The Colloquy
Old English Reading 1
Chapter 6 · The Colloquy
🧑🌾 Ælfric's Colloquy
Every text so far has been a statement, a prayer or a record. This one is a conversation: a teacher questions a monk and then a ploughman about their work. Dialogue gives you short sentences, questions and first-person verbs, which is exactly what is easiest to read.
The text
This is exactly how Wikisource prints it, with no capitals and almost no punctuation. The speaker labels (Teacher, Student A, Student B) are the page's own English labels. I have broken the text into the speeches so that you can see who is talking. Read the Old English first, then the word-for-word gloss.
Teacher: hwæt hæfst þu weorkes
what have you of-work
"What work do you have?"
Student A: ic eom geanwyrde monuc ond sincge ælce dæg seofon tida mid gebroþrum ac þeahhwæþere ic wolde betwenan leornian sprecan on leden gereorde
I am (geanwyrde) monk and sing every day seven hours with brothers, but nevertheless I wanted (betwenan) to-learn to-speak in Latin speech
"I am a monk, and I sing seven hours every day with the brothers; but all the same I would like to learn to speak in the Latin tongue."
Teacher: hwæt cunnon þas þine geferan
what know these your companions
"What do these companions of yours know (how to do)?"
Student A: summe synt yrþlincgas sume scephyrdas sume oxanhyrdas sume eac swylce huntan sume fisceras sume fugleras sume cypmenn sume scewyrhtan sealteras bæceras
some are ploughmen, some shepherds, some oxherds, some also likewise hunters, some fishers, some fowlers, some merchants, some shoemakers, salters, bakers
"Some are ploughmen, some shepherds, some oxherds, some also hunters, some fishermen, some fowlers, some merchants, some shoemakers, salters, bakers."
Teacher: hwæt sægest þu yrþlingc hu begæst þu weorc þin
what say you ploughman, how go-about you work your
"What do you say, ploughman? How do you go about your work?"
Student B: eala leof hlaford þearle ic deorfe ic ga ut on dægræd þywende oxan to felda ond iugie hie to syl nys hit swa stearc winter þæt ic durre lutian æt ham for ege hlafordes mines ac geiukodan oxan ond gefæstnodon sceare ond cultre mid þære syl ælce dæg ic sceal erian fulne æcer oþþe mare
oh dear lord, hard I labour: I go out at dawn driving the oxen to the field and yoke them to the plough; it-is-not so harsh a winter that I dare lurk at home for fear of my lord; but (the) yoked oxen and (they) fastened share and coulter with the plough, every day I must plough a full acre or more
"Oh, dear lord, I work hard. I go out at dawn, driving the oxen to the field, and yoke them to the plough. There is no winter so harsh that I dare stay hidden at home for fear of my lord. But with the oxen yoked and the share and coulter fastened to the plough, I must plough a full acre or more every day."
Teacher: hæfst þu ænigne geferan
have you any companion
"Do you have any companion?"
Student B: ic hæbbe sumne cnapan þywende oxan mid gadisene
I have a-certain boy driving oxen with goad
"I have a boy who drives the oxen with a goad."
Source: Wikisource, Ælfric's Colloquy. The page marks the work public domain; the Wikisource text is CC BY-SA 4.0. Its header gives no edition, editor, translator or date, and marks the source as unknown with a request for verification, so treat the text as an unchecked transcription. The page has no translation: the glosses and translations are mine and unverified.
Reading it: the routine in action
Questions from the teacher
- hwæt hæfst þu weorkes: hwæt "what" opens the question, then the verb hæfst (2nd person singular of habban), then the subject þu. weorkes is a genitive ("of work"); I take it as the genitive after "what", but I read no rule for it.
- hwæt cunnon þas þine geferan: cunnon is the plural of cunnan "know (how to)", a preterite-present verb (Old English Grammar 1, Chapter 9). þas is "these" (Chapter 5) and geferan is a plural ending in -an, "companions".
- hwæt sægest þu yrþlingc and hu begæst þu weorc þin: both put the verb before þu, as in questions in Old English Grammar 1, Chapter 10. begæst is a compound of gān (gǣst "you go", Chapter 9). þin "your" comes after weorc.
The monk's answers
- ic eom ... monuc: eom is "I am" (Chapter 9). I could not read geanwyrde: it does not fit the sentence as it stands, so I leave it unglossed; it may be a transcription slip.
- sincge is "(I) sing", the first person present. ælce dæg is "every day" (an accusative used for time, my reading). mid gebroþrum is -um after mid: the dative plural, as in Chapter 4.
- ic wolde ... leornian sprecan: wolde is the past of willan (Chapter 9) with two infinitives. on leden gereorde means "in Latin speech". The word "Latin" is plain in it. The text here is Old English, so this line is odd; I recall that the Colloquy is a Latin text with an Old English gloss added, but the page does not say so.
- summe synt yrþlincgas ...: a list. synt is the plural "are" (sind in Chapter 9) and the people end in -as or -an as plurals (Chapters 2 and 4). cypmenn "merchants" has menn, the irregular plural of mann (Chapter 4).
The ploughman's answers
- ic deorfe, ic ga, iugie hie, ic durre, ic sceal, ic hæbbe: every verb is a first person singular. durre is from durran "dare" and sceal from sċulan "must", both preterite-presents from Chapter 9; ga is gā (without its macron).
- Word order. þearle ic deorfe and ælce dæg ic sceal erian begin with an adverb or time phrase, then the pronoun ic, then the verb. That puts the verb third, not second. Old English Grammar 1, Chapter 10 gives verb-second as the default; the pronoun coming first is my observation, not something I read in a source.
- þywende oxan "driving the oxen": þywende is a present participle in -ende (Chapter 8); oxan is the plural object. The last line repeats the participle: cnapan þywende oxan.
- nys hit swa stearc winter: nys looks like ne + is joined (my reading). hlafordes mines is a genitive, with mines "my" after the noun, like weorc þin.
- geiukodan ... gefæstnodon: I read these as "yoked" and "fastened", past forms of two weak verbs (the second has the -od- shape; Chapter 8). The grammar of this clause is unclear to me, so my translation is a best sense, not a parse.
New words
| Old English | Meaning | Modern English relative |
|---|---|---|
| weorc | work | work |
| monuc | monk | monk |
| yrþling | ploughman | (contains earth) |
| scephyrde | shepherd | shepherd |
| hlaford | lord | lord |
| dægræd | dawn | (day + red) |
| oxa | ox | ox |
| æcer | acre, field | acre |
| cnapa | boy | (cf. knave) |
| winter | winter | winter |
The meanings come from context. The "Modern English relative" column and the guess that yrþling contains the word for "earth" are my own knowledge, unverified.
📋 Quick Reference
| Feature | Where |
|---|---|
| Question: verb before subject | hwæt hæfst þu · hwæt sægest þu |
| 2nd person singular -st | hæfst, sægest, begæst |
| 1st person singular -e | deorfe, hæbbe, iugie |
| Preterite-present | cunnon, durre, sceal |
| Present participle | þywende |
| Possessive after the noun | weorc þin, hlafordes mines |
✏️ Try It Yourself
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Translate hwæt hæfst þu weorkes.
Show answer
"What work do you have?" The verb comes before þu, and weorkes is a genitive.
2. What ending is on gebroþrum, and why?
Show answer
-um, the dative plural, after mid "with".
3. Which verb is cunnon a form of, and what kind of verb is it?
Show answer
cunnan, a preterite-present verb (Old English Grammar 1, Chapter 9), in the plural.
4. What does cypmenn show about the plural of mann?
Show answer
It is the irregular plural menn, with a changed vowel (Old English Grammar 1, Chapter 4).
5. What do the endings of hæfst, sægest and begæst show?
Show answer
All are the 2nd person singular present ("you ...") with -st or -est.
6. What does begæst contain, and how do you know?
Show answer
The verb gān: compare gǣst in Old English Grammar 1, Chapter 9. The prefix be- is added.
7. What do ic durre and ic sceal mean, and which verbs are they?
Show answer
"I dare" (durran) and "I must/shall" (sċulan): preterite-presents.
8. What does þywende end in, and what is it?
Show answer
-ende: a present participle, "driving".
9. In ælce dæg ic sceal erian, where does the verb stand, and what is unusual?
Show answer
Third: after the time phrase and the pronoun ic. The verb-second default has an exception here (my observation).
10. Translate ic hæbbe sumne cnapan þywende oxan mid gadisene.
Show answer
"I have a boy driving the oxen with a goad." mid gadisene is a dative after mid.