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Opening Lines of THE CANTERBURY TALES (Middle English Pronunciation)
Geoffrey Chaucer himself was kind enough to recite the first 18 lines of his famous Canterbury Tales in Middle English for Rooted Willow Homeschool. To watch the video, CLICK HERE or on the images below. Below are the first 18 lines in the East Midland dialect of Middle English, the English of Geoffrey Chaucer. “Middle English” is the stage of English lasting (roughly) from 1150-1500 A.D. It is not so different from modern English as the poem Beowulf, which comes from the Old English period (450-1150 A.D.), but, as you can see, it was quite different. (CLICK HERE for my recitation of “Caedmon’s Hymn,” a poem in Old English.) Interestingly,…
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CÆDMON’S HYMN
According to the Venerable Bede, in the late seventh century A.D. an angel appeared in a dream to Cædmon, a shy, uneducated man, and inspired him to compose the poem we know today as “Cædmon’s Hymn.” “Cædmon’s Hymn” is the oldest surviving poem in English. It is Old English, and the version I am speaking in this video is the West Saxon dialect of Old English. A Northumbrian version appears in the bottom margin of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People. You can see this addition in the manuscript photo at the end of the video. The hymn itself beautifully describes God’s creation of the universe. To watch the…
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What did Charlotte Mason say about narration?
Narration is a skill that Charlotte Mason emphasized, and I think it is a very valuable skill, particularly these days when our ability to focus on a text deeply has been weakened by the hundreds of shiny promises of entertainment that flash around us constantly. In order to narrate , you must first read or listen to a reading closely. Here are a few quotations from Charlotte Mason herself that will help get the idea across. As soon as the child is able to read, he should start reading some of his books on his own. He can read history, legends, fairy tales and other appropriate books. He should be…