Speak like a Saxon #22: snow

I used to think snow was fun. The way it lands on your nose; how slippery it is and it's nice to throw at people. Now, with a bruised coccyx and wet feet, I'm with the Anglo-Saxons. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the outside world is a scary place! It's nice to look at, but going out in it takes real courage, will-power and faith. There's a poem about a man who goes out to sea as a pilgrim, giving up his life of pleasure on land to seek out the Lord. Try out some of his words...

For expressing your discomfort after you've just trudged into work through the snow and the slush:

'My feet were all oppressed with cold' = calde geþrungen wæron mine fet ["kald-uh ye-thrung-en where-on meen-uh fait"]

When it's really nasty out there and you don't hear the boss ringing your mobile:

'I couldn't hear a thing except the roaring sea' = þær ic ne gehyrde butan hlimman sæ ["there itch ney ye-hoord-uh but-an hlim-an say"]

When you get lost in the park by the pond:

'I lived sorrowfully in the ice-cold sea all winter' - ic earmcearig iscealdne sæ winter wunade ["Itch ey-arm-kay-ar-iy ees-kay-ald-nuh say winter wun-ad-uh"]

When you're soggy and cold, because:

'Hail showers fell' - hægl scurum fleag ["hay-ul skoor-um fley-ag"]

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