A Guide to Old English
by Bruce Mitchell, Fred C. Robinson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Bruce Mitchell, Fred C. RobinsonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-01-16
ISBN: 1405146907
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Book Reviews of A Guide to Old English
Book Review: Useful, if the organization of the book is understood
Summary: 4 Stars
This book was recommended to me as preparation for graduate studies in Medieval English literature. As some of the other reviewers have noted, the book's organization is somewhat difficult to understand at first, especially if you are used to books like Wheelock's Latin, which is organized in self-study lessons with grammar concepts, vocabulary, and texts presented in order of increasing difficulty. This book is NOT organized in that way, but is still helpful if properly used.
The book is organized in a more encyclopedic fashion, e.g. with all noun declensions (including a number of notes on excceptions and variations) presented together, followed by all strong verbs (with notes), etc. Syntax has its own chapter. Therefore, you cannot expect easily to work through the book in the order in which elements are presented. It is better to remember that the book is organized by topic, not by the order in which a the many aspects of a topic should be learned. I had much better success when I started by memorizing the basic noun paradigms (ignoring the variations and exceptions), the pronoun paradigms, and then starting with weak verbs. I was then able to begin translating the basic texts provided, with the help of the glossary, and by referring to the syntax portion of the book where necessary to decipher the uses of different cases. In the midst of this I read about, but did not try to entirely memorize, the rules of sound changes, which helps greatly when looking up words in the glossary.
In short, it is not difficult to use this book for self-study, as long as you put forth some effort and thought into organizing your own "lesson plans," pulling necessary material from the book in a sensible order. Having learned another inflected language will be of great help in giving you an idea of the order in which concepts should be learned, but the "How to Use This Guide" section does give some suggestions about how to approach the material.
Summary of A Guide to Old English
The seventh edition of this popular introduction to Old English language and literature retains the general structure and style of previous editions, but has been updated, and includes two new, much-requested texts: the Cotton Gnomes and Wulfstan's Sermo Lupia ad Anglos - and two new appendices: A List of Linguistic Terms Used in This Book and The Moods of Old English.- Provides a range of helpful pedagogical tools: a map of Anglo-Saxon England, notes, a glossary, indexes to Part I, and a general introduction to Anglo-Saxon studies.
- Contains a special "How to Use this Guide" section, to aid both self-study and classroom use.
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