Where does English come from? What is the oldest form of "English" we can find and identify as such? When did people start speaking "English" and where does the name even come from? What did "Old English" look and sound like and who spoke it? What do we know of it today and how do we know it? Which remnants of it can we find in Modern English? What do the primary sources of Old English tell us about the language, the history, the people, the culture? And how can language do that?
This course will be an introduction to Old English, the language, the time period, and some of the written word that has survived to this day. We will study the language itself but also its surroundings and connections and attempt to answer the questions above.