Anglo-Saxon Unit

All 20, in the order they appear on the handout.

• blithe

  adj.·p.25

  cheerful

  Close to bliss in sound and in spirit: carefree and cheerful.

• wyrd

  n.·intro

  an unseen force, usually malevolent in Anglo-Saxon times; fate

  Old English for fate. It survives as weird, as in the three Weird Sisters who see the future.

• mead-halls

  n.

  large rooms where a feast often takes place

  Exactly what it says: a hall for drinking mead, a honey wine. Heorot is the famous one.

• reparation

  n.·l. 73

  something making up for a wrong or an injury; restitution

  Same root as repair. Reparation fixes the damage you did.

• affliction

  n.·l. 93

  struggles or trials which cause distress, misery, or pain

  To afflict is to strike down. An affliction is whatever strikes you: illness, grief, hard times.

• solace

  n.·l. 100

  comfort and relief

  Same Latin root as console. Solace is the comfort you find when things go wrong.

• omens

  n.·l. 118

  signs, events, or phenomena which foretell the future

  An ominous sky is full of omens: signs that something is coming, usually something bad.

• mail

  n.·l. 141

  any woven metal armor

  Not letters. Think chain mail: armor woven from thousands of small iron rings.

• sentinel

  n.·l. 217

  a soldier or guard on watch

  Shares a root with sense: a sentinel's job is to watch and listen. Same idea as a sentry.

• purge

  v.·l. 261

  purify or cleanse

  Same family as pure. To purge is to clean out whatever is foul.

• writhing

  v.·l. 341

  making twisting or turning motions

  Wr- words twist: wring, wrench, wrist, wreath. Writhing is twisting, usually in pain.

• sinews

  n.·l. 390

  tendons connecting muscle to bone

  The tough cords that tie muscle to bone. When Beowulf tears off Grendel's arm, they snap.

• massive

  adj.·l. 533

  immense and solid; difficult to overcome

  A great mass of something, all in one piece: huge, heavy and hard to move.

• loathsome

  adj.·l. 555

  disgusting; detestable; repulsive

  To loathe is to hate. Something loathsome is easy to hate.

• fetters

  n.·l. 582

  shackles or chains for the feet

  Same root as foot. Fetters chain the feet the way handcuffs chain the hands.

• banner

  n.·l. 791

  a piece of material presenting a logo or emblem

  A flag carried high so everyone can see whose side you are on.

• pyre

  n.·p. 59

  a place for the burning of a deceased person's body in a pagan funeral ritual

  Greek pyr means fire, as in pyrotechnics. A pyre is a pile of wood built for a funeral fire.

• fiend

  n.·l. 1406

  an enemy, demon, devil, or intensely evil person

  In Old English a feond was simply an enemy. Today a fiend is the worst kind of enemy: a demon.

• lament

  v.·p. 25

  to feel or express sorrow or regret; to mourn over

  Draw it out like a long, low moan, which is what lamenting often sounds like: grieving out loud.

• innumerable

  adj.·p. 76

  too many to count

  In- means not, plus numerable, countable. Too many to number.