The description of Ohthere’s voyages is an insertion into a translation of “A history of the world” by Paulus Orosius. Orosius was a fifth century Spanish cleric, who was engaged by the North African Bishop Augustinus of Hippo to write his Historia adversus paganos (“History against the pagans”) in order to refute pagan claims that the coming of Christianity was responsible for recent disasters in Europe.
Possibly, the Old English Orosius was one of the works of translation commissioned by King Ælfred of Wessex (reign: 871 - 899) as a part of his educational program proclaimed in the preface to Gregory the Great ’s Pastoral Care ( cf. Raith 1958: 1) . Since Orosius’ version only covered the geography south of the Alps, it was lacking the Northern part of Western Europe. Therefore, the narratives of the voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan, two seafarers, who sailed the Northern and Baltic Sea, were added to complete and extend Orosius` description.
The text of Orosius is divided into six books, which are each further subdivided into sections. The present work will concentrate on the first section of the first book where Ohthere reports to King Alfred about his first journey from his homeland, Halgoland, which today is the province of Hålogaland in Northern Norway, around the Northern Cape to the White Sea (Ekblom 1941/42: 115).
Since most readers will be unfamiliar with the Old English language, a normal translation of the text would not be sufficient to identify its grammatical structure. Therefore, the first part of the following analysis contains an interlinear morphemic translation of the Old English text.
The second part of the analysis starts with an examination of several functions of OE cases found in the text and the differences to their realization in MnE. After a view on OE negations, two common OE syntactical structures will be discussed by examining certain examples occurring in the text.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. The cultural and historical background of the text
1.2. About Ohthere
1.3. The manuscripts
1.4. Analysis of the Text
2. Interlinear Morphemic Translation
2.1. Abbreviations used
2.2. Interlinear Morphemic Translation
3. Analysis of the function of OE cases
3.1. The dative
3.2. The genitive
3.3. The accusative
4. Analysis of the OE negations
5. Analysis of OE syntactical structures
5.1. Subordinate clauses
5.2. The demonstrative order
6. Bibliography
Objectives and Topics
The primary objective of this work is to provide a comprehensive linguistic analysis of the Old English text "Ohthere’s Voyage," focusing on its grammatical, syntactical, and morphological structure. The study aims to bridge the gap between historical Old English and Modern English by examining case functions, negation patterns, and sentence structures found within the narrative.
- Historical and cultural background of the Ohthere narrative in the Old English Orosius.
- Interlinear morphemic translation as a tool for linguistic accessibility.
- Functions of Old English cases (dative, genitive, accusative) in comparison to Modern English.
- Analysis of negation particles and their morphological contraction with verbs.
- Syntactical investigation of subordinate clauses and demonstrative word order.
Excerpt from the Book
1.2. About Ohthere
Except for the information we gain from the text, we do not know much about Ohthere himself and the circumstances of his meeting with King Ælfred. Ohthere was a “NorÞmann” or Norwegian and possibly a merchant or trader, who encountered the Anglo-Saxon king under peaceful circumstances. Historians situate their meeting within a century of contact between Norse-speaking people like Ohthere and the Anglo-Saxons, most of which contact involved bloodshed. Ælfred himself ruled during the most brutal period of the first wave of Viking attack on Britain. He stemmed the tide of invasion confining the Vikings to a large area of the eastern half of England, the Danelaw, over which they then ruled, while Ælrfred and his successors ruled the remaining part.
The expression “his hlaforde Ælfrede cyninge” leads to the presumption that he might have entered in Alfred’s service, but it could as well have been a honorific expression. From the ongoing text, we learn that Ohthere was a rich man of a high social status who collected tribute from the Lapps. He was a whale hunter and possibly belonged to the Winking merchants of that time, who shipped Northern luxury goods to the South. It is also discussed, that Ohthere might have been a refugee that fled from the Norwegian King Harald Hårfagre, who in the years before 885 imposed his royal central power and expelled the nobility into exile.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter provides the historical context of the Ohthere narrative, its role within the Orosius translation, and an overview of the extant manuscripts.
2. Interlinear Morphemic Translation: This section presents the primary text with a detailed morphemic breakdown and abbreviations, facilitating the analysis of the Old English structure.
3. Analysis of the function of OE cases: This chapter investigates the grammatical roles of the dative, genitive, and accusative cases, highlighting differences in their manifestation compared to Modern English.
4. Analysis of the OE negations: This section examines how verbs were negated in Old English, specifically focusing on the use and contraction of the particle 'ne'.
5. Analysis of OE syntactical structures: This chapter analyzes sentence architecture, particularly the standard order of subordinate clauses and the demonstrative word order patterns.
6. Bibliography: This section lists the academic sources and texts referenced throughout the analysis.
Keywords
Ohthere, Old English, Orosius, Syntax, Morphology, Dative, Genitive, Accusative, Negation, Subordinate Clauses, Demonstrative Order, Historical Linguistics, Ælfred, Viking Age, Manuscript Studies
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper focuses on the linguistic analysis of the Old English text "Ohthere's Voyage," specifically exploring how grammatical functions like case usage and negation are realized in the text compared to Modern English.
Which thematic fields are central to the study?
The study centers on historical linguistics, Old English syntax, morphology, and textual analysis of the Old English Orosius manuscripts.
What is the primary goal or research question?
The goal is to render the Old English text accessible through morphemic translation and to identify how Old English grammatical categories have evolved or changed into modern forms.
What scientific methods are applied in the paper?
The paper employs a comparative linguistic methodology, using interlinear morphemic translation and syntactic analysis to examine structural patterns in Old English.
What is covered in the main body of the work?
The main body covers the analysis of Old English cases, negation particles, and specific syntactic structures like subordinate clauses and the demonstrative order.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include Ohthere, Old English, syntax, morphology, negation, dative, genitive, accusative, and syntactic structure.
How is the dative case handled in the analyzed text?
The dative case is expressed through morphological suffixes like '-e' and demonstrative pronouns, whereas Modern English typically uses prepositions like 'to' to convey similar functions.
What does the text suggest about Old English negation?
The analysis indicates that negation is primarily achieved by the particle 'ne', which frequently contracts with verbs such as 'witan', 'willan', or 'habban', a practice that differs significantly from modern auxiliary-based negation.
- Quote paper
- Michael Treichler (Author), Bettina Lüdemann (Author), 2002, Analysis of the old english text "Ohthere´s Voyage", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/5199
