Sounds like a danish guy who got drunk, moved to Germany, had a stroke, and then forgot danish, went to college in Scotland, than relearned danish, then he put on a sheet and went in a time machine
Old English wasn’t really what we would call English these days. It was more like a precursor to it. It was like a language that evolved _into_ what we know as English.
Back when I was a kid (At the dawn of time) I found myself in the odd position of hearing my family talk without being able to understand just what they were saying, and I swear it sounded for all the world like Dutch or something. And I said to myself "this is what it must be like to hear but not speak English."
@@Schwarzorn The next thing I'm about to tell you may come as a surprise, but there's these things called jokes. And one type of these joke things is hyperbole. And this is one of those.
Beepus McBumpus Well, that’s a pretty bad joke. An exaggeration of something funny to make it funnier, I get. But it wasn’t funny to begin with, and one can only exaggerate to a certain extent before it stops making sense and the connection is lost.
Beepus McBumpus Well, that’s a pretty bad joke. An exaggeration of something funny to make it funnier, I get. But it wasn’t funny to begin with, and one can only exaggerate to a certain extent before it stops making sense and the connection is lost.
@@Schwarzorn Wow, such an interesting point you felt the need to post it twice for added emphasis. Humour is subjective, I'm glad you didn't like my joke and felt compelled to explain why you think it's not a good joke. 223 other people seemed to like it though, so that's nice.
I teach English in Japan. Today my English club kids were suddenly very interested in old English so I played this for them. They really enjoyed it, thanks!
@@meganscureman I'm on JET living in Kyoto right now! It's a really long process from beginning the application to arriving, with a lot of random hoops to jump through and drawn out uncertainty... but ultimately absolutely worth it based on my own experience!
I feel like learning the old version of your native language is like when you "prestige" in some of C.O.D. games. You've mastered Japanese, now try *old* Japanese! *OG Godzilla sound* Native English speaker? Try *OLD English*!! *explosion sound*
I'm Flemish (northern part of Belgium) and my dialect sounds very much the same as old English, I can understand quite a lot of it. Before the French influence (1066 French invasion) English sounded very differently, more Germanic. I can easily understand old English, especially when I see it in written.
@@deathonion404 I'm sure you're ricgt about the grammar thing, but it changed from the middle ages till now losing a lot of Germanic caractheristics and becoming much easier and simplier than it was before.
The (true) Flemish had much contact and trade with the English. The people from Brabant (east of the Schelde/Antwerpen/Brussels) ironically also sound much different since linguistical they don't speak Flemish but brabantic and have more in common with people in north-brabants as compared to west-flanders
@@gorkzop I don’t know about “true” Flemish but my father speaks a West Flemish dialect which is spoken on the coastal areas of Belgium and you’re correct in saying that the language spoken there has a lot of similarities with English because of loanwords and similar phonological developments. In comparison, Brabantian dialects spoken in Southern Flanders have had a lot more influence from French
That's incredible acting. This video almost had me fooled that there was potentially a pocket of folks who still spoke old english. Like unwitting amish.
It took me a long time to figure out it was the same guy doing both the acting and asking the questions from behind the camera. What is also fascinating to me is his mannerisms throughout the video at 00:51 chewing the twig really sold it.
One of the best things on UA-cam: creative, instructive, sensitive. Please don't stop. Ic þancie þē, þæt is gōd. - (signed) Toomas Karmo, in Nõo Rural Municipality, Estonia
I appreciate that, that's pretty much what I was going for! With ancient languages, there are so few attempts on UA-cam to speak them as a native speaker might.
@@simonroper9218 mate you might've discovered an amazing new GENRE of history/linguistic videos. Seriously consider doing more like this or even more involved with dialogues with other history/linguistics youtubers that would be good at something like this. History with Hilbert would be the first that comes to mind for me I guess. This gave me about a million ideas because this period of English history is so poorly remembered
@@strange4107 as a native English speaker there is a lot of Dutch words that I can understand. Most Dutch I feel like I should be able to understand, but it’s as if I’ve just had a stroke and get the sentiment but not the meaning
It’s so interesting how old English has many words from Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and some Icelandic sounding words too. I can understand roughly about 70% of this tbh. 👍🏼
Yes, the fact that Englisch is like it is nowadays is because of the normand invasion and the French language. It was through the Norman conquest that the English lost their germanic roots.
@Bronze Spectre I see what you did there. I won't be a grammar nazi and correct your spelling. I met Tony Robinson once and wanted to chat but I just chickened out and got his autograph instead. I'm such an introverted dick ha ha!
@@mostsacredangel Check the Wikipedia article on Yggdrasil, probably the name of the ash tree. The song sounds like one of the verses from the poetic 'edda': I know that I hung on a windy tree nine long nights, wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin, myself to myself, on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run. I bet that earlier or later verses in the same poem mention the bird. Odin is talking about having sacrificed himself 'to himself' on the ash tree. Maybe the song exists someplace just as Simon presents it, but I don't know where.
The number of people who thought this was a real story, that there was a forgotten community of medieval peasants in modern-day England who have preserved Anglo-Saxon culture and live like the English Amish, is kind of funny to me.
@@Wrz2e Back then there was no Germany, just germanic tribes, as someone said above. The old English language and the old German language developed from that base on different paths. Then the English language got influenced by the Norman conquerors, yet English and German are pretty similar languages today. The old English/Anglo-Saxon that is spoken here however is even closer to German. So yes, many sentences are quite understandable. Sometimes the vocabulary sounds strange but I guess that would be the same with old German words.
@@Mansardian Very true, I hope you'll excuse me using 'Germany' as a convenient shorthand for the lands where the Angles and the Saxons originated, which probably included some of modern day Netherlands and Denmark. I find it somewhat regrettable that the Normans adulterated the English language with French and Latin to the extent that we are now barely able to understand our Dutch and German brethren. I always find it very interesting to see cognates and identical words between our languages. Haus, Bier, Butter, Hand, Arm etc...
@@simonroper9218 I reckon they'll communicate mostly by cognitively-linked animated emojis transmitted via enhanced contact lenses. Artificial intelligence will probably play a significant role in streamlining communication. Most people will be very reliant on AI to get through their daily affairs. It don't think it will be as nightmarish as Black Mirror, but it will still have a lot of negative aspects like difficulty communicating without AI assistance. The majority of children may well fall on the autism spectrum as we currently define it.
An amazing video. Very well played. The young man who is an Anglo Saxon speaks Old English in a perfect way, using the idioms of that time. Very impressive
can any of my fellow englishmen tell me why we don't celebrate the saxons like the scots/irish/welsh celebrate the celts of old? I'm proud of our anglo ancestors they deserve way more representation. I guess in a way our language, english, is representation..? but the culture... we should celebrate it more.
For those who are searching for the lyrics of the song at 2:43 Wōden hēng from æsce trēow, Fugol sæt on sticca bufan, Drypte from þæs fugles mūþ, Þā word ‘ic secge simle sōþ.'
Strange how language is always changing over time. Even if you watch a film from the 1930's, you can hear how the accents and the words they use are a little different from today.
That's partially because alot of movies and radio programs made before the 50s and 60s used the "mid-atlantic accent" which was a fake accent designed to be easily understood by all anglo-sphere countries (mainly the US and UK) by sort of blending the two together. It wasnt a real accent but began partially as an "upper crust" way of speaking taught in boarding schools and bled into radio and theater. Soem other accents we associate with the time like "gangster/mobster speak" was also popular in movies and was heavily an exaggerated inner city new york accent. If you watch some old movie bloopers from the 30s and 40s you'll hear people breaking character and going from "30s speak" to a more normal accent. Accents do change alot after major events, like radio and TV killed off alot of regional accents as the world opened up and old borders were eroded (a person in Boston now watch TV from New York and movies from LA instead of just being exposed to other Bostoners for example) and English did have a HUGE shift after the Norman invasion though. It basically became "German translated by French people" which is how the word "Knight" got a silent "K" whereas it used to be spoken like the "Knecht" as in "Landsknecht".
@@Sebbir I'm curious what this sounds like to you. From what I can tell, his pronunciation is fairly good, and I'm curious as to what you're hearing. I speak English, Spanish and some Irish. To me, this just sounds archaic, like listening to someone from 1850 who spoke entirely in a regional vernacular.
Borden Fleetwood im not sure really. Maybe a bit faroese with parts that sound more czech. But im sure people who actually speak those languages would disagree
Im German and I understood some of it, but by far not everything. Some words appear to be The Same or almost The Same but there were some sentences I didnt catch a Word from
The resemblance to German, Dutch and the Nordic languages is striking. It really demonstrates that English is in the Germanic family of languages, though most of the changes from Old English to Modern English came via Romance languages, primarily Norman French.
Acid Trip Muslim is the name for followers of Islam. English is a language and the people. That’s like saying, “Christians reenact Arabic (or any other Semitic language)”. Does it make sense?
@@jackduncan4228 The frontier Society comes from the Iriqouis & Algonquin doesn't it? The Vikings didn't expand and they loved to scout and pillege but the americans were different. They really did integrate into the land and adopted a lot of Native American customs...some say that SOME of our Democratic ideals come from the Natives. British and Americans are really different and even the Canadians are very different from Americans. Canadians are way more pompous and carry traits of the bourgeois British. The American do have a strong frontier mindset that is very similar to Native Americans. There a lot of aspects of German (Volga) that also influenced the Americans too.
This is actually really good. The "interviewee" is acting exactly in the same (slightly awkward) way that the public does in front of the camera. Interesting to hear the pronunciation: it sounds like it's somewhere between Danish and Dutch.
That's a great compliment, thank you :) Got to bear in mind he wouldn't even know quite how to react around a camera, even if he'd been told what it did
Because that is exactly where English comes from. Basically Denmark and the lands around northern Germany and The Netherlands. English through and through is a Germanic language, just that it has a shit load of Romance language added to it through the French occupation of Brittan for a span of about 300 years roundabouts 800 years ago. So yes, for Native English Speakers we can easily learn both Germanic and Latin language family languages when we really apply ourselves. Also, during the time of the Viking invasion, many of them who settled in England helped spread more Scandinavian words back into our language. In fact the languages were mutually ineligible still back then.
There is an argument, based on syntax of OE, that the language itself was Scandi, with a lot of words and phrases imported from Germanic. This goes against the tradition that the base language itself was Germanic, but makes sense when you think syntax isn't as susceptible to radical mutation as loanwords supplementing vocabulary.
@@SchimmelAufDemBrot4m der Satzbau scheint mir relativ ähnlich zu sein,:Ya can ic / Nay can ic nik. Aber es hört sich eher an wie Schwedisch or Dänisch meiner Meinung nach
I am THOROUGHLY enjoying your videos. I’ve always been interested in accents and the evolution of language. Thanks for what you do and please keep it up! 🙏
Earlier he literally says his name differently in danish, showing his preference to adopt the cultural equivalent rather than remaining glued to his specific version of his reasonably common name. Literally changes nothing but it made sense in that context
It's almost unheard-of for a language to go 1,000 years without changing at all, even if the Norman invasion hadn't happened, but it would probably sound a little bit different than it does today. A lot of the difference is in the inflection, which was already disappearing towards the end of the Old English period, independent of any outside influence, so by the time most of that had disappeared, it would probably be easy enough to learn (as languages go).
I commented here a year ago and saw your comment on accident. I do speak Frisian and Flat/Low German fluently and I was able to understand him better than my girlfriend who lives in Austria.
@@ansems3309 Ja das glaub ich dir, der Alpendialekt hat's schon in sich ^^ Aber ich finde es toll das du Plattdeutsch und Friesisch sprichst, gerade jetzt wo die Dialekte verschwinden.
It must be so relaxing for him, not having to worry about contracting any horrific diseases, or crazy stories about boats full of immigrants wreaking havoc. And knowing that the Angles, Saxons and Jutes across the sea will always be part of a strong trans-national community from which he and his kinfolk will continue to benefit.
@@recusantcatholicgroyper101 He endorses some serbian guy that looks mediterranian as fuck, he can be very inclusive if you agree with him in most things.
Well, Anglo-Saxon was spoken at a time Germanic languages were a lot similar to each other (he said he could speak and understand some Danish at the beginning so it makes sense ;))
English used to be very similar to the other Germanic languages, but we have had heavy influence from French, which has drastically changed English compared to other Germanic languages.
I was born in The Netherlands. Immigrated to the USA with my parents around 1960. I was 5. I recognized the similarity with Dutch almost right away. I was going to post about that. You commented before I did.
With the Danelaw coming from Viking occupation and essentially reforging the Anglo Saxon tongue, mixing it with some other local dialects, it essentially set the stage for the "Northern" English accent.
Sounds like a norwegian who moved to the Netherlands and said:"I'll teach myself how to speak dutch, I do not need your help"....and ended up speaking Old English
Man! That was an exceptional interview! Very realistic, conversational and documentary-like. There ought to be a full length movie done in this style as though the Anglo-Saxons were still around and speaking Old English.
Thank you so much! That was the aim, although I made a couple of mistakes. But I definitely agree with you there, if a few actors took an intensive course or something to make the pronunciation reasonably naturalistic.
@@bobross4616 It doesn't sound much like modern English, but it is the ancestor to it :) It was spoken in England, it was called 'English' (or 'Ænglisc') by its native speakers, and it evolved into Middle English and then Modern English.
Microsoft Windows: select Language
English (UK)
English (US)
English (Anglo Saxon) ✔️
🤣💖👍👍👍
Why does that option even exist lmao
Ænglisch*
@@williaml.willowfield2220 LOL😝
@I WILL EAT YOUR KIDS HeE hEe Aye.
Sounds like a danish guy who got drunk, moved to Germany, had a stroke, and then forgot danish, went to college in Scotland, than relearned danish, then he put on a sheet and went in a time machine
As an American, I’m a bit concerned of your timeline of getting drunk before going to college in Scotland
Jessica Wang naturally you’ll get drunk in Scotland. That’s a given
ADFGHJLLGSADHKLG
Anh Lê Nhật whæt
It does sound like that! Greetings from Denmark :)
"DISCLAIMER: This obviously isn't an actual Anglo-Saxon, it's me in a sheet.
"
Best video disclaimer ever lmao
Did snopes confirm that, though?
No kidding, thank you for alerting me to this gem.
Ay I got tha 999 likes to 1k
Really.
Fuck I was high and I thought these ppl still live in remote parts of England or some shit
My brain: *Is this English?*
Me: *yesn't*
This comment is Gold! 🤣
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
That moment when you need to translate English into English.
A lot of British Dialects are like that.
Old English wasn’t really what we would call English these days. It was more like a precursor to it. It was like a language that evolved _into_ what we know as English.
Honestly, this is about as easy to understand as a deep Southern accent in the USA.
@@connorpusey5912 Then what about English in a 1000 years, that wil have changed and still be English.
@@connorpusey5912 Like American English...
"not an actual anglo-saxon, it's me in a sheet" best description
To be fair I wouldn’t be surprised if Simon was an actual Anglo-Saxon
Now this is what I call immersive journalism
True Gonzo
@@herrklamm1454 hahaha Gonzo time traveller journalism
Lol I love how he's just like "I have 100 sheep, some cattle, what else... Oh yeah a wife, too!"
Don't tell er a forgot again
I love him! Protect him forever.
Priorities 😉
This is the best comment - needs to be pinned!
Genuinely looks like you've pulled an unwitting time-traveller from a river and he confusedly agreed to an interview
This deserves more likes...
exactly, I was like "do they still live there in some secluded places like tribes in Polinesia (or how you write it)"
@@jiznimore Polynesia no longer has any secluded tribes lol. You're thinking of Indonesia, the Amazon, pygmy Africa and Papua
That's what I was thinking! lol
ikr
This is what the doctor's hand writing sounds like.
Nice
Holy shit bro you posted this from 40 years ago
40 years ago? Damn I feel so old.
Clever name
I think same in every country
It actually sounds like English back in the days when I didn't know English
Back when I was a kid (At the dawn of time) I found myself in the odd position of hearing my family talk without being able to understand just what they were saying, and I swear it sounded for all the world like Dutch or something. And I said to myself "this is what it must be like to hear but not speak English."
Exactly =)
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
😂😂
Had the same feeling 😂
This is the best impresonation of a documentary i have ever seen.
German here: I can understand him better when I accept this as a german dialect as If I'd try to understand it as english.
Actually it is a low German dialect lmao
@@andryuu_2000 Of Course. I just wanted to describe that thinking in german tongue, makes it easier to understand than thinking in english.
Ja !
Du hast Recht, verrückte Sache.
as or than I'm confused English isn't my native language
@@huskiehuskerson5300 as and than are sometimes a bit tricky for me as well, because both are in german "als".
"Can you speak any new english at all?"
"Nhyeawuh"
Uhh...... I don’t think that’s how you spell *né*
@@Schwarzorn The next thing I'm about to tell you may come as a surprise, but there's these things called jokes. And one type of these joke things is hyperbole. And this is one of those.
Beepus McBumpus
Well, that’s a pretty bad joke. An exaggeration of something funny to make it funnier, I get. But it wasn’t funny to begin with, and one can only exaggerate to a certain extent before it stops making sense and the connection is lost.
Beepus McBumpus
Well, that’s a pretty bad joke. An exaggeration of something funny to make it funnier, I get. But it wasn’t funny to begin with, and one can only exaggerate to a certain extent before it stops making sense and the connection is lost.
@@Schwarzorn Wow, such an interesting point you felt the need to post it twice for added emphasis. Humour is subjective, I'm glad you didn't like my joke and felt compelled to explain why you think it's not a good joke. 223 other people seemed to like it though, so that's nice.
I teach English in Japan. Today my English club kids were suddenly very interested in old English so I played this for them. They really enjoyed it, thanks!
Wholesome
Which program did you go through, Alex? Also, this made me smile. Thank you!
@@meganscureman I'm on JET living in Kyoto right now! It's a really long process from beginning the application to arriving, with a lot of random hoops to jump through and drawn out uncertainty... but ultimately absolutely worth it based on my own experience!
I feel like learning the old version of your native language is like when you "prestige" in some of C.O.D. games.
You've mastered Japanese, now try *old* Japanese! *OG Godzilla sound* Native English speaker? Try *OLD English*!! *explosion sound*
It is not real. He mentioned it in the description.
DISCLAIMER: This obviously isn't an actual Anglo-Saxon, it's me in a sheet.
But your name's Gabriel, not Baldric!
@@ETB3341 read the video description
@@skyler1887 I know thats what the description says lol.
Imagine pressing 1 for English and getting that guy for the help desk.
😂😂😂😅😅😅😅
"Sorry, 1 for old english
4 for middle english
9 for modern english"
@@TheStickCollector which modern English though? OUR modern English or Shakespeare's modern English?
@@JillWouters ours
Maybe 7 should be for Shakespeare
Ikr!
I feel that I should be able to understand him, but I can’t.
YES. THANK YOU.
Well, he's a farmer with 100 sheep.
@@kaziu312 zoom....right over their heads
You probably need to know German and combine it with English
@SomeRandomGuy that really makes sense
This has the same energy as that “what English sound like to non English speakers” video.
Indeed!
TRUE
What British English sounds like to people learning English from some CD that's in slowly spoken US "RP".
i think its some other european country
XneverstopfightingX probably what Scottish sounds like to non-English speakers
I'm Flemish (northern part of Belgium) and my dialect sounds very much the same as old English, I can understand quite a lot of it. Before the French influence (1066 French invasion) English sounded very differently, more Germanic. I can easily understand old English, especially when I see it in written.
French didn't really affect English grammar and pronunciation apart from vocabulary and a few things like counting
@@deathonion404 I'm sure you're ricgt about the grammar thing, but it changed from the middle ages till now losing a lot of Germanic caractheristics and becoming much easier and simplier than it was before.
@@DieterRahm1845 yep, I agree
The (true) Flemish had much contact and trade with the English. The people from Brabant (east of the Schelde/Antwerpen/Brussels) ironically also sound much different since linguistical they don't speak Flemish but brabantic and have more in common with people in north-brabants as compared to west-flanders
@@gorkzop I don’t know about “true” Flemish but my father speaks a West Flemish dialect which is spoken on the coastal areas of Belgium and you’re correct in saying that the language spoken there has a lot of similarities with English because of loanwords and similar phonological developments. In comparison, Brabantian dialects spoken in Southern Flanders have had a lot more influence from French
That's incredible acting. This video almost had me fooled that there was potentially a pocket of folks who still spoke old english.
Like unwitting amish.
It took me a long time to figure out it was the same guy doing both the acting and asking the questions from behind the camera. What is also fascinating to me is his mannerisms throughout the video at 00:51 chewing the twig really sold it.
ARTOROBOTO {TV} what how do you know?
yea i thought the UK had their own version of the amish.
Not in England but actually theres a small island In america where they do
Wait, it’s not real??
The fact he looks uncomfortable makes it believable
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeæ
Fluent in Dutch here.
Sounds like a dutchman who had a stroke.
My grandmother was German, And she said Dutch is just a German who had a stroke 😂😂
samed halafi if old English is a mixture of English and Danish, that means we should call it Danglish
Buttnuttz as an Irish person it sounds a bit of Irish/gaelic as well
nickxxv 😂😂😂
@nickxxv 😂😂😂😂
One of the best things on UA-cam: creative, instructive, sensitive. Please don't stop. Ic þancie þē, þæt is gōd. - (signed) Toomas Karmo, in Nõo Rural Municipality, Estonia
I left auto play on and woke up from a nap to this. Thought I’d had a stroke
Jane Adelaide Lennox AHAHHHHH
Literally laughed out loud 😂💀
I woke up and discovered I had crapped my pants in my sleep...
I’m fucking dying.
Jane Adelaide Lennox hahahaha
Yep, you actually sound like a real person, not someone playing a character from Beowulf. Nice.
I appreciate that, that's pretty much what I was going for! With ancient languages, there are so few attempts on UA-cam to speak them as a native speaker might.
@@simonroper9218 mate you might've discovered an amazing new GENRE of history/linguistic videos. Seriously consider doing more like this or even more involved with dialogues with other history/linguistics youtubers that would be good at something like this. History with Hilbert would be the first that comes to mind for me I guess. This gave me about a million ideas because this period of English history is so poorly remembered
@@simonroper9218 They actually said nej? Like a Swedish person?
@@gonefishing6337 seems so hmm? I mean, the Dutch say "nee" and the English themselves used to say "nay".
@@simonroper9218 Yeah. I agree with Roper. This is a genre.
He really does a good job acting like he's having a lot of trouble with Modern English pronunciation, even looking embarrassed.
it’s acting???
@@mariaminghi4297 Yeah, nobody really speaks Old English as their main language anymore. This man is just Simon Roper dressed in a sheet and acting.
read the description
And him giving up on the rhotic r issue was brilliant
For real. This guy is killing it as an actor.
Old English is a really beautiful language, I would like it to be revived ... And this whole simon seems to me to be a pretty cool guy!
Learn Dutch! It's closest to the old germanic languages. Maybe even danish...
Yeap learning German helps too
@@strange4107 as a native English speaker there is a lot of Dutch words that I can understand.
Most Dutch I feel like I should be able to understand, but it’s as if I’ve just had a stroke and get the sentiment but not the meaning
@@strange4107 even better, Icelandic
-Can you speak any new English at all?
-Nyeh
-Would you like to learn?
Me: DON'T CORRUPT HIM!
Nyet
@@highgroundproductions8590 😂😂
Gayy
@@highgroundproductions8590 quay porqos ter catalan
@@vishnnuvijay9096 I don't speak catalan
"DISCLAIMER: This obviously isn't an actual Anglo-Saxon, it's me in a sheet"
Oooh, god. Thank you for explaining. I was totally confused.
@Steven Moore it did not! I was actually thinking about time travelling, indeed. But then read this, so everything got clear. Fascinating!
I know nothing about england history and i firstly thought its a tribe or something
You like to learn?
Anglo-Saxon: Yæòú
😂
He did say Jà. not Yæó...
🤣🤣🤣
buster117 😂😂😂😂😂
The Major oof
It’s so interesting how old English has many words from Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and some Icelandic sounding words too.
I can understand roughly about 70% of this tbh. 👍🏼
It had no words from Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. They are modern languages. Old English was almost 100% Old English
mourn for the Anglo Saxon tongue (not "language"), what we are speaking right now is mostly
french with a layer of ?Germanic words.
Yeah, the Danes invaded England and estalblished control in a part of England of what is known as the Danelaw.
it’s because of cognates.
Danish person here: This sounds like someone trying to speak Danish but are doing so underwater
wait isnt danish the one that sounds that it's being spoken underwater?
Leo Araujo you got the whole squad laughing
no problem mate, I know my sense of humour is fucked because I decided to learn Norwegian instead of Danish.
@@leoaraujo8590 yeah, you gotta start with the basics
@@williamnexo12 Sorry if I'm not into saying "2,5*20" just to say "50", i rather stick with "femti"
sounds more like German. Now it makes sense it is a Germanic language.
As I took German in High School; I can understand about 85%-90% of it.
Yes, the fact that Englisch is like it is nowadays is because of the normand invasion and the French language. It was through the Norman conquest that the English lost their germanic roots.
James Johansson frisian, an northwest german dialect is 99% similar to this
Well Anglo-Saxons were germanic tribes who conquered todays England terrains in about V century. All them Islandia beleonged to Celts.
@@jamesp.3220 Im German and that's a pretty bold estimation.
People in the future watching this will be highly confused
William Charnley , what do you mean , future? I can’t understand any of it in the present!
What, why, who ummmmm
@LOCAL COPE I wonder if England's English will be a mix of Arabic and English in the future.
@LOCAL COPE Damn right
@@kkhunt7 Let's hope not.
“My name is Baldric”
*Blackadder has entered the chat*
🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣👍
i
@Bronze Spectre I see what you did there. I won't be a grammar nazi and correct your spelling. I met Tony Robinson once and wanted to chat but I just chickened out and got his autograph instead. I'm such an introverted dick ha ha!
🤣🤣🤣
The acting was so good that he really looked lost. Imagine waking up to a different world.
Damn!
Why do you have over 900 likes and no comment until now?
Imagine waking up in a cart and hearing “hey you you’re finally awake”
The Infamous Big Slurp I-
The song was really nice but you promised him you wouldn't tell.
Just what I thought! Now everyone knows!
Jeliza Rose check the vid description
im trying to know the songs name, someone knows?
@@mostsacredangel Check the Wikipedia article on Yggdrasil, probably the name of the ash tree. The song sounds like one of the verses from the poetic 'edda':
I know that I hung on a windy tree
nine long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run.
I bet that earlier or later verses in the same poem mention the bird. Odin is talking about having sacrificed himself 'to himself' on the ash tree. Maybe the song exists someplace just as Simon presents it, but I don't know where.
@@EmdrGreg this one? ua-cam.com/video/2BPILaMT50k/v-deo.html
Post brexit we will all start speaking like this.
Immediately. The moment it happens. The moment the bill passes. 😂
Fuck yes, i wanna fucking speak like that
then you will speak more close to german
I'm down
That would be AWESOME.
The number of people who thought this was a real story, that there was a forgotten community of medieval peasants in modern-day England who have preserved Anglo-Saxon culture and live like the English Amish, is kind of funny to me.
Honestly, I did wonder for a long minute if this was real.
Who were those people . I would like to have a word with them .
Imagination
When you defreeze a guy from the old days.
Luigino Charles that’s why he’s all wrapped up.
thank you.
True
Ahh shedding light laughter to makes us feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside except that guy he needs a quilt
Defrost
As a German native speaker I find this fascinating. Here we have it: The connection between German and English. That's why our languages are siblings.
Anglo saxons came from the same place as Danes and Germans. We were just a bunch of germanic tribes actually, that migrated over the england.
I suppose the Angles and Saxons came from Germany. Could you understand much of what he said?
@@Wrz2e Back then there was no Germany, just germanic tribes, as someone said above. The old English language and the old German language developed from that base on different paths. Then the English language got influenced by the Norman conquerors, yet English and German are pretty similar languages today. The old English/Anglo-Saxon that is spoken here however is even closer to German. So yes, many sentences are quite understandable. Sometimes the vocabulary sounds strange but I guess that would be the same with old German words.
@@Mansardian Very true, I hope you'll excuse me using 'Germany' as a convenient shorthand for the lands where the Angles and the Saxons originated, which probably included some of modern day Netherlands and Denmark. I find it somewhat regrettable that the Normans adulterated the English language with French and Latin to the extent that we are now barely able to understand our Dutch and German brethren. I always find it very interesting to see cognates and identical words between our languages. Haus, Bier, Butter, Hand, Arm etc...
I wonder what the original Brits sounded like, before they had the saxons come defend them from the Norsemen.
Shit, this is 10x more natural sounding that all others on youtube
I really appreciate that :) That was the aim. Unfortunately, I think I didn't give myself enough time to rehearse, so I make a few mistakes!
Every generation of 40+ people trashes the teenagers.
@@theabsurdveganakadonderric1101 Will be interesting to see how the teenagers of the 2050s will be talking
@@simonroper9218 I reckon they'll communicate mostly by cognitively-linked animated emojis transmitted via enhanced contact lenses. Artificial intelligence will probably play a significant role in streamlining communication. Most people will be very reliant on AI to get through their daily affairs. It don't think it will be as nightmarish as Black Mirror, but it will still have a lot of negative aspects like difficulty communicating without AI assistance. The majority of children may well fall on the autism spectrum as we currently define it.
@MrA 2309 OK boomer
As a Dutchman I recognise more of what he's saying from my Dutch experience than my English experience.
My head canon is that this man went back in time and just started interviewing random villagers
Me too lol
I'm think either a Tardis or a Vortex Manipulator.
“We won’t tell anybody” *literally puts it on the internet lol*
I mean, it’s not like he’s ever gonna find out lol
@@Freakincident lmao
Freakincident Considering the description I think he knows XD
Hahahahahjaahja i thought the same
He’s acting. It’s not real
Me, a german who learned english and also speak icelandic, almost understand everything he is saying. Interesting.
Not surprised. That's awesome man.
All 3 of those languages are germanic
Me, a English/Irish/Scottish tatie, welcomes your pure self
Well the Anglo Saxon era in England was a time when Germanic languages ruled ruled of the regions till Norman
Was gehhtttt
An amazing video. Very well played. The young man who is an Anglo Saxon speaks Old English in a perfect way, using the idioms of that time. Very impressive
It kinda sounds like he’s just speaking English but backwards.
I heard that about any other language from such kind of you
Get OFF my territory.
Wtf is this thread?
@@Jaylink15 I'm wondering the exact same thing? Im so confused.
Agree sounds backwards
I'm a german living in Norway with roots to the netherlands. I definitely hear all three languages. This is awesome!
Ich habe auch Niederländische Wurzeln, lebe in Norddeutschland an der DK Grenze, ich höre auch 3 sprachen :)
Same here, northern german. Sounds a bit like the closely related low german, Plattdeutsch.
All non-latin languages come from Germanic that's why the further back you go the closer they are to being the exact same language literally
@@martingarciaarvidson6684 erm no. Celtic and Hungarian certainly do not. As they predate Scandinavian and Latin languages.
@@hopclang9409 yea ok there are obviously exceptions, but the vast majority of non-latin European languages.
When he said “jdrjjrndjdbdndndnei” I felt that
😂
Ok that was too funny
Very funny
"Spoo reh, spoo reh." Is real motivating.
can any of my fellow englishmen tell me why we don't celebrate the saxons like the scots/irish/welsh celebrate the celts of old? I'm proud of our anglo ancestors they deserve way more representation.
I guess in a way our language, english, is representation..? but the culture... we should celebrate it more.
because the SJW types try to makes us feel ashamed of our past.
Because your ancestors were like, "man our norman kings and queens sound so cool, meanwhile our germanic language sounds like throat diseases."
@@DarrenMalin And Christianity
@@johnfused8281 true
@@DarrenMalin Not because of SJWs, because of French influence.
I would unironically watch this if this was a mini-series
Same, so simple yet so fascinating.
Baldrich, The Old Young Man
I didn't know how much I wanted this until I read your comment
Yeah him trying to learn new english lol
It sounds like all the Germanic languages combined
Haha, yes indeed. I'm Norwegian. It sounds like a mix off Icelandic, Norwegian, German and Dutch. Or something like that...
Well that’s what English is, without the Romantic (French and Latin) influence
Funny, I am Dutch I understand him..😅
It is
SIMP
"Can you sing it? We won't tell anybody."
2.7 million people: 👂
👁👂✋
What is the song?
lol
You gay
For those who are searching for the lyrics of the song at 2:43
Wōden hēng from æsce trēow,
Fugol sæt on sticca bufan,
Drypte from þæs fugles mūþ,
Þā word ‘ic secge simle sōþ.'
That's awesome
Thank you so much. Didn’t know how to search for it on google
Strange how language is always changing over time. Even if you watch a film from the 1930's, you can hear how the accents and the words they use are a little different from today.
That's partially because alot of movies and radio programs made before the 50s and 60s used the "mid-atlantic accent" which was a fake accent designed to be easily understood by all anglo-sphere countries (mainly the US and UK) by sort of blending the two together. It wasnt a real accent but began partially as an "upper crust" way of speaking taught in boarding schools and bled into radio and theater. Soem other accents we associate with the time like "gangster/mobster speak" was also popular in movies and was heavily an exaggerated inner city new york accent. If you watch some old movie bloopers from the 30s and 40s you'll hear people breaking character and going from "30s speak" to a more normal accent.
Accents do change alot after major events, like radio and TV killed off alot of regional accents as the world opened up and old borders were eroded (a person in Boston now watch TV from New York and movies from LA instead of just being exposed to other Bostoners for example) and English did have a HUGE shift after the Norman invasion though. It basically became "German translated by French people" which is how the word "Knight" got a silent "K" whereas it used to be spoken like the "Knecht" as in "Landsknecht".
Ah so that explains why its the same guy doing every commercial and propaganda shit
@@arthas640 i think you should post this comment in the main section as I'm sure many people will find it interesting
@@arthas640 Very interesting, thank you for this comment.
Yes. In the era you are talking about they rolled their “R’s” more as well.
He sounds like a german guy who talks danish and englisch at the same time
As a danish english speaker who understands german i cant say i agree
@@Sebbir I'm curious what this sounds like to you. From what I can tell, his pronunciation is fairly good, and I'm curious as to what you're hearing.
I speak English, Spanish and some Irish. To me, this just sounds archaic, like listening to someone from 1850 who spoke entirely in a regional vernacular.
Borden Fleetwood im not sure really. Maybe a bit faroese with parts that sound more czech. But im sure people who actually speak those languages would disagree
More like Icelandic.
Im German and I understood some of it, but by far not everything. Some words appear to be The Same or almost The Same but there were some sentences I didnt catch a Word from
Looks like the Norman’s didn’t reach him yet.
😆😆😆 Don’t be so HASTIngs! They’ll get there. Lol
old english is actually more germanic. Anglo-Saxons originally from Denmark. Angles, Saxes and Jutes.
*harrying of the north intensifies*
*This enraged his father who punished him severely*
Nope
The resemblance to German, Dutch and the Nordic languages is striking. It really demonstrates that English is in the Germanic family of languages, though most of the changes from Old English to Modern English came via Romance languages, primarily Norman French.
i'm not sure why youtube recommended this to me, but i'm glad it did
You don't find it odd how they recommend you the absolute most random shit these days? Their algorithm is feeding us brainless garbage.
2019: Englishmen reenact Anglo-Saxon speech.
1019: Anglo-Saxons reenact Proto-Brythonic speech.
19: Britons reenact Indo-European speech.
Major challenge for the subtitle writer.
3019: Muslims reenact English speech.
@@AcidTripOk 2050 Chinese reenact 2019 Mandarin
@@AcidTripOk bingo. I was gonna say it
Acid Trip Muslim is the name for followers of Islam. English is a language and the people. That’s like saying, “Christians reenact Arabic (or any other Semitic language)”. Does it make sense?
You can't speak modern English?
*nÆeH*
Næ
Nåë
at least hes honest
@@shadysam7161 Ya mean he's, Honæst?
@@thelivingdead1728 or Unf¯æcne.
Where's the dragon?
Under there
George gottim enit, we gud.
@@Berry01000 under where?
Skyrim
Beowulf killed it
This is what talking in cursive sounds like.
No
Lol
Thats danish
He’s speaking italic
I mean, yes, but only if modern English sounds like cursive written by a doctor
10 centuries later: “We visit a direct descendant of Baldric. An Anglo American.”
Hank Hill: “I sell propane and propane accessories.”
Dang ol, Boomhower
@@robroux6074 idk man, I know plenty of Americans who are happy to sit on the couch bitching all day long
@@CedarPinesFieldGrove you're confusing Americans w/ Texans & Scotchirish. That's like confusing Brits w/ Welsh & the Scotts.
Rob Roux Americans still to this day have a frontier mindset and live in a frontier society.
@@jackduncan4228 The frontier Society comes from the Iriqouis & Algonquin doesn't it?
The Vikings didn't expand and they loved to scout and pillege but the americans were different. They really did integrate into the land and adopted a lot of Native American customs...some say that SOME of our Democratic ideals come from the Natives.
British and Americans are really different and even the Canadians are very different from Americans. Canadians are way more pompous and carry traits of the bourgeois British. The American do have a strong frontier mindset that is very similar to Native Americans.
There a lot of aspects of German (Volga) that also influenced the Americans too.
As someone who is absolutely fascinated about the English language and it’s many accents and dialects, this is absolutely brilliant.
Where are you from ?
@@tonytucker7264 I’m from Sheffield
@@modmutha8608 are you anglo saxon
@@tonytucker7264 I’ve no idea. But I know a few swear words
@@modmutha8608 so do I lol
This is actually really good. The "interviewee" is acting exactly in the same (slightly awkward) way that the public does in front of the camera. Interesting to hear the pronunciation: it sounds like it's somewhere between Danish and Dutch.
That's a great compliment, thank you :) Got to bear in mind he wouldn't even know quite how to react around a camera, even if he'd been told what it did
I think it sounds more like a mix of schwiizerdütsch and danish.
i could understand some he said. I am dutch.
As a dutch person, I guess I can confirm.
It was kinda scary how close some pronunciations were to Dutch...
ian x there are subtitles/captions, you just have to tune them on
It's sounds very Scandinavian with a hint of Dutch
kgeedi exactly my thought
Sounds like a pretty balanced mix between old Scandinavian languages and German/Dutch.
Because that is exactly where English comes from. Basically Denmark and the lands around northern Germany and The Netherlands. English through and through is a Germanic language, just that it has a shit load of Romance language added to it through the French occupation of Brittan for a span of about 300 years roundabouts 800 years ago. So yes, for Native English Speakers we can easily learn both Germanic and Latin language family languages when we really apply ourselves.
Also, during the time of the Viking invasion, many of them who settled in England helped spread more Scandinavian words back into our language. In fact the languages were mutually ineligible still back then.
There is an argument, based on syntax of OE, that the language itself was Scandi, with a lot of words and phrases imported from Germanic. This goes against the tradition that the base language itself was Germanic, but makes sense when you think syntax isn't as susceptible to radical mutation as loanwords supplementing vocabulary.
John Gabriel all of it is Germanic bro, you mean west and northern Germanic.
“It’s not an actual Anglo-Saxon it’s me in a sheet” 😂
I LOVE this so much. Native English speaker from the USA here :D
He sounds like he’s extremely drunk and speaking German
Me as a german can confirm
@@SchimmelAufDemBrot4m der Satzbau scheint mir relativ ähnlich zu sein,:Ya can ic / Nay can ic nik.
Aber es hört sich eher an wie Schwedisch or Dänisch meiner Meinung nach
Altengelsachen ist ein altes Deutsche sprach
Für mich eher norwegisch oder niederländisch als deutsch
@Obiwank Keb34 That's it exactly. Frieslanders were actually among the Saxon invaders of Britain
UA-cam algorithm: *I'm gonna restart this man whole career*
The UA-cam algorithm is a good pal and one day I will buy it a drink
As a non native speaker This sound like how i used to hear english when I was a kid and hadnt learned it yet
I am THOROUGHLY enjoying your videos. I’ve always been interested in accents and the evolution of language. Thanks for what you do and please keep it up! 🙏
"Hinga dinga dergen!"
- Spongebob Squarepants
Happy lief Erickson day!
Found my friends
Gone to get more giant paper.
Georgen dingur herge
FINLAND!!!!!
- Patrick Star
"No, you are pronouncing your own name incorrectly."
Earlier he literally says his name differently in danish, showing his preference to adopt the cultural equivalent rather than remaining glued to his specific version of his reasonably common name. Literally changes nothing but it made sense in that context
Rex the Royalist read the description
Raj SB i did, i was talking about the character of bældric
So had English not changed since then it would sound like a mix of German and Danish
It's almost unheard-of for a language to go 1,000 years without changing at all, even if the Norman invasion hadn't happened, but it would probably sound a little bit different than it does today. A lot of the difference is in the inflection, which was already disappearing towards the end of the Old English period, independent of any outside influence, so by the time most of that had disappeared, it would probably be easy enough to learn (as languages go).
DrCuriensapprentice prior to the Norman invasion, Anglish was almost all Germanic (no Romance) so it makes sense
He sounds like he is speaking afrikaans after a tot or two.
Nee ek kan nie. Ja jy kan Baldrich. Moenie kak praat nie!
Or like somebody from the North East.
Hmm as a German, that sounds like Frisian or Low German (Plattdeutsch) in Low Saxony and like norse maybe Danish?
I commented here a year ago and saw your comment on accident. I do speak Frisian and Flat/Low German fluently and I was able to understand him better than my girlfriend who lives in Austria.
@@ansems3309 Ja das glaub ich dir, der Alpendialekt hat's schon in sich ^^
Aber ich finde es toll das du Plattdeutsch und Friesisch sprichst, gerade jetzt wo die Dialekte verschwinden.
Anglo-Saxon (old English) is directly related to Frisian and Low German(which used to be called Saxon). Good ear!
Anglo Saxons were from Saxony.
@@thematthew761
No, Anglosaxons are from the British isles. They are a mixed group of mostly Angles, Frisians, Saxons and Jutes.
Plot twist: He's drunk.
Lol
LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY JEEENKIINS
Bro🤣😂🤣😂😎
Bro, Leeroy? Jfc, how long has it been since I last saw your video? Oh yeah, 20 minutes, gotta go back and give my hourly praying
“Yah. New Anglish yah.” - all I understood.
Ja, neo englisc ja
This sounds like Danish or Scandic
precious lady
Torper Vazquez
Tu que? Wey 😂
What the fuck
You're everywhere
Even here
what is scandic?
@@elliot04877 norwegian, danish, icelandic, swedish. Use your imagination you shitstain.
2:36 "Can you sing it........We won't tell anybody".
That is so sweet, in a really odd kind of way.
Guys, I can't believe this sounds like this other !
AppaBalloonPro Right?
It is a most remarkable phenomenon. [>
Hahahaha
Anglais is apparently a Romance language !
i can't believe german is,,,a germanic language 😩😩😩
I'm on my ninth pint and its starting to sound clearer.
😭😭😭😭😂😂
😭😭😭😭🤣🤣
I'm exactly the same when I start talking to women in pubs in Lancashire / Manchester.
Lancashire top county pal
😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂
🤢🤮🤮
Mad props to this guy, while everybody else is living in 2020, he's still living in 700s
It must be so relaxing for him, not having to worry about contracting any horrific diseases, or crazy stories about boats full of immigrants wreaking havoc. And knowing that the Angles, Saxons and Jutes across the sea will always be part of a strong trans-national community from which he and his kinfolk will continue to benefit.
They said in the description that this was faked and was only meant to give an idea of how it sounded like
More like 9th century Europe
@@asdf2593 You spotted one of my subtly camouflaged analogies!
What a magnificent piece of work! Simon brings this character totally back to life for us.
this is the guy neopagans wished they were
*varg cries in corner*
@@Zen-rw2fz the guy is brown hair and does not speak Gaelic like their ancestors have 2000 years ago so therefore not white
@@recusantcatholicgroyper101 ????
@@Sheerspeechcraft Varg doesn't like anyone who does not have nordic features particularly Italians.
@@recusantcatholicgroyper101
He endorses some serbian guy that looks mediterranian as fuck, he can be very inclusive if you agree with him in most things.
Swedish here, a Scandinavian could probably understand 60% of that.
Yea Im swedish and I was pick up on alot of his stuff
Weird ass accent tho, probably easier for other Scandinavians
Im from norway so its pretty hard to understand, but he sound like hes danish
It would be very interesting to record a few sentences in Old English and see how well a people from different countries understood.
nope det låter som norska, tyska och engelska blandat. fattar noll
I adore this video
So do I
You gay
@@TheGreatConqueror1 You little kid.
Kovu??? Never expected to find a random kovu comment on a random video lmao
@@TheGreatConqueror1 you are 12
Simon is living history of long lost languages. Bless you.
Why's it low key sounding like every Germanic language at once
Old English is closer to old Germanic than all modern languages (other than maybe Icelandic)
🤔I wonder
Because it is a Germanic language. The Anglo-Saxons settled in England from areas of Scandinavia.
Well, Anglo-Saxon was spoken at a time Germanic languages were a lot similar to each other (he said he could speak and understand some Danish at the beginning so it makes sense ;))
English used to be very similar to the other Germanic languages, but we have had heavy influence from French, which has drastically changed English compared to other Germanic languages.
He sounds like a Norwegian who spent the past 25 years alone in the forest.
So a 90's Black Metal vocalist then?
😂🤣😂🤣😂
😂😂
Isn't that how Faroese was created?
@@newaccount3743 trve kvlt
Interviewer: What do you do?
Baeldric: Oh I farm. I have a hundred sheep. Some cattles. *A Wife*
True... I guess it would have been better if the list were reversed?
@@backalleycqc4790 not when you're married XD
Uh, it's how most guys think - pretty spot on.
Thanks for translating. Am I the only one that had a difficult time understanding what this man was saying?!?
Thank you very much for clarifying in your description. I thought that you had discovered time travel for a sec but the description cleared that up
As someone who is half German, half English, this.... sounds like Dutch.
Nouuu
Isn't it to some degree?
If I recall correctly, Old English is closely related to Old Frisian.
I was born in The Netherlands.
Immigrated to the USA with my parents around 1960. I was 5.
I recognized the similarity with Dutch almost right away.
I was going to post about that.
You commented before I did.
As a dutch person it sounds like Scandinavian
*As a dane speaking english, I actually understand this guy.*
Same
With the Danelaw coming from Viking occupation and essentially reforging the Anglo Saxon tongue, mixing it with some other local dialects, it essentially set the stage for the "Northern" English accent.
as a guy using subtitles I can understand this guy
Being Dutch and speaking Friesian, Gronings and German, it surprised me how much I could understand
What kind of time hopping heretic are you?!
Sounds like a norwegian who moved to the Netherlands and said:"I'll teach myself how to speak dutch, I do not need your help"....and ended up speaking Old English
Ye, I have also mentioned this Dutch-Scandinavian mix.
Also sounds like the Frisian language, which is also in Holland.
@@robwalsh9843 Yes frisian is also well on the edge between dutch and scandinavian i think. That's where the anglo-frisian comes from right
I'm dutch an british i can almost understand it perfectly it's wonderful
@@robwalsh9843 did...you...call...it...HOLLAND?!!!!*TRIGGERED DUTCH PERSON*
Thank you so much for bringing this video back!
Man! That was an exceptional interview! Very realistic, conversational and documentary-like. There ought to be a full length movie done in this style as though the Anglo-Saxons were still around and speaking Old English.
Awesome idea. A sort of mockumentary but for educational purposes rather than comedic.
Thank you so much! That was the aim, although I made a couple of mistakes. But I definitely agree with you there, if a few actors took an intensive course or something to make the pronunciation reasonably naturalistic.
@@simonroper9218 Why is it called "old English" when it sounds nothing like modern English.?
@@bobross4616 It doesn't sound much like modern English, but it is the ancestor to it :) It was spoken in England, it was called 'English' (or 'Ænglisc') by its native speakers, and it evolved into Middle English and then Modern English.
@@simonroper9218 Thanks I had already watched a video on it. But at least I can admire that you know your stuff. Ha-ha. Great vid.