bōc-cist

bōc-cist, f.n: a repository for books, either for reading or for sale. (BOAK-CHIST / ˈboːk-ˌtʃɪst)

Look for The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English at your local bōc-cist – it’s out in the US & Canada today! Find out more.

A book, The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English, by Hana Videen, against a background of woven textiles. The cover background is white with a gold and red border with decorative gold dots. The title and author’s name are written inside an arched window shape, with a border of Old English words surrounding it: wæfre-gange, gafol-fisc, hring-finger, on-lucan, cwen, æg, dust, beo-gang, lig-draca, wyrd, dream-cræft, hærfest, and druncen-georn. The area surrounding the Old English word border has wood-cut style illustrations in red and gold, each in its own compartment but overlapping slightly: a spider, a fish, the letter h in a calligraphic style, a hand with a ring, a key, a woman carrying a basket of eggs, a bee, a dragon, an ink pot and quill with scroll of paper, a man playing a harp, a bundle of wheat, and a goblet. — Published in the UK by Profile Books on 11 November 2021. Published in the US and Canada by Princeton University Press today.

þēowet

Posted on December 8, 2022 by Hana Videen

þēowet, m.n: service; (in an unfavourable sense) servitude, bondage, slavery. (THAY-oh-wet / ˈθeːɔ-wɛt)

hord-ern

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Hana Videen

hord-ern, n.n: a storehouse, storeroom, treasury. (HORD-ern / ˈhɔrd-ɛrn)

This week’s Wordhord Wednesday post is about the poem The Ruin. Read it on Patreon.

gamol-feax

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Hana Videen

gamol-feax, adj: with hoary locks, grey-haired. (GAH-moll-FEH-ahks / ˈga-mɔl-ˌfɛaks)

Medieval manuscript illustration of nine men all looking off to the right, a row of seven in the back and two bowing down in front; six of the men have white or grey hair and beards, while the other three have brown hair. — Hunterian Psalter; England, c. 1170; Glasgow University Library, MS Hunter 229 (U.3.2), f. 19v. [gla.ac.uk]

angsumnes

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Hana Videen

angsumnes, f.n: (physical) distress, torment, suffering, affliction; (mental/emotional) distress; anguish, anxiety. (AHNG-sum-ness / ˈaŋ-sʌm-nɛs)

heoloran

Posted on December 4, 2022 by Hana Videen

heoloran, wk.v: to weigh in a balance, to consider. (HEH-ol-or-ahn / ˈhɛɔ-lɔr-an)

Medieval manuscript image of a bearded man, barefoot in flowing robes, standing within a gold circle, holding out a pair of scales in both hands. — Hunterian Psalter; England, c. 1170; Glasgow University Library, MS Hunter 229 (U.3.2), f. 5r. [gla.ac.uk]

bisceop-hām

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Hana Videen

bisceop-hām, m.n: episcopal demesne or property. (BISH-op-HAWM / ˈbɪ-ʃɛɔp-ˌhaːm)

ēage

Posted on December 2, 2022 by Hana Videen

ēage, n.n: eye. (AY-ah-yuh / ˈeːa-jə)

Medical miscellany, including the ‘book of Macharias on the eye called Salaracer or secret of secrets’; England, late 14th or early 15th century; British Library, Sloane 981, f. 68r. [bl.uk]

scūr-beorh

Posted on December 1, 2022 by Hana Videen

scūr-beorh, f.n: a shelter against storm. (SHOOR-BEH-or’h / ˈʃuːr-ˌbɛɔrx)

gōian

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Hana Videen

gōian, wk.v: to sigh, groan, lament. (GO-i-ahn / ˈgoː-ɪ-an)

This week’s Wordhord Wednesday post is on leather-working in early medieval England. Read it on Patreon.

met-gird

Posted on November 29, 2022 by Hana Videen

met-gird, f.n: a rod for measuring. (MET-YIRD / ˈmɛt-ˌjɪrd)

Medieval manuscript image of a blue-winged angel bent over beside a walled city with blue turrets, using a rod to measure the sides. — Biblia Porta; N France (Franco-Flemish), late 13th century; Lausanne, Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire, U 964, f. 483r. [e-codices.unifr.ch]

Old English Wordhord

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