Number] at the far left of the “Headers and Footers” 

toolbar. Click on “Close.” Ta-daaah! 

[If you use some other program, oh, write in your name if you absolutely must.] 

C. JUSTIFICATION 

Left-justify, please. 

D. LASER PRINTING

The appearance of your paper is a powerful first impression and a representation of yourself. 


E. NUMBERS 

Assuming that you’re writing about literature and not statistics (where writing out huge hordes of numbers 

would be cumbersome), 

• Spell out numbers which may be written in one or two words (thirty-six, one hundred, three million, and 

so forth)—this includes all numbers under 101, by the way—and use numerals for the rest (2½, 101, 

735, etc.). 

• Use numerals with abbreviations and symbols (6 lbs., 4:20 p.m., 3%, etc.). 

• Use numerals as well for references to pages, lines, verses, and the like (page 7, Luke 10:27 [not chapter 

ten, verse twenty-seven]. 

• Express related numbers using the same style: It rained precisely 6 cats and 129 dogs. 

• For inclusive numbers, as for pages or lines in parenthetical documentation: 

o Give the second number in full for numbers through ninety-nine: 2-3, 10-12, 21-48, and 89-99. 

o For larger numbers, give ONLY THE LAST TWO DIGITS of the second number, unless more are 

necessary: 96-101, 103-04, 1003-05, 395-401, and 1608-774. 

• The abbreviation BC follows the year, but AD precedes it (19 BC; AD 735). 

• For ranges of years beginning from AD 1 through 999, follow the rules for numbers above (989-93). 

• For ranges of years beginning in AD 1000 or later, omit the first two digits of the second year if they are 

the same as the first two digits of the first year (2000-03); otherwise, write both years in full (1898- 

1911). 

• Do not abbreviate ranges of years that begin before AD 1 (143 BC-AD 149). 

F. PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION 

1. Standard format: (Author page). 

“‘He does not care,’ she thought. ‘But other people noticed and that’s what upsets him’” (Dostoevsky 

162). 

[Exception: if you quote from more than one work by that author, include the date of the edition from 

which you cite: (Dostoevsky 1985, 162).] 

2. If you can name the author in a single phrase, or if you are only focusing on one work in your paper, or if 

you have just made a reference to this author, or if the context makes the author completely obvious, you 

do not need to include him/her in your parenthetical documentation. Just cite the page number, or in the 

case of a play, the Act, Scene, and Lines, connected by periods. 

Dostoevsky portraits Anna’s thoughts in much the same light: “‘He does not care,’ she thought. ‘But 

other people noticed and that’s what upsets him’” (162). 

Only then does Malvolio enter, in a lover’s apoplexy: “Sad, lady? I could be sad. This does make / some 

obstruction in the blood, this cross-gartering; / but what of that?” (3.4.19-21) 

3. Punctuation with quotation marks: 

a. Periods and commas. 

• With no documentation, place periods and commas inside quotation marks: 

“I am as well in my wits, fool, as thou art,” he said.


• When documenting, do not include periods or commas inside the quotation mark; instead, put a 

period after the parenthesis. 

“Then you are mad indeed, if you / be now better in your wits than a fool” (4.2.92-93). 

• Unless, of course, you are not finished with your sentence: 

“Then you are mad indeed, if you / be now better in your wits than a fool,” the Clown responds 

(4.2.92-93). 

b. Colons and semicolons. 

• With no documentation, place periods and commas outside quotation marks: 

Toby states: “I would we were well rid of this knavery . . .”; however, we later see (blah blah 

blah). 

• When documenting, follow the rules for periods and commas. 

c. Question marks and exclamations points. 

• With no documentation, put question marks and exclamation points inside quotation marks 

unless they apply to the sentence as a whole. 

“What think you of this fool, Malvolio?” versus 

Have you not heard of the old proverb, “Do not climb the hill until you reach it”? 

• When documenting, however, the question mark or exclamation point should appear before the 

quotation mark, and a period should follow the parenthetical citation. 

“Will you deny me now?” Antonio cries. “Is’t possible that my deserts to you / Can lack 

persuasion?” (3.4.359-61). 

G. QUOTATIONS 

1. Prose. 

a. If the quotation runs no more than four lines, put it in quotation marks and incorporate it into the text. 

“He was obeyed,” writes Conrad of the company manager in Heart of Darkness, “yet he inspired 

neither love nor fear, nor even respect.” 

b. If it is more than four typed lines, set it off from your text as follows: 

At the conclusion of Lord of the Flies, Ralph and the other boys realize the horror of their actions: 

The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for 

the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his


whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; 

and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (186) 

2. Drama. 

a. You may cite two or three lines from a single character by preserving the lines as they are written on 

the page, and separating them by a forward slash. Note that there are spaces before and after this 

slash. 

Kreon states that “He who cherishes an individual beyond his homeland, / He, I say, is nothing, for 

the State is safety” (222-23). 

b. If you quote dialogue between two or more characters in a play, set the quotation off from your text. 

Begin each part of the dialogue with the appropriate character’s name, indented, in capital letters, 

and start the quotation from that point. For instance: 

At this point Lear loses the final symbol of his former power, the soldiers who make up his train: 

GONERIL: Hear me, my lord. 

What need you five-and-twenty, ten or five, 

to follow in a house where twice so many 

Have a command to tend you? 

REGAN: Why need one? 

LEAR: O, reason not the need! (2.4.254-58) 

H. “SMART QUOTES” [this is infidel Microsoft’s name for them, not mine] 

Do replace “Straight Quotes with Smart Quotes” [Tools > AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat As You 

Type] should it not be done automatically. This will print out elegant “” ’s, as opposed to " 's. 

I. WORKS CITED PAGE 

1. Printed Sources 

• For Books, give the following information as relevant: (1) the author’s name, (2) title of a part of a 

book [such as with a work in an anthology], (3) title of the book, (4) name of the editor or translator, 

(5) edition used, (6) number of the volume(s) used [for a book in a series], (7) name of the series, (8) 

place of publication, (9) publisher, (10) date of publication, and (11) page numbers [for a work in an 

anthology]. 

Tatar, Maria. Off with Their Heads! Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood. Princeton: 

Printeton UP, 1992.


Marquart, James W., Sheldon Ekland Olson, and Jonathan R. Sorensen. The Rope, the Chair, 

and the Needle: Captial Punishment in Texas, 1923-1990. Austin: U of Texas P, 

1994. 

Lewis, C. S. “Viewpoints: C. S. Lewis.” Twentieth-Century Interpretations of Sir Gawain 

and the Green Knight. Ed. Denton Fox. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1968. 

• For Articles, give the following information as relevant: (1) the author’s name, (2) the title of the 

article, (3) the name of the periodical, (4) the series number or name [if relevant], (5) volume 

number [for a scholarly journal], (6) date of publication, and (7) page numbers. 

2. Internet Sources 

White, Sabina, and Andrew Winzelberg. “Laughter and Stress.” Humor 5 (1992): 343-55. 

• For an Online Scholarly Project or Information Database, give (1) the title of the project/database, 

(2) the name of the editor [if given], (3) electronic publication information, such as the version 

number, date of latest update, and name of any sponsoring organization, (4) the date on which you 

accessed the site, and (5) network address / URL: 

The History Channel Online. 2001. History Channel. 20 Sept. 2001. 

. 

[Note that there is no period between (4) and (5).] 

• For a Document with a Scholarly Project or Information Database, precede the information above 

with (1) the author [if given] and (2) the title of the work: 

“Text of Osama bin Laden’s statement.” Chicago Tribune. 7 Oct. 2001. Associated Press. 15 Oct. 

2001 . 

• For a Professional or a Personal Site, give (1) the name of the creator, (2) the title or description of the 

site, (3) the name of any organization associated with the site, (4) the date on which you accessed the 

site, and (5) the URL: 

Dawe, James. Jane Austen Page. 15 Sept. 1998 . 

IV. GRAMMAR


A. APOSTROPHES 

All of you know how this works: to indicate possession, add an apostrophe and s: a hard day’s night. Note, 

however, that there’s a difference of opinion when it comes to plural nouns ending in s. Some style guides 

prefer you to add apostrophe-s (James’s bazooka), while others tell you to add the apostrophe alone (James’ 

bazooka). The MLA uses the latter option, so that’s our standard as well. 

Also note the possessives of pronouns don’t get apostrophes (theirs, not their’s, etc.). This means that it’s 

stands for “it is” or “it has” (like it’s been a long day’s night), not “of it” (like the poodle, alas, got its head 

dyed pink). 

B. CLARITY THROUGH PARALLELISM 

“[They sought to help their audience] to remember complex series of events, to distinguish faces from 

one another, and to remember complex series of events.” 

“[They used different means] of helping audiences to visualize their characters and settings and of 

aiding them in following the storyline.” 

C. COMMA SPLICES 

When a writer puts no mark of punctuation and no coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet) 

between independent clauses, the result is a fused sentence, as in: 

“Power tends to corrupt absolute power corrupts absolutely.” 

Far more common is the comma splice, when independent clauses are separated by a comma without a 

coordinating conjunction, e.g.: 

“Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” 

“Power tends to corrupt, moreover, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” 

To correct this, either: 

1. use a comma and a coordinating conjunction 

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” 

2. use a semicolon (or, if appropriate, a colon) 

“Power tends to corrupt; moreover, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” 

3. make the clauses into separate sentences 

D. LACK OF COMMA IN A SERIES 

Whenever you list things, use a comma. You’ll find a difference of opinion as to whether the next-to-last 

noun (the noun before the “and”) requires a comma. (“Apples, oranges, pears, and bananas”). My advice is 

to use the comma because sometimes your list will include pairs of things: “For Christmas she wanted 

books and tapes, peace and love, and for all the world to be happy [bleah].” If you are in the habit of using a 

comma before the “and,” you’ll avoid confusion in sentences like this one. 

E. NO COMMA AFTER INTRODUCTORY PHRASES


For example: After the devastation of the siege of Leningrad the Soviets were left with the task of 

rebuilding their population as well as their city. (A comma should be placed after “Leningrad.”) 

F. HYPHENS WITH COMPOUND ADJECTIVES 

When a compound adjective precedes the noun which it modifies, the elements of that adjective are joined 

by hyphens: “nineteenth-century technology”; “a carefully-considered decision”; “government-operated 

programs” as opposed to “programs that were government operated.” 

G. PRONOUNS AND CASES 

A case is the aspect of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives which refers to their relation to other words in the 

sentence. 

There are three cases in English: 

1. the subjective case (where the word is the subject or subject complement of the sentence) 

a. Subject of a Verb: I ate two hundred tomatoes today. 

b. Subject Complement: It was she who made the poisoned pickle-relish. 

2. the objective case (where the word is a direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition, or 

appositive identifying an object) 

a. Direct Object: The maddened vultures pursued my friend and me. 

b. Indirect Object: The skydive gave both him and his grandma quite a thrill. 

c. Object of a Preposition: Just between us, I think the prof ate too many toads for breakfast. 

d. Appositive Identifying an Object: The thief took both of them, the addled Aunt and her. 

(An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that identifies or renames a word that precedes it.) 

3. the possessive case (where the word indicates ownership) 

My mother kicked the whole knitting team out of her house. 

(See also APOSTROPHES above) 

PRONOUN CASE FORMS 

Subjective 

I 

Objective 

he, she it we you they who whoever 

Me 

Possessive 

him, her it us you them whom whomever 

My his, her its our your their whose 

Mine hers ours yours theirs 

Note 1: We and Us before and Noun 

When a first-person plural pronoun directly precedes a noun, the case of the pronoun depends on the 

way the noun functions in the sentence. So: 

If we rebels don’t hang together, we will indeed hang separately. 

(Rebels is the subject of the sentence, so the pronoun we must be in the subjective case [pardons to 

Benjamin Franklin].) 

That sadistic dentist is probably preparing a nasty drill for us poor teeth. 

(Teeth is the object of the preposition for, so the pronoun us must be in the objective case.) 

Note 2: Who and Whom


The case of the pronouns who and whom depends on their function within their own clause. When a 

pronoun serves as the subject of its clause, use who or whoever; when it functions as an object, use 

whom or whomever. 

Those ill-mannered Vikings seem to attack whoever is in their way. 

(Whoever is the subject of the dependent clause whoever is in their way.) 

Whom [or whomever] may we thank for this generous gift of lime pudding? 

(Whom is the object of the independent clause whom may we thank.) 

H. VAGUE PRONOUN REFERENCES 

For example: The boy and his father knew that he had been eaten by the pigeon. (Who was eaten? The boy? 

His father? Some other person?) 

Be particularly wary of beginning sentences with this or it; rather, tell us exactly to whom or what you’re 

referring. 

I. PRONOUN AGREEMENT ERROR 

Don’t write something like Everyone is entitled to their opinion. “Everyone” is a singular pronoun. You will 

have to use “his” or “her.” 

J. SENTENCE FRAGMENTS 

Silly things, to be avoided. Unless, as here, you are using them to achieve a certain effect. 

K. SPACING 

In keeping with contemporary publishing practice, please use ONE space after punctuation (periods, colons, 

semi-colons, and commas), around parentheses, and between words in general. 

For those of you using recent versions of WordPerfect, some things you should know. In the main menu 

bar, under Tools, there is an option called QuickCorrect. Click on it, choose Options, and make a couple 

adjustments before you work on your papers: under Sentence Corrections, deselect (i.e., click on the box 

to the left of the option so that no “x” appears in it) Capitalize First Letter, Correct Two Irregular 

Capitals, and Double Space to Single Space. The last is what you are particularly concerned with, as it 

takes all your double spaces after your periods and squooshes them down to one. This makes it appear as 

though you are ignorant of a basic rule of punctuation, which is BAD. A pox on WordPerfect and all its 

ilk! (No, I don’t mean that—word processing GOOD.) 

L. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT 

This gets tricky when you are using collective nouns or pronouns and you think of them as plural nouns: 

The committee wants [not want] to annihilate the proletariat. 

Mistakes like this also occur when your verb is far from your subject. For example, The media, who has all 

the power in this nation and abuses it consistently, uses its influence for ill more often than good. (Note that 

media is an “it,” not a “they.” The verbs are chosen accordingly.) 

M. TENSE SHIFTS 

Be consistent. Guard against moving between past and present tense, especially when you’re talking about 

things that happen (or have happened?) within a literary text. Generally, discuss the events of the text in the 

present tense: you’re talking about the world of the narrative, which never (in a sense) fades away. 

V. EDITING ABBREVIATIONS

New paragraph needed 

awk Awkward 


• “Looking at Jesus’ death on the cross, one can find it evident. . . .” 

Try “one finds . . .” or “it is evident that. . . .” 

• “When capital punishment is in action of grasping a person’s life away” 

Try “When capital punishment takes a person’s life. . . .” 

BW Best word [Is this the most accurate or most appropriate word you could choose?] 

colloq Colloquial (“common”) language inappropriate for formal paper 

• “The opposing kingdom doesn’t seem to be able to hold a candle to it.” 

• “The audiences . . . were drawn completely in.” 

CS Comma splice 

• “Bran is not only a big man, he is mistaken for a mountain.” 

• “Gwyddbwyll is not only a pastime put into the stories for amusement, it is an integral part 

of the story.” 

DangPrep Dangling prepositions. Avoid leaving prepositions at the end of sentences (e.g., say “This is 

something to which I am committed and for which I am willing to die” as opposed to 

“something I am committed to and willing to die for”). 

[Churchill: “This is just the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put!”] 

DS Double-space these lines, please. (The entire paper, including block quotations, should be doublespaced.) 

frag Sentence fragment [the sentence doesn’t stand on its own; it lacks a subject or a finite verb, and/or 

is a dependent clause that should be attached (by a comma, for example) to an adjacent 

sentence.] 

SP Spelling error 

Spell it out! Do not assume that the reader will see the point of a quotation (etc.). Explicitly draw their attention 

to textual detail and make your point. 

Sweep! Avoid sweeping statements (see page 1, number 3 above). 

Stet Latin term meaning “Let it stand.” [i.e., ignore my comments; I’m babbling.] 

TS Tense shift 

WW Wrong word 

• “these efforts are met with [OR regarded as] trifles” 

• “Their loyalty to Bran exceeded even death [OR remained steadfast even after his death].”

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