Englisc/Sample

Anne will neah Suþ-Afrika faren. Þærfœr þarf scie anen Færepass haben, ak her Færepass is agan. Scie gæþ þærum tom Gemothus and askeþ anem Ambihtscalk um Informationen:

Anne wants to travel to South Africa. She needs a passport for that, but her passport has expired. Therefore she goes to town hall and asks a civil servant for information:

Dæȝ, Herr, kyðest þu miȝ to secgen, hwær ic meinen Færepass kann edniwen læten?

Hello Sir, would you be able to tell me where I could get my passport renewed?

Goden Middæȝ, Frowe. Siccer scallst þu þen Lift tor fierþen Flœring nimen, and þær findest þu þat Setl. Nu nis ȝiet open. Nu is Nongererd.

Good afternoon, Ma'am. Certainly, you best take the elevator to the fourth floor and there you will find a counter. Except that it will not be open yet. It is lunch time.

Hwenn kann ic geholpen werðen?

When can I be helped?

Þat dureþ anfalde an paar Minuten. Þann biþ half tweȝn.

It will only take a few minutes. Then it will be half past one.

Wast þu geween, hu lang ane Ferlængerung forga?

Would you know perhaps how long the extension process will take?

Þat ne darr ic efne secgen, ak ane oþþe twa Wuken scolde duren.

I dare not say precisely, but a week or two most likely.


 * Diary fragment 2: I couldn’t get over that – I mean, if we want to go abroad we have to get on a plane or a ferry, but here you can cross to another country without even having to show a passport. The joy of Schengen!
 * Dæȝesbokdæl 2: Ic kuð it noȝht oferwinnen - ic mæne, if we befaren willeþ, þurfeþ wiȝ on an Flyȝhtweil oþþe ane Ferre insteigen, ak man kann hier to anem oðern Lande oferfœren, buten ane Weȝbok to tæknen. Þie Wynne þes Schengen!
 * Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.  And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.  Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."  And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech."  So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.  Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
 * Þa hafde þe hale Erðe ane Tunge and ane Spræke. Als þie Leode easten gingen, fanden hje an Gefild im Lande Schinnar and þa staðelden.  Hje kwaðen anemoðern, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.  Then they said, "Kommeþ, getimberþ wiȝ us ane Burg and anen Torr mid his Kopp in þen Sweȝeln, and makeþ wiȝ us anen Namen, þylæsþe wiȝ ofer þen Turf þer Erðe ferschaden werðeþ."  And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and hje alle habeþ ane Spræke, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech."  So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and hje gafen off, þie Burg to getimbern.  Þærfor hatte her Name Babel, forþen þe Dryȝhten þa þie Spræke aller Erðe dwilmde. And þærfrom gestragd þe Dryȝhten hje ofer þen Turf aller Erðe.