Old English Phrases

Wes þū, Hroðgar, hāl!

Meaning:

Be well, Hrothgar! — a respectful greeting to one person

Literally:

Be thou, Hrothgar, whole!

Usage:

Beowulf greets King Hrothgar with this on arriving at Heorot. 'Wes' is the singular imperative of bēon/wesan ('to be'), so this exact form addresses one person only; hāl ('whole, well') is the root of the later toast-word 'hail'.

Wes þū hāl!

Meaning:

Hello / be well — to one person

Literally:

Be thou whole!

Usage:

A simple greeting to one person: þū is singular 'thou' and wes is the singular imperative. For more than one person, use the plural form 'Wesaþ gē hāle!' below.

Because one word was removed from the attested line, this is labelled adapted, not attested.

Wesaþ gē hāle!

Meaning:

Hello / be well — to several people

Literally:

Be ye whole!

Usage:

The plural counterpart of 'Wes þū hāl!': wesaþ is the plural imperative, gē is 'you' for more than one person, and hāle carries the plural adjective ending.

Ic þē þancie.

Meaning:

Thank you / I thank you — to one person

Literally:

I thank thee.

Usage:

Polite thanks addressed to one person (þē is singular 'thee'). The verb þancian ('to thank') takes the person thanked in the dative case.

Both words are attested Old English, but no historical source is cited for the sentence as a whole — dictionary words alone do not make a sentence attested.

Gōdne dæg!

Meaning:

Good day!

Literally:

(I wish you a) good day.

Usage:

A friendly daytime greeting modelled on the modern English formula; the accusative gōdne fits a wish of this shape ('may you have a good day').

No Old English manuscript is known to use this as a greeting formula — treat it as a modern convenience, not history.

Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena in geārdagum, þēodcyninga þrym gefrūnon, hū ðā æþelingas ellen fremedon.

Meaning:

Listen! We have heard of the glory of the Spear-Danes in days of old.

Literally:

Listen! We have heard of the Spear-Danes' might in days of yore, of the kings of the people — how the princes performed deeds of courage.

Usage:

The poem's opening call for attention: Hwæt! is the epic way to say 'listen!', a storyteller claiming the room rather than a casual greeting.

The opening of the most famous Old English poem.

Þæt wæs gōd cyning!

Meaning:

That was a good king!

Literally:

That was (a) good king!

Usage:

The poet's verdict on King Scyld at the close of his funeral account. Wæs is past tense, so today it suits praise spoken about a remembered leader rather than to their face.

Þæt wæs gōd hlāford!

Meaning:

That was a good lord! — praise for a remembered benefactor or leader

Literally:

That was (a) good lord!

Usage:

Praise of a departed patron or leader; hlāford ('lord', literally 'loaf-guardian') ranks below cyning ('king') and so fits a benefactor, employer or chieftain.

Fæder ūre þū þe eart on heofonum, sī þīn nama gehālgod.

Meaning:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Literally:

Father of us, thou who art in the heavens, be thy name hallowed.

Usage:

The opening of the Lord's Prayer. Ūre is plural 'our', while the prayer addresses God with the singular þū — the intimate form, not the distant one.

Tōbecume þīn rīce. Gewurþe þīn willa on eorðan swā swā on heofonum. Ūrne gedæghwāmlīcan hlāf syle ūs tōdæg.

Meaning:

Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.

Literally:

May thy kingdom come. May thy will be done on earth just as in the heavens. Our day-by-day loaf give to us today.

Usage:

The first petitions of the prayer. Note hlāf — 'loaf' — the everyday word that later gives us 'lord' (hlāford, loaf-guardian) and 'lady' (hlǣfdige, loaf-kneader).

And forgyf ūs ūre gyltas, swā swā wē forgyfað ūrum gyltendum. And ne gelǣd þū ūs on costnunge, ac ālȳs ūs of yfele.

Meaning:

Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Literally:

And forgive us our guilts, just as we forgive our guilty ones. And do not lead us into temptation, but release us from evil.

Usage:

The closing petitions. Gyltas ('guilts, debts') carries the sense that later English Bibles render as 'trespasses' — the meaning matches even where the sounds do not.

God þē bletsige.

Meaning:

God bless you — to one person

Literally:

May God bless thee.

Usage:

A blessing on one person (þē, singular). The verb bletsian ('to bless') stands in the present subjunctive bletsige — the form Old English uses for wishes.

Built from attested words and grammar to practise the subjunctive; it is not a quotation from any historical text.

Wyrd bið ful ārǣd.

Meaning:

Fate is fully determined — what must happen, happens.

Literally:

Fate is fully determined.

Usage:

A resigned maxim from an exile's monologue. Wyrd is fate as an impersonal force — a word that survives, much changed in meaning, as the modern 'weird'.

Swā sceal geong guma gōde gewyrcean

Meaning:

So should a young man bring about good — generosity wins loyalty.

Literally:

So shall a young man bring about good (things).

Usage:

Advice from the poem's account of the Danish royal line: a young man secures loyal followers by generosity while his father still shelters him. Sceal expresses duty — 'should', not just 'will'.

The next half-line makes the generosity concrete: 'with splendid gifts from his father's stores' (line 21).

Swā sceal gumena gehwylc gōde gewyrcean

Meaning:

So should everyone bring about good — the maxim generalized

Literally:

So shall each of men bring about good (things).

Usage:

A generalized form of the Beowulf maxim, suitable for all people rather than only the young; gumena gehwylc is 'each of men'.

Se wīsa spricþ lȳtel and hīerþ fela.

Meaning:

The wise speak little and hear much.

Literally:

The wise (one) speaks little and hears much.

Usage:

A proverb-style saying for practising third-person verb endings (-þ: spricþ, hīerþ). Suitable for mottos and study notes.

Composed in the style of Old English wisdom poetry, but it appears in no manuscript — the label is the honest part.

Freme ellen!

Meaning:

Do bravely! — a motto of courage

Literally:

Perform courage!

Usage:

A two-word motto urging courageous deeds; ellen is the courage praised throughout Beowulf. The imperative freme addresses one person.

Wē rowaþ ofer sǣ.

Meaning:

We row over the sea.

Literally:

We row over (the) sea.

Usage:

A practice sentence for the plural present: wē ('we') takes the verb ending -aþ. Ofer ('over') is followed by the accusative case here.

Mid sweorde and scylde.

Meaning:

With sword and shield.

Literally:

With sword and with shield.

Usage:

A motto-style fragment, not a full sentence; mid ('with') is followed by the dative case, which is why both nouns end in -e.

Þæt fȳr in þære healle byrnþ beorhte.

Meaning:

The fire in the hall burns bright.

Literally:

The fire in the hall burns brightly.

Usage:

A descriptive sentence for hall vocabulary, the social centre of Old English poetry; þære healle shows the dative feminine after in.

Ic þē lufie.

Meaning:

I love you — to one person

Literally:

I love thee.

Usage:

A declaration to one person — þē is singular 'thee'. To address more than one beloved (a family, say), the pronoun would change to ēow.

Attested words, unattested sentence: no love letter in Old English survives for us to quote.

Þū eart mīn lēof.

Meaning:

You are my beloved.

Literally:

Thou art my dear (one).

Usage:

An affectionate address to one person. Lēof ('dear, beloved') works as both adjective and noun, and survives fossilized in the old-fashioned 'lief' and in names like Leofric.

Ic gehāte þē trēowþe.

Meaning:

I promise you loyalty.

Literally:

I promise to thee loyalty.

Usage:

A pledge of loyalty echoing the bond between lord and retainer; gehātan ('to promise') takes the person in the dative (þē) and the thing promised in the accusative (trēowþe).