Antonwh
Hallō! I'm antonwh. I live in Barnsley, UK.
I got into Old English from being interested in Icelandic, I suppose. It all started a few years ago when I watched a programme called Extraordinary People which you will find on Youtube. The person the programme looks at is a genius and he learns Icelandic in a week.
This wasn't really the start of my being interested in languages. A couple of years later, I was introduced to the Michel Thomas method of learning languages. Now I'm not advertising it, but I found it extraordinary. So then I thought I'd look at Icelandic and try and learn that with it. I became obsessed with Icelandic, and spent ages trying to find out how to say stuff in it (I credit myself as a word-finder).
Then, I thought what about our language? Why isn't it like this? Because of the French. I confidently believe that if the French hadn't invaded in 1066, we would have a language like Icelandic today. To get one thing straight, I do not hate the French (although by default I must seeing as I'm British). This is how I came to be interested in Old English, the language before this time. I read somewhere that Old Norse/Icelandic was intelligible with Old English so this also something I'm interested in.
Hallō! Ic eom Gherkinmad. Ic eardie in Beorneslēah, Geānlǣht Cynerīce.
Englisc ofgēong tō onbryrdanne mē þæs þe Īslendisc onbryrde mē, mē þyncð. Hit ofgēong sum gēara ǣr þā seah ic feorrsīengesiht hātte Extraordinary People þe fint man on Youtube. Sēo feorrsīengesiht āsmēað mann þe is andwīs gemyndes and hē leornað Īslendisc in ānre wican.
Þis næs se fruma mīnes tyhtene mid spracum. Twā gēara eft, Ic cunnode seo sprǣcleornungwīse Michel Thomas. Nū ic ne ēagelīhte hit, ac mē þūhte þe hit wǣre sellic. Swā þā þōhte ic þe ic cunnode Īslendisc þurh hit. Īslendisc ofgēong tō āganne mē, and lange cunnode ic ymb hū tō secganne āwihtu on him (ic mē self wordfindere hāte).
Þā þōhte ic hwæt is mid sprǣce uncerre? hwȳ nis hēo gelīce þis? Þæs þe þā Francan. Ic belīefe trēowfullīce þe gif þā Francan ne anwōdon on 1066, wē hæfden sprǣce gelīce Īslendisc tōdæg hæfd. Þæt ēower cūðlicu sīen, Ic ne hatie þā Francan (þēah ic mōt þæs þe eom ic Bryttisc). Þis is hū Englisc ofgēong tō onbryrdanne mē, sēo sprǣc ǣr þissum tīman. Ic rēd gehwǣr þe Eald Noren/Īslendisc wǣre andgietfullicu mid Englisce swā þis is ēac āwiht þe onbryrdeð