Old English/1st reading: David's feats

Note that grammatical suffixes have been bolded, to help easy identification.

A slow reading of this passage

This reading is from Ælfric. The spelling has been slightly normalized.

Reading

Saul hātte sē forma cyning þe ofer godes folc rīxode

Sē ƿæs tō cyninġe āhafen sƿȳðor for folces ġecorennysse⁠ þonne ðurh godes rǣd.

Fela ōðre cyningas⁠ rīxodon ǣr ġeond ealne middaneard ofer hǣðenum lēodum · ac ofer israhēla folc þe on god belȳfde næs nān eorðliċ cyning ǣr ðan þe saul sƿā sƿā hī sylfe ġecuron ofer hī cynerīċe underfēng ·

Sē bēah hrædlīċe fram þæs ælmihtigan godes ƿillan⁠ and nolde be his ƿissunge and be his ƿitegan lāre faran · and sē yfela gāst hine drehte mid deofollicum stiċelsum · and on unġeƿitte his mōd āƿende ·

Þā forseah sē ælmihtiga god þone saul æt nēxtan ·⁠ and hine of his rīċe āƿearp be his āgenum ġeƿyrhtum · and ġeċēas him tō cyninġe þone cēnan dauid ·

Sē ðe būtan ƿǣpnum ġeƿylde ðā lēon · and þæs beran ċeaflas tōbræc mid his handum · and āhredde þæt ġelæhte sċēp of his sċearpum tōðum ·

Hē ofƿearp ēac syððan þone sƿȳþlican ent⁠ · goliam þone gramlican þe godes naman hyrƿde · and mid ġebēote clypode bysmor godes folce · ġearu tō ānƿīġe mid ormettre ƿǣpnunge ·

Hƿæt; þā dauid ēode tōġēanes þām ente ·⁠ and ofƿearp mid his liþeran þone ġelēaflēasan ent · būfon ðām ēagan þæt hē bēah tō eorðan ·

Ġelǣhte þā of ðām ente his āgen sƿurd ·⁠ and his ormǣte hēafod mid þām of āslōh · and hæfde ðā ġeƿunnen sīġe his lēode ·

Vocabulary

Note that for the purposes of alphabetic listing, the prefix "ġe-" is not accounted for. If you cannot find a word beginning with "ġe-" in the g section, go at the section of the first letter following "ġe-".

ac (conj) -- but
āhebban (s6) -- to lift up; to elevate; "tō cyninġe āhebban" - "to elevate to king"
āhreddan (w1) -- to save, rescue
and (conj) -- and
āƿendan (w1) -- to change
āƿearp -- singular preterite indicative of "āƿeorpan"
āƿeorpan (s3) -- to throw out, get rid of, dispose of
ælmihtiġ (aj) -- almighty
ǣr (av)- before, previously; already; (conj) before
ǣr þan þe (conj) -- before
æt nēxtan (av phrase) -- next, next thing
be (prep) -- (+dat) by means of; by, beside, by the side of; concerning, about, with regards to
belīfan (w1) -- to believe, to trust, to have faith; "belīfan on (+acc)" - "to believe in"
bera (wm) -- bear
būgan (s2) -- to bend, to turn
būtan (prep) -- (+dat) without
ċeafl (sm) -- jaw
ġeċēas -- singular preterite indicative of "ġeċēosan"
cēne (aj) -- bold, fierce, brave
ġeċēosan (s2) -- to choose, to select, to make a choice
ġecorennness (sf) -- choice, choosing
cynerīċe (sn) -- kingdom
cyning (sm; gen: cyninġes; dat: cyninġe) -- king
deofolliċ (aj) -- demonic, devilish
dreċċan (w1) -- to torment
eall (aj) -- all
eorðliċ (aj) -- earthly, of this world
faran (s6) -- to go, to proceed
fela (indec aj) -- many
folc (sn) -- people
forma (ord) -- first
forseah -- see "forsēon"
forsēon (s5) -- to overlook, neglect, reject
gāst (sm) -- spirit, ghost
ġeond (prep) -- (+acc) throughout
god (sm) -- God
hātan (s7b) -- to call, to command; to be called. NOTE: the passive form "to be called", takes an additional -t-: Saul hātte - "(He) was called Saul". This is an archaic feature only present in hātan.
hǣðen (aj) -- heathen, pagan
hē (3prs sg pron) -- he; it (referring to grammatically masculine non-living objects)
hine -- accusative of "hē"
him -- dative of "hē"
hrædlīċe (av) -- quickly, soon
israhēlas (sm pl) -- the Israelites, Israel
lār (sf) -- teaching, instruction
ġelæċċan (w1) -- to catch, seize
ġelæht -- past participle of "ġelæċċan"
lēo (wm) -- lion
lēod (sf) -- nation, people(-group)
middaneard (sm) -- the earth, the world
mōd (sn) -- mind
nān (aj) -- not any, no, none (West Saxon dialect)
næs (contraction) -- "ne ƿæs" - "was not": SEE "ƿesan" and "ne"
ne (av) -- (before verbs, NOT before adjectives or nouns) not; (conj) nor
nolde (contraction) -- "ne ƿolde" - "did not want": SEE "ƿillan" and "ne"
of (prep) -- (+dat) from, out of; from (place of origin)
ofer (prep) -- (+dat) over
on (prep acc/dat) -- (with acc) marking object of thought; (with dat) in, on, into
rīċe (sn) -- kingdom, empire, state; rulership
rīxian (w2) -- to rule
saul (sm) -- Saul, king of Israel
sċēp (sn) -- sheep
sċearp (aj) -- sharp
sē (article) -- the, that
sē þe (rel pron) -- who, he who
stiċels (sm) -- goad, thorn
sƿā (conj) -- as, of the same degree, like; "sƿā sƿā" - "just like", "just as"
sƿīðor (av) -- more
sylf (aj) -- self, (him/her/etc)-self; NOTE: could be used either reflexively with the suitable personal pronoun, or emphatically. When it followed a noun or a pronoun, it could be declined strong: "hī sylfe" - "they themselves".
tō (prep) -- (+dat) to; as (denoting fulfilment of a role)
tōbrecan (s4) -- to break apart
tōð (sm i-mut) -- tooth
þā (av) -- then (referring to a specific instance), on that occasion
þonne (conj) - than (in comparatives)
þe (rel pron) -- which, who, that. NOTE: Used to introduce relative clauses "the person who did that" - "sē mann þe dyde þæt"
þurh (prep) -- (+acc) by, by means of
underfōn (s7) -- to accept; "cynerīċe underfēng" -- "(he) accepted (the) (rule of the) kingdom"
unġeƿitt (sn) -- insanity, senselessness
ƿesan (irregv) -- to be
ƿilla (wm) -- will, desire
ƿillan (irreg vaux) -- to want, to desire, to wish (to do)
ƿissung (sf) -- instruction, guidance
ƿītega (wm) -- prophet, wise man, soothsayer
ġeƿyrht (sn) -- work, deed
ġeƿyldan (w1) -- to subdue, to conquer, take power over
yfel (aj) -- bad, evil