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