h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Great entry, although I've personally always been a fan of the Seamus Heaney translation of Beowulf...

I couldn't reproduce Seamus Heaney's translation here for copyright reasons.

Fanstastic Entry Gnomon!

One day I must actually get round to reading a Beowulf translation, it does seem to underly much of the fantasy literature I'm so fond of reading. The Gilgamesh is another on that list too (don't suppose there's an article on ancient Sumerian coming along soon? )

Very interseting stuff. I suppose one big trouble with language in those days is that it must have been so fragmented. There must have been wild variations in dialect around the country.

Gilgamesh is certainly worth reading. It starts out very like an Irish tale about a hero who was perfect in every way, but after a while the guy gets obsessed with death and goes on a search for immortality. The saddest bit is when his best friend gets killed.

On the subject of fragmentation, apparently when Caxton started printing in England first, he had a big problem deciding which words to use because not only was spelling not standardised, but the words weren't either. As sure as eggs was eggs, eggs were called eien just down the road. The printing press imposed a standard language on the people, just as television is now doing to a wider audience.

One thing I think is quite fascinating is that the origins of the words 'Where' and 'When' amongst others are clearly seen in the Old English. originally the H was pronounced and came before the W. In fact my mother and father who are scottish still pronounce them like this.

Fascinating..., but then, I do need to get out more often

Northern Englanders pronounce the 'H' also.

Woden Allfather:
- no: the 'h' in 'wh...' is not generally pronounced in northern English.
- 'where' and 'when' have you heard it being pronounced in northern England?