Old English Writing

Old English writing dates back to the early Anglo-Saxon people, where writing was done in a black-letter format, utilizing specific letters of the time period in a style that is sometimes called “gothic” or “black letter script,” depending on the location of the particular manuscript or “textualis,” as Old English writing examples are often called.

Old English writing is both a form of art and scholarship as the examples that still exist of Old English writing are considered rare forms of art as well as documents of scholarship and philosophical though of the time period. Old English writing can be learned through intense study of Old English writing, as well as a well-developed vocabulary including the art, people, culture, politics and socioeconomic status of the Anglo-Saxon people of the time period in question.

In addition, Old English writing can be studied for the specific nuances of the language of English at the time, and as a method of linguistic study that traces the history of the English language from a period of antiquity on through to the modern day. Through this linguistic journey, one can understand better the characteristics of Anglo-Saxon language as well as develop an understanding of the forms of English as they were inherited and influenced by other languages around both Eastern and Western Europe during the Gothic time period. In this way, relationships among languages can be studied.

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