Learn how to recite the children’s nursery rhyme in Old English. Our storyteller takes you through the hand actions in modern English then through an Old English translation one line at a time.
Almost all the words should sound very similar to those we use today – except the word for spider!
In this part of the website, we would like to suggest some crafts or activities you can try to find out more about the Anglo-Saxons.
We also have a set of “Cutha’s Chronicles”, a series of short comics about a boy called Cutha and his daily life.
You can see the list of activities in the menu on the right and we will be producing new items regularly so do come back to see what has been added.
We have lots of ideas for making some Christmas Cards with an Old English theme!
You can find translations of some traditional Christmas Carols to use as verses in your cards.
Alternatively, here are some seasonal words and shorter greetings that you might like to copy and add to your cards:
For Christmas we have:
For New Year we have:
For merry/happy/joyful we have:
Below are some greetings in the insular script you could add to the inside of the card.
We also suggest some pictures that are free for you to download and use on your cards.
Cutha and his twin sister Cyne live on a typical Anglo-Saxon farm, and tell us about their lives.
The chronicles are written for younger readers, or they may be used by Primary School teachers as a starting-point for a study of the Anglo-Saxon period.
You can download copies of Cutha’s Chonicles by clicking on the links below.
Dragons, in which Cutha and Cyne tell us about all the different types of dragons
Warriors, in which Cutha tells us about how the men have to go away to fight for their lord
Months of the year, in which Cutha and Cyne tell us about the things they do during January-May
More months of the year, in which Cutha and Cyne tell us about the things they do during August-December
Life during winter, in which Cutha and Cyne tell us about life during the coldest part of the year
Making a flute, in which Cutha shows us how he made his flute
Where we live, in which Cutha and Cyne tell us about their home
Beating the bounds, in which Cutha learns about the boundaries of his family’s land
A visit to the market, in which Cytha and Cyne visit a market town with their uncle
Paying the rent, in which the earl comes to collect his rent
More about paying the rent, in which we find out more about how the Anglo-Saxons paid rent
Growing food, in which Cutha and Cyne tell us about the food they grow and animals they keep on the farm
Preserving food, in which Cytha and Cyne tell us how they stop food from going rotten
Looking after the pigs, in which Cutha and Cyne tell us about taking the pigs to the woods in Autumn
Making bread, in which we learn how to make bread, and find a recipe
Making cloth, in which Cutha and Cyne explain how cloth is made to make their clothes
Cutha’s Chronicles were written by Karl Wittwer and illustrated by Paul Finlow-Bates for Wiðowinde, the magazine for members of Đa Engliscan Gesiðas (The English Companions).
Cutha’s Chronicles may be freely copied entirely for educational purposes, but illustrations and text may not be extracted, separated, or reproduced for commercial gain.