EXPLORING THE WORD HOARD

This is the text of a series of talks delivered to U3A (University of the Third Age) in 2011.  It is an account arising from an entirely amateur enthusiasm kindled in the first instance by study at Otago University of Anglo Saxon. The cadences of that most practical yet poetic language have influenced my own love of language, of writing and of history. 
           Anglo Saxon has been described as a tongue toughened language and expressions such as ‘world candle’ for sun, ‘bone house’ for body and ‘whale road’ for sea captured me utterly.
         I have used the typically evocative expression ‘Word Hoard’ in the title of this brief exploration of the development of the English language.