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Thursday, January 21, 2010

The Lord's Prayer in Old English

(While I may not love math, etc. I am an huge nerd.)

Before I start, let me remind you to the difference between Old English and old(er) English. Linguists have narrowed our language's historical time-periods to Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. Thus Shakespeare wasn't Old English, but Early Modern English (older English, if you must). The Fæður Ure presented here is written in Old English.

Fæður ure,
Father of ours,
Notes: 'æ' is pronounced like the 'a' in humanity. 'ð' is pronounced like the 'th' in 'the.'

þu þe eart on heofonum,
Thou That art in Heavens,
Notes: 'þ' is pronounced like the 'th' in 'thing.' Also, notice how 'eart' and 'heofonum' have both shortened.

si þin nama gehalgod
Let Thy/Thine Name be hallowed.
Notes: 'Ge' is pronounced like the 'ye' in 'yes' and is related the German prefix of the same spelling. 'Si' means let, as in 'let's do this.' (Jussive)

Tobecume þin rice
Let (be)come Thy(Thine) kingdom
Notes: 'Rice' is pronounced like 'rich" with an 'e' at the end, is related to the German word 'Reich,' and in fact has come to mean rich. (A ruler/king is rich, correct?)

Gewurþe ðin will on eorðan
Let become Thine will on earth

swa swa on heofonum
So so/Just as in Heavens

Urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg
Our daily-wanted bread/loaf give us today
Notes: 'Syle' could mean either give or sell, from which our modern 'sell' is derived. The 'y' in 'syle' is pronounced like the German 'ü.' The 'h' in the word 'hlaf' is pronounced like the German 'ch' in 'ach.' 'Hlaf' meant bread prior to the Vikings' influence on English. Those who know Dutch will want to note 'dæg.'

And forgyf us ure gyltas,
And forgive us our guilts

swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum
Just as we have forgiven our guilt-doers/guilters

And ne gelæd þu us on costnunge
And don't lead Thou us into temptation
Note: The word 'costnunge' is not related to the word 'cost.'

Ac alys us of yfele. Soþlice.
But deliver us of/from evil. In sooth.
Notes: 'Alys' developed into 'allay.' 'Soþlice' (the 'c' is pronounced like the 'ch' in 'church') developed into the word 'sooth,' meaning truly, surely, assuredly. It is an accurate translation of the Hebrew 'amen.'

Let's compare these three translations: (Old English (Updated), Tyndale (Updated), and Mine) I assume everyone is familiar with the KJV.

Our Father, You Who are in (the) heavens, Let Your Name be hallowed, let Your kingdom come, Let Your will become on earth just as it is in (the) heavens. Our daily-wanted loaf give us today; and forgive us our guilts, just as we have forgiven our guilters; and do not lead us into temptation, but allay us of evil. Amen.

O our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name, let Your kingdom come, Your will be fulfilled, as well on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts (he has 'trespasses'), even as we forgive our debtors (he has trespassers). And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Our Father in heaven; let Your Name be held in reverence; let Your Kingdom come, Your will be fulfilled the same way on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and pardon our debts, just as we have pardoned our debtors; and do not carry us to trial, but rescue us from evil. This is most certainly true. (I'll discuss 'amen' in a future post.)

Assuming my translation is correct (excluding parenthetical remarks), you'll note how much more accurate both the OE and Tyndale translations are, compared to the traditional text.

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