Dictionaries:
(A complete list of Old and Middle English dictionaries is available at: http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/app/list.htm)
Old English:
 Bosworth , Joseph. An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, based on the manuscript collections of the late Joseph Bosworth.
Eds. T. Northcote Toller and Alistair Campbell. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1838-1972
o The largest Old English dictionary so far. It is an excellent and comprehensive resource, but somehow
outdated and less user-friendly than Clark Hall’s dictionary.
o http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/app/ - The electronic version features online and downloadable viewers, fulltext
search etc. It is still under development.
 Hall , John Richard Clark. A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary . Ed. Herbert D. Meritt. Toronto : University of
Toronto Press , 1894-1984
o A concise student dictionary. The most accessible and up-to-date, yet quite comprehensive OE dictionary.
o http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/texts/oe_clarkhall_about.html – The electronic version comprises of scanned
images only browsable via the running headline (an offline version on a CD-ROM can be provided on
individual basis)
 Roberts , Jane, Flora Edmonds, Christian Kay, Irené Wotherspoon, Thesaurus of Old English Online, University of
Glasgow, 2005
o An electronic thesaurus of Old English. A good source for many types of lexicological research. The
Learning with the TOE (http://libra.englang.arts.gla.ac.uk/oeteach/oeteach.html ) explains the possibilities
and techniques of research with TOE like morphological or semantic inquiries.
o http://libra.englang.arts.gla.ac.uk/oethesaurus/
Middle English
 Mayhew, Anthony Lawson, Skeat , Walter W. A Concise Dictionary of Middle English, from 1150 – 1580 .
Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1888
o A very basic dictionary based on a small number of text. Easy to use, but searching for items may be
frustrating due to the small number of entries.
o http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10625 - a downloadable text version (can be searched in any
common text editor)
 The Middle English Compendium. Editor-in-chief Frances McSparran. Michigan : University of Michigan
Digital Library Production Service, 2001-6
o An electronic version of the largest ME dictionary so far. Very easy to use and a great wealth of
information.
o http://ets.umdl.umich.edu/m/mec/index.html - freely available through the University of Michigan
Etymological
 The Oxford English Dictionary. Eds. John Simpson and Edmund Weiner. 2nd ed. OUP: 30 March 1989
o Not an etymological dictionary per se, but undoubtedly the best resource for tracing history of individual
words.
o http://dictionary.oed.com/ - Electronic version through subscription only (can be arranged on individual
basis, the institutional license is planned)
 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary. 2001.
o An online searchable dictionary. Easy to use, but the data should be verified in doubtful cases.
o http://www.etymonline.com/
 The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Ed. T. F. Hoad. OUP: 3 June 1993. (departmental library
sig. C 646)
o A standard resource for quick reference.
Grammars & Handbooks
Old English
 Vachek, Josef, Firbas, Jan (1994): Historický vývoj angličtiny. Brno, Masarykova univerzita (in Czech).
o (departmental library sig. B 976)
o (“a shorter version” in English: Vachek, Josef (1991): Standard English in Historical Perspective . Praha,
SPN. - http://web.ff.cuni.cz/~ticho1af/HEL-07/vachek_small.pdf)
- comprehensive survey of the development of English language (periods: Old English, Middle
English, Early Modern English)
-
similarly to the other sources mentioned here, historical, comparative method is adopted (forms
traced back to their Proto-Germanic, Indo-European roots; comparison with genetically related
languages – esp. Gothic, sometimes useful parallels with Czech language system)
- each phase: brief cultural-historical introduction, phonology, inflectional morphology
(paradigms), historical description of word classes, syntax briefly touched upon
- useful index of individual words (listed by language periods)
 Lass, Roger (1994): Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
o (http://web.ff.cuni.cz/~ticho1af/HEL-07/Historical_Linguistic_Companion_s.pdf - currently a low quality
version only)
o (departmental library sig. B 2571)
- extremely readable and at the same time thorough companion providing historical background to
the study of Old English
- very useful and clear discussion of the evolution of Old English phonology (Grimm’s, Verner’s
law etc.)
- nominal, verbal inflexional morphology (forms traced to their Indo-European antecedents)
- chapter devoted to vocabulary and word formation (including a survey of major formants and
their development)
- chapter on word order
- glossary of key linguistic terms
 Mitchell , Bruce and Fred Colson Robinson (1964-2001). A Guide to Old English. Blackwell Publishing
o (departmental library sig. B 1466/1-9, N 33)
o One of the best textbooks with grammar and glossary for teaching yourself OE. Very user-friendly and
readable.
 Wright, Joseph, Wright, Elizabeth Mary (1925): Old English Grammar. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
o (http://www.archive.org/details/oldenglishgramma00wriguoft )
o (departmental library sig. B 2718, N 35, B 2633, B 8/4)
- grammar based on historical, comparative approach (links to classical languages – Latin, Greek,
comparison with genetically related languages – Germanic, Gothic)
- detailed phonology, each phoneme treated separately (including dialectal varieties)
- discussion of each paradigm includes a list of common words that belong to a particular paradigm
- useful list of prepositions and related cases
- chapter on Old English word formation together with a survey of affixes
- useful glossary of individual words!
 Quirk, Randolph, Wrenn, C.L. (1955): An Old English Grammar. London, Methuen. (departmental library sig. B 2402/14, B 2630, B 1076)
- elementary, concise grammar for literary oriented students
- descriptive rather than historical (dismisses links to Indo-European)
- focuses on the classical Old English as preserved in major literary monuments
- brief survey of the chief phonological changes, paradigms, syntax
 The Cambridge History of English language. Vol. 1, The Beginnings to 1066. Ed. by Richard M. Hogg.
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
o (departmental library sig. B 2455 a)
- chapters devoted to individual language levels (morphology, semantics and word formation –
useful list of major word formation processes and key formants!, onomastics, survey of Old
English dialects, chapter devoted to Old English syntax (xx detailed two volume Syntax in the
departmental library)
Middle English
 Turville-Petre, Thorlac, Burrow, J.A. (1996): A Book of Middle English. Blackwell Publishing.
o (departmental library sig. Eg 611/1-3)
- Follows the design of Mitchell's Guide, but does not presume any knowledge of Old English.
 Mossé, Fernand (1968): A Handbook of Middle English. Baltimore.
o (departmental library sig. B 2625)
- A second volume of a French original translated into Modern English.
Wright, Joseph, Wright, Elizabeth Mary (1928): An Elementary Middle English Grammar. Oxford, Oxford
University Press.
o (http://www.archive.org/details/AnElementaryMiddleEnglishGrammar)
Electronic resources:
 Old English at University of Virginia
o http://faculty.virginia.edu/OldEnglish/
o Contains: Baker, Peter S. Old English Aerobics.(Grammar, exercises, glossary, anthology of texts, etc. all in
an extremely approachable version.), The Magic Sheet of Old English inflections
(http://faculty.virginia.edu/OldEnglish/courses/handouts/magic.pdf)
 Google Books and Internet Archive offer a huge quantity of scanned book like editions, readers, dictionaries or
grammars, usually published prior to ca 1925.
o http://books.google.com/ and
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http://www.archive.org/search.php
Old English Courses at University of Calgary
o http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/engl401/
Labyrinth of Old English
o
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Collection of OE texts
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Anthology of OE & ME texts with modern translations for OE period and glosses for ME period. Excerpts
only, but introductions are intact.
http://www8.georgetown.edu/departments/medieval/labyrinth/library/oe/oe.html
The Complete Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Poetry
o http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ascp/
Old and Middle English C.890-c.1400: An Anthology, by Elaine M. Traherne
http://books.google.cz/books?id=31I7irORxDwC&dq=&pg=PP1&ots=BIdQzaUjmN&sig=7r_K1lhgjQI9a
FTVgzQ8glP3w4U&prev=http://www.google.cz/search?q=old+middle+english+anthology&ie=utf8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title#PPP1,M1
Old English Bible
o http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/4506/contents1.html
o http://books.google.com/books?id=UVA9WrIb9FIC&pg=PP9&dq=The+Holy+Gospels+in+AngloSaxon#PPP1,M1
Medieval Compendium & Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse
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A searchable database of ME texts, bibliography etc. A textbase of Middle English Dictionary
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An anthology of ME literature
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mec/
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/
Luminarium
TEAMS
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/
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Quality editions of ME texts online
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Medieval texts at University of Virginia
http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/tmsmenu.htm#menu
UVA Text Center
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/collections/languages/english/mideng.browse.html