Someone asked this on Quora and Oscar Tay gave a fascinating answer.
The oldest recorded word In English is Gægogæ mægæ medu.
The Undley Bracteate
In 1982, a farmer in Undley Common, Suffolk, England, was walking across his field when he came across a fantastic bit of history: The Undley Bracteate, an Anglo-Saxon medallion dating to 450 AD. It was small, no bigger than a penny, and inscribed with the image of two babies – presumably Romulus and Remus – suckling from a wolf.
Gægogæ mægæ medu
The find itself would be interesting enough, but look carefully at that inscription around the edges. It’s not just a random pattern: in Runes, it says ᚷᚫᚷᚩᚷᚫ ᛗᚫᚷᚫ ᛗᛖᛞᚢ, gægogæ mægæ medu. It may as well be from an alien language, but this is the ancient form of a very familiar language – English, that is.
The Germanic languages were sparsely written before 500 AD, if at all, with the sole exception of Gothic. While they were certainly spoken before then, languages don’t leave fossils – besides writing.
So, what does it mean? There’s some debate about that, but the translations are roughly the same:
- Mægæ means either “of a kinsman” or “for a kinsman.” It’s probably related to Swedish måg.
- Medu means “reward.”
- Gægogæ is rather more troublesome, though the translation usually cited is the feminine prefix gæ- plus the root gogæ, meaning something like “howling of an animal, especially a dog or wolf”. Considering the subject matter of the bracteate, this is the most likely.
The sentence, therefore, loosely translates to, “This she-wolf is a gift to my kinsman”. The Undley Bracteate is the oldest bit of definitively English writing, and gægogæ mægæ medu is English’s oldest sentence.
I hope this gives you fantasy and historical fiction writers some ideas!
jowensauthor said:
Reblogged this on Jeanne Owens, author.
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gibsonauthor said:
Reblogged this on s a gibson.
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wilfredbooks said:
Zounds! How interesting! 😀 Cheers, Jon.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I thought so, too 🙂
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beetleypete said:
That ancient language was presumably a corruption of German and Celtic, with a bit of Roman Latin thrown in for good measure. As the earliest find, it is certainly very interesting.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I think there was a lot of Danish in there, too. And to think the medallion is no bigger than a penny!
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beetleypete said:
Yes, such skill with the tools available at the time.
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Annette Rochelle Aben said:
I am still digesting this because it fascinates me.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
It is pretty awesome. And to think it’s no larger than a penny!
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The Story Reading Ape said:
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
Well, would you Adam and Eve it (London, Cockney for ‘believe it’) 😃
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felicity936 said:
Fascinating post, NIcholas. Thanks!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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Sumita Tah said:
This is really interesting. I looked at the medallion for a long time. It’s simply superb. Thanks for the post.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
It’s absolutely stunning, isn’t it? 🙂
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Sumita Tah said:
Sure it is. : )
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OIKOS™-Publishing said:
Thank you again Nicholas. Its very inspiring, and i had read the first time about this. Enjoy your week! Michael
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
You too, Michael 🙂
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OIKOS™-Publishing said:
🙂 Thank you Nicholas! Enjoy your day!
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Staci Troilo said:
Well, that’s fascinating. I don’t write fantasy or historicals, but I want to work this into something. Wish I’d known about it when I was writing my last series…
Thanks, Nicholas.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
So glad you enjoyed it, Traci 🙂
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Jack Eason said:
Reblogged this on Have We Had Help? and commented:
Read on to find out!
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Pingback: What Is the Oldest English Word? – European Origins
Shivi 💜 said:
Amazing post
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much, Shivi 🙂
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