Titles from Witan

(Coming Soon) Alfred Becker’s The King’s Box

Author: Dr. Alfred Becker

Summary: The runic and Roman texts appearing on the Franks (Auzon) Casket are well-known to students of Old English. The iconography is likewise familiar but contains many unusual features which are seldom discussed in detail. Dr. Becker submits the runes and imagery to close examination using heuristic principles. The result of his study is a re-evaluation of the entire iconographic and textual program of the box as a heroic course of life and the prosperity of a warrior king, based on a sequence of conceptual runes whose meaning determines the choice of images as emblems. At the same time, the number and value of the runes establish an eternal calendar backed by an astronomical cycle (comparable to the Nebra sky disk). A separate chapter is devoted to the only image referring to Norse sources, a representation of Welund, the mythical goldsmith, the emblem of prosperity.

Titles from Witan

Drout’s Quick and Easy Old English

Author: Michael D. C. Drout, Bruce D. Gilchrist, Rachel Kapelle
Published: September 2012
ISBN: 9781536538892
Cost: $3.99

Summary: Michael D.C. Drout has now transformed his classic “King Alfred’s Grammar” into a comprehensive guide for learning Old English. Appropriate for students and enthusiasts alike, Drout’s Quick and Easy Old English presents the basics of the language in an accessible form. Even the most novice student can learn to read the classics of medieval literature in their original language with this system. Drout’s Quick and Easy Old English covers:

  • The history of Old English
  • Orthography, covering the unfamiliar characters of Old English writing
  • Pronouncing Old English
  • Grammar, from nouns and verbs to pronouns and adjectives
  • Tricks for translation

With the help of Bruce Gilchrist and Rachel Kapelle, Drout provides exercises to reinforce the lessons. After years of testing in classrooms and online, these exercises have been thoroughly vetted for accuracy by scholars around the world, and have guided countless students through their first lessons in Old English.