The History of English (in 10 minutes)

One of the modules in our Transition Year course is on the history of the English language (focussing on Geoffrey Chaucer). Above, an entertaining whizz through that history from the Open University, complete with animation and a commentary spoken by Clive Anderson.

An Anglo-Saxon Riddle

The first Poem of the Week of 2009 is by far the oldest one so far. It's Kevin Crossley-Holland's translation of Riddle 23 from The Exeter Book. His version is here, and the original with a more literal translation can be read here, together with the solution.

Some screenshots of the manuscript can be seen here.