þ / ð
thorn / eth
Both can represent sounds now written th.
Old English to Modern English Translator
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Input guide
Keep the historical letters when you have them
Edited Old English often contains letters that are absent from a standard keyboard. Preserving them helps distinguish forms that might otherwise look alike. Use the Old English alphabet and keyboard if you need to type or copy these characters.
æ
ash
A vowel, approximately like a in Modern English “cat.”
ƿ
wynn
A historical letter for the sound normally written w today.
ā ē ī ō ū
macrons
Modern editors often use a line to mark a long vowel.
Reading method
A readable translation is not always the most literal one
Old English word order is flexible, pronouns and articles carry case information, and poetry can compress or rearrange meaning. A useful Modern English version may therefore differ from a word-for-word gloss.
Wes þū hāl.
- Close gloss
- Be thou whole / healthy.
- Readable Modern English
- Hello; be well.
Iċ þancie þē.
- Close gloss
- I thank you.
- Readable Modern English
- Thank you.
Fæder ūre, þū þe eart on heofonum …
- Close gloss
- Our Father, you who are in the heavens …
- Readable Modern English
- Our Father in heaven …
Oft him anhaga āre ġebīdeð.
- Close gloss
- Often the solitary one awaits mercy for himself.
- Readable Modern English
- The solitary wanderer often waits for grace.
Why a form may be hard to find
Old English words change shape inside a sentence
A printed dictionary normally lists a lemma, the headword used to organise related forms. The form in your passage may have a different ending because of case, number, gender, tense, person, or mood. Start with the sentence translator, then compare key words in our curated Old English dictionary or a complete scholarly lexicon.
Transcribe before translating
If your source is a manuscript image, type a careful transcription first. Letter recognition and language translation are separate tasks.
Translate a complete clause
A neighbouring article, adjective, or verb ending can reveal the grammatical job of an unfamiliar noun.
Check the edition and dialect
Spelling and forms vary across manuscripts, dialects, and editorial conventions. Keep the source reference with your translation.
Questions people ask
Old English to Modern English questions
Can this translate Beowulf into Modern English?
It can provide a reading draft for a transcribed passage. Poetry compresses meaning and uses specialized vocabulary, so compare important lines with a scholarly edition and published translation.
Should I keep thorn, eth, ash, and wynn?
Yes, when they are present in your edition or transcription. Preserving historical letters gives the translator more reliable spelling information.
Can I upload a manuscript image?
Yes, use Images mode above. Treat character recognition and language translation as separate checks because handwriting, abbreviations, and damaged text can affect extraction.
Why can I not find an inflected word in the dictionary?
Historical dictionaries organize words under a lemma. The form in a sentence may carry a different ending for case, number, tense, person, gender, or mood.
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