Hi! Welcome to “Dusty Phrases.” You will find below an ancient phrase in one language or another, along with its English translation. You may also find the power to inspire your friends or provoke dread among your enemies.
For other examples, visit HERE:
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Old English:
Mē ne þyncð nānwiht hefiġ, ðæs þe man lufað
English:
It seems to me that nothing is difficult, if it is done for love
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If you look at the Old English closely, you can sort of figure it out. For me, the most difficult word here is “þyncð” (which means something like rank or honor.
You might read it really roughly, as something like “Me no rank nothing heavy, that be man loved.”
This phrase comes from King Alfred’s Old English Version of St. Augustine’s Soliloquies by Augustine. (It’s available for purchase on Amazon):
Augustine was a Christian writer and theologian of the 4th and early 5th century. He is likely somewhat familiar to you, if you are the type of person who reads this website. Alfred, on the other hand, may be less well known to you, though he should not be forgotten either. Technically, history remembers him as the 9th century Saxon King Alfred the Great. He is the only native-born English monarch who can claim this label.
Alfred the Great (Old English: Ælfrǣd [ˈæɫvˌræːd]; c. 849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and Æthelwulf’s first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfred was young. Three of Alfred’s brothers, Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred, reigned in turn before him. Under Alfred’s rule, considerable administrative and military reforms were introduced, prompting lasting change in England.
After ascending the throne, Alfred spent several years fighting Viking invasions. He won a decisive victory in the Battle of Edington in 878 and made an agreement with the Vikings, dividing England between Anglo-Saxon territory and the Viking-ruled Danelaw, which consisted of Scandinavian York, the north-east Midlands, and East Anglia. Alfred also oversaw the conversion of Viking leader Guthrum to Christianity. He defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, becoming the dominant ruler in England. Alfred began styling himself as “King of the Anglo-Saxons” after reoccupying London from the Vikings. Details of his life are described in a work by 9th-century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser.
Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-headed nature who encouraged education, establishing a court school for both nobles and commoners to be educated in both English and Latin, and improving the legal system and military structure and his people’s quality of life. He was given the epithet “the Great” from as early as the 13th century, though it was only popularised from the 16th century. Alfred is the only native-born English monarch to be labelled as such.
