Only two words appear unchanged: he and his. Separated by more than a millennium, these two texts are barely recognisable as the “same” language. Work of the Wulder-Father as he of wonders The might of the Measurer and his purpose Now shall we praise the Warden of Heaven-Kingdom Those are the first few lines of Cædmon's Hymn, a 7th-Century poem generally considered to be the oldest surviving work of English literature. ?Ĭan you read Old English writing? Here's a sample:

The Anglo-Saxons, who originally became a dominant force in England, developed Old English first from rune-type inscriptions, but at the turn of the 9th century, it was reformed/updated to use the letters of the Latin alphabet.Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Old English is one of the most well known West Germanic languages, and bears a close relation to Old Frisian and Old Saxon.

Old English letters font styles have been around since the 5th century. We've got some great free Old English tattoo fonts to choose from, and if you look closely, you'll see how they each differ in design and artistic touch. Old English style fonts are especially popular with people who appreciate alcohol, and the brand name Old English malt liquor, has been a household name with people who love spirits since 1964. Our Old English font generator can help bring your tattoo vision to life! Old English is seen more than ever in tattoos, and there's thousands of active examples people have had done. In tattoos, Old English is often used as an urban status symbol. Old English was also known as Anglo-Saxon, and was a precursor to our currently modern English language. We've got some wonderful free Old English tattoo fonts for you to choose from! Simply load the Old English font of your choice into the font generator, add some text, click Generate!, and you'll get an 'up close and personal' view of what it will look like as a tattoo. And when it comes to tattoos, we see Old English fonts being used a lot! There's only 49 copies left in existence, and a single Gutenburg Bible, written entirely in Old English, is worth an amazing 35 million dollars! Old English style fonts can also be seen being used throughout Medieval Times, and Old English bears a close resemblance to Blackletter, Gothic, and Textura type fonts. The Gutenburg Bible is written in Old English font style, and was one of the first books ever printed in Europe.

Old english font for the letter a