24 Feb 2026

"How far back in time can you understand English?", a post that tells a story starting with the English of 2000 AD and ending with the English of 1000 AD has gone viral, and gotten a lot of people interested in older forms of English.

A common sentiment expressed by readers is that the language starting from 1200 AD is a foreign and incomprehensible. I am not sure I would agree. While Old English absolutely requires some effort to learn, I think with a little analysis it is much closer to Modern English than we think - and certainly closer to that than it is to say, Modern German.

(Full disclaimer: I am by no means an expert in Old English, nor any kind of linguist. I was able to read fairly comfortably to 1000 AD and get the gist of it, though I did have to look up a few words to get the full meaning).

The original text

And þæt heo sægde wæs eall soþ. Ic ƿifode on hire, and heo ƿæs ful scyne ƿif, ƿis ond ƿælfæst. Ne gemette ic næfre ær sƿylce ƿifman. Heo ƿæs on gefeohte sƿa beald swa ænig mann, and þeah hƿæþere hire andƿlite wæs ƿynsum and fæger.

Ac ƿe naƿiht freo ne sindon, for þy þe ƿe næfre ne mihton fram Ƿulfesfleote geƿitan, nefne ƿe þone Hlaford finden and hine ofslean. Se Hlaford hæfþ þisne stede mid searocræftum gebunden, þæt nan man ne mæg hine forlætan. Ƿe sindon her sƿa fuglas on nette, swa fixas on ƿere.

And ƿe hine secaþ git, begen ætsomne, ƿer ond ƿif, þurh þa deorcan stræta þisses grimman stedes. Hƿæþere God us gefultumige!

More modern orthography

In our first pass, we will make the orthography more modern. In Old English letters like g and c represent two different sounds, so where appropriate I have replaced them with how Modern English renders them. The rules applied are as follows:

• ģ → y
• ċ → ch
• sċ → sh
• ƿ → w
• þ → th
• ht → ght

I also put "-" between things that look like multiple words, but would be written as one word today.

Note these changes preserve pronounciation, but already some words are more obvious:

And thæt heo sæyde wæs eall soth. Ich wifode on hire, and heo wæs ful shyne wif, wis ond wælfæst. Ne yemette ich næfer ær swylche wifman. Heo wæs on yefeoghte swa beald swa æniy mann, and theah hwæthere hire andwlite wæs wynsum and fæyer.

Ac we nawight freo ne sindon, for-thy-the we næfer ne mighton fram Wulfesfleote yewitan, nefne we thone Laford finden and hine ofslean. Se Hlaford hæfth thisne stede mid searocræftum yebunden, thæt nan man ne mæy hine forlætan. We sindon her swa fuglas on nette, swa fixas on were.

And we hine sechath yit, beyen ætsomne, wer ond wif, thurgh tha deorcan stræta thisses grimman stedes. Hwæthere God us yefultumige!

Cognates - First Pass

In the next step, words that are Cognate with Modern English are replaced. Note I am only replacing the cognates that are very obvious.

Some of these congates are cognate with only part of the word.

And that heo said was all sooth. Ich wifed on her, and heo was full shyne wife, wise and wælfast. Ne yemeet ich never ere swylche wifeman. Heo was on yefeoghte swa bold swa any man, and theah hwæthere her andwlite was winesome and fair.

Ac we nought free ne sindon, for-thy-the we never ne mighton from Wulfsfleet yewitan, nefne we thone Hlaford finden and hine ofslean. Se Hlaford hath thisne stede mid searocraftum yebounden, that none ne may hine forletan. We sindon here swa fuglas on nete, swa fixas on were.

And we hine seeketh yet, beyen ætsomne, wer and wife, through the darkan streeta thisses grimman stedes. Hwæthere God us yefultumige!

Cognates - Second Pass

The article is becoming slowly more understandable. At this point the following words stand out as islands among english we already know. Were you able to guess any from context?

• heo → she
• ich → I
• swa → so
• swylch- → such
• -feoght- → fought
• wifeman → woman
• -slean → slain

These are a bit more difficult:

• fixas → fishes
• wer → wer
• were → weir

"Fixas" was also written as "fiscas"; much like how modern English speakers say both "ask" and "aks". "Wer" only survives in Modern English "werewolf". And "were" personally stumped me because I was too ignorant of fishing to know what a "weir" was...

Regardless, we now have:

And that she said was all sooth. I wifed on her, and she was full shyne wife, wise and wælfast. Ne yemeet I never ere suche woman. She was on yefoughte so bold so any man, and theah hwæthere her andwlite was winesome and fair.

Ac we nought free ne sindon, for-thy-the we never ne mighton from Wulfsfleet yewitan, nefne we thone Hlaford finden and hine ofslain. Se Hlaford hath thisne stede mid searocraftum yebounden, that none ne may hine forletan. We sindon here so fuglas on nete, so fishes on weir.

And we hine seeketh yet, beyen ætsomne, wer and wife, through the darkan streeta thisses grimman stedes. Hwæthere God us yefultumige!

Modernising phrases

At this point we can start to render some phrases into modern English directly.

And what she said was all true. I married her, and she was a very shyne woman, wise and wælfast. Ne yemeet I never before such a woman. She was in yefoughte as bold as any man, and though hwæthere her andwlite was winesome and fair.

Ac we not free ne sindon, for-thy-the we never ne mighton from Wulfsfleet yewitan, neven we thone Hlaford finden and hine ofslain. Se Hlaford has thisne stede mid searocraftum yebounden, that none ne may hine forletan. We sindon here like fuglas in a nete, like fishes in a weir.

And we hine seek yet, beyen at-samene, man and wife, through the darkan streeta thisses grimman stedes. Hwæthere God us yefultumige!

What's left?

At this point, I think most English speakers can follow this passage, if not understand the finer points. I imagine some more vocabulary like "hine" may reveal itself to you purely through context.

And for those who say Old English is more like German... look how far we got without using it at all! Though at this point, it would be helpful:

• shyne (Modern English "sheen" but German cognate is closer)
• the prefix to many verbs gė- (ye-)
• the suffix -en
• the verb form sindon
• the preposition mid
• fuglas (Modern English "fowls" but German cognate is closer)
• stedes

And lastly, things that really are Old English specific.

• ne particle requires you to know that Old English used negative concord
• for-þy-þe I think must be learned from scratch
• searo does not survive later stages of English, and Wiktionary lists cognates with only other dead languages. Though I believe Tolkien did borrow it for the character Saruman
• Hwæthere is a false friend - related to modern "whether"+e, but it means "nevertheless"
• þone will require some grammar, though I could have just said "the" and it would have made sense
• gefultumige good luck with this!

So how foreign is Old English, really?

Old English is certainly its own language, with its own grammar, vocab, and idioms. And it does need to be studied as a different language - even now I feel like I have only scratched it's surface.

Still, it is much closer Modern English than we might think.