Old English Graded Reader #2. Matthew 12:18–21
The second in a series of beginner-level readings in Old English.
This is the third in a series of Old English readings. If you haven't read the previous entries in the series yet, start there.
Like the previous texts, this text is lightly adapted from Sweet's reader.
I have added explanatory notes for:
Happy reading!
Today's reading is from the Gospel of Matthew. Here is the complete text.
Sōþlīċe ūt eode se sāwere his sǣd tō sāwenne. And þā þā hē sēow, sume hiġ fēollon wiþ weġ, and fuglas cumon and ǣton þā. Sōþlīċe sume fēollon on stǣnihte, þǣr hit næfde myċle eorþan, and hrædliċe upp sprungon, for þām þe hiġ næfdon eorþan dȳpan; sōþlīċe upp sprungenre sunnan, hiġ ādruwedon and forsċruncon, for þām þe hiġ næfdon wyrtruman. Sōþlīċe sume fēollon on þornas, and þā þornas wēoxon, and forþrysmodon þā. Sume sōþlīċe fēollon on gōde eorþan, and sealdon wæstm, sum hundfealdne, sum sixtiġfealdne, sum þrittiġfealdne.
Let's break it down into more manageable parts.
Sōþlīċe ūt eode se sāwere his sǣd tō sāwenne. Now out went the sower to sow his seeds.
And þā þā hē sēow, sume hiġ fēollon wiþ weġ, And when he sowed, some of them fell along the road,
and fuglas cumon and ǣton þā. and birds came and ate them.
Sōþlīċe sume fēollon on stǣnihte, þǣr hit næfde myċle eorþan, Now some fell on stony (places), where it did not have much earth.
and hrædliċe upp sprungon, for þām þe hiġ næfdon eorþan dȳpan; And at once they sprang up, because they did not have depth of earth.
sōþlīċe upp sprungenre sunnan, hiġ ādruwedon and forsċruncon, Then the sun having sprung up, they dried up and withered.
for þām þe hiġ næfdon wyrtruman. because they did not have roots.
Sōþlīċe sume fēollon on þornas, Some, however, fell on thorns,
and þā þornas wēoxon, and forþrysmodon þā. and the thorns grew, and choked them.
Sume sōþlīċe fēollon on gōde eorþan, and sealdon wæstm, Some, however, fell onto good earth, and gave fruit.
sum hundfealdne, sum sixtiġfealdne, sum þrittiġfealdne. some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
The word sǣd is the same in the singular and plural in the nominative and accusative cases. ↩
Nouns of this declension (called n-stems, or weak nouns) is sometimes difficult to translate because so many forms take the same ending: -an. ↩
The dative absolute construction in Old-English is comparable to the Latin ablative absolute construction. ↩
Etymologically, wyrttruma is a compound of wyrt plant (as in St. John's Wort) and truma troop of soldiers, which does not survive. ↩
The principal meaning of sellan in Old English was to give, and secondarily to betray, that is, to sell (someone) out. The main modern meaning involving commerce is a later development which only starts appearing at the very end of the Old English period. ↩
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