dēaþ-scūa

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Hana Videen

dēaþ-scūa, m.n: shadow of death, death. (DAY-ath-SHOO-ah / ˈdeːaθ-ˌʃuːa)

death — discarding images: Ars bene moriendi, France 1470-1480. Marseille, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 89, fol. 63r.

un-mann

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Hana Videen

un-mann, m.n: bad person, inhuman person; hero, one who is more than an average person. (UN-MAHN / ˈʌn-ˌman)

aglǣcwīf

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Hana Videen

aglǣcwīf, n.n: hostile female fighter, fierce female combatant. (AH-GLACK-weef / ˈa-ˌglæːk-wiːf)

āglǣca

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Hana Videen

āglǣca, m.n: hostile fighter, fierce combatant, great opponent. (AH-GLACK-ah / ˈa-ˌglæː-ka)

There aren’t any good word-for-word translations. Often translators use ‘monster’ but there is no word in Old English that means simply ‘monster’, and āglǣca can refer to (human) heroes as well as monsters. Grendel is an āglǣca but so is Beowulf.

grund-wyrgen

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Hana Videen

grund-wyrgen, f.n: wolf of the deep. (GRUND-WUER-yen / ˈgrʌnd-ˌwyr-jɛn)

Grendel’s mother is described as a grund-wyrgen.

grendelsma — Grendel’s mother drags Beowulf to the bottom of the mere. Illustration by Henry Justice Ford in Andrew Lang’s The Red Book of Animal Stories (1899).

scucca

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Hana Videen

scucca, m.n: devil, demon; Satan. (SHUCK-ah / ˈʃʌ-ka)

hell-rūne

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Hana Videen

hell-rūne, f.n: demon, one who knows hell’s mysteries. (HELL-ROON-uh / ˈhɛl-ˌruː-nə)

winter-fylleþ

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Hana Videen

winter-fylleþ, m.n: October. (WIN-ter-FUELL-eth / ˈwɪn-tɛr–ˌfyl-lɛθ)

wēod

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Hana Videen

wēod, n.n: useless or injurious plant, weed. (WAY-odd / ˈweːɔd)

hwēol

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Hana Videen

hwēol, n.n: a wheel. (H’WAY-oll / ˈhweːɔl)

wheel — Bury Psalter: Psalm 82 ‘Make me as on to a wheel’. Anglo-Saxon, 1000-1050. Rome, Vatican, MS Reg. Lat. 12, fol. 90v.