An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary is a dictionary of Old English (also known as Anglo-Saxon). Four editions of the dictionary were published. It has often (especially in earlier times) been considered the definitive lexicon for Old English. It is often referred to by the names of its compilers, for example Bosworth or Bosworth & Toller.
This was written by Joseph Bosworth, who in 1858 became the Rawlinsonian Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford: the post was renamed in 1916 as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, in Bosworth's honour.
While being attributed to "J. Bosworth & T. N. Toller", this was a revision by Thomas Northcote Toller, based on Bosworth's 1838 dictionary, Bosworth's papers, and additions by Toller.
Thomas Northcote Toller issued a supplement in 1921.
Alistair Campbell issued an edition with "enlarged addenda and corrigenda" in 1972.
Old English literature refers to poetry and prose written in Old English in early medieval England, from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066, a period often termed Anglo-Saxon England. The 7th-century work Cædmon's Hymn is often considered as the oldest surviving poem in English, as it appears in an 8th-century copy of Bede's text, the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Poetry written in the mid 12th century represents some of the latest post-Norman examples of Old English. Adherence to the grammatical rules of Old English is largely inconsistent in 12th-century work, and by the 13th century the grammar and syntax of Old English had almost completely deteriorated, giving way to the much larger Middle English corpus of literature.
Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century. After the Norman Conquest of 1066, English was replaced, for a time, by Anglo-Norman as the language of the upper classes. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English era, since during this period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into a phase known now as Middle English in England and Early Scots in Scotland.
Yule is a winter festival historically observed by the Germanic peoples that was incorporated into Christmas during the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples. In present times adherents of some new religious movements celebrate Yule independently of the Christian festival. Scholars have connected the original celebrations of Yule to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the heathen Anglo-Saxon Mōdraniht. The term Yule and cognates are still used in English and the Scandinavian languages as well as in Finnish and Estonian to describe Christmas and other festivals occurring during the winter holiday season. Furthermore, some present-day Christmas customs and traditions such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others may have connections to older pagan Yule traditions.
Joseph Bosworth was an English scholar of the Anglo-Saxon language and compiler of the first major Anglo-Saxon dictionary.
Ohthere of Hålogaland was a Viking Age Norwegian seafarer known only from an account of his travels that he gave to King Alfred of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex in about 890 AD. His account was incorporated into an Old English adaptation of a Latin historical book written early in the fifth century by Paulus Orosius, called Historiarum Adversum Paganos Libri VII, or Seven Books of History Against the Pagans. The Old English version of this book is believed to have been written in Wessex in King Alfred's lifetime or soon after his death, and the earliest surviving copy is attributed to the same place and time.
Thomas Arnold, also known as Thomas Arnold the Younger, was an English literary scholar.
The Old English Latin alphabet generally consisted of about 24 letters, and was used for writing Old English from the 8th to the 12th centuries. Of these letters, most were directly adopted from the Latin alphabet, two were modified Latin letters, and two developed from the runic alphabet. The letters Q and Z were essentially left unused outside of foreign names from Latin and Greek. The letter J had not yet come into use. The letter K was used by some writers but not by others. W gained usage in late Old English under Norman influence, as seen towards the end of the Peterborough Chronicle manuscript, though in this period W was still a ligature and not a full-fledged letter. The manuscripts MS Harley 208, Stowe MS 57, and Cotton Titus D 18 differ in how they arrange the non-standard Old English letters, but all three manuscripts place them after the standard Latin letters.
The virgate, yardland, or yard of land was an English unit of land. Primarily a measure of tax assessment rather than area, the virgate was usually reckoned as 1⁄4 hide and notionally equal to 30 acres. It was equivalent to two of the Danelaw's oxgangs.
Ælfric is an Anglo-Saxon given name, consisting of the elements ælf, "elf" and ric, "a powerful person, ruler".
Witch, from the Old English wiċċe, is a term rooted in European folklore and superstition for a practitioner of witchcraft, magic or sorcery. Traditionally associated with malevolent magic, with those accused of witchcraft being the target of witch-hunts, in the modern era the term has taken on different meanings. In literature, a 'witch' can now simply refer to an alluring women capable of 'bewitching' others. In neopagan religions such as Wicca the term has meanwhile been adopted as the female term for an adherent.
"For a Swarm of Bees" is an Anglo-Saxon metrical charm that was intended for use in keeping honey bees from swarming. The text was discovered by John Mitchell Kemble in the 19th century. The charm is named for its opening words, "wiþ ymbe", meaning "against a swarm of bees".
Winterfylleth (Ƿinterfylleþ) was the Anglo-Saxon or Old English name for the month of October. It marked and celebrated the beginning of winter.
Alistair Campbell was a British academic who was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon, University of Oxford, and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, from October 1963 until his death. He was the editor of editions of the Old English poem "Battle of Brunanburh", Æthelweard's Chronicon and Æthelwulf's De abbatibus. He was the author of Old English Grammar. He translated the mediaeval Latin text, Encomium Emmae Reginae, into modern English for the first time, published in 1949. This was reprinted in 1998 by Cambridge University Press, with a supplementary introduction from Simon Keynes.
Thomas Northcote Toller (1844–1930) was the first professor of English language at Manchester and one of the editors of An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary which had been begun by Joseph Bosworth. He was appointed to the chair in 1880 and retired in 1903. The annual Toller Lecture, which commemorates his achievements, is held in Manchester.
In the Anglo-Saxon calendar, Þrimilcemōnaþ was the month roughly corresponding to May.
Ǣrra Līða was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of June.
Wēodmōnaþ or Ƿēodmōnaþ was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of August.
Hāliġmōnaþ or Hāliȝmōnaþ was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of September.
Hrēðmōnaþ was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month of March.
John Richard Clark Hall was a British scholar of Old English, and a barrister. In his professional life, Hall worked as a clerk at the Local Government Board in Whitehall. Admitted to Gray's Inn in 1881 and called to the bar in 1896, Hall became principal clerk two years later.