Various: Ormulum, Agenbite of Inwit, The Canterbury Tales – Reading

Middle English. Readings from Ormulum, Ayenbite of Inwyt, and The Canterbury Tales.

Please check the playlist for updated readings with improved sound quality and additional information about the texts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzVb6yL_jY69N9G5BqcTQdlGbwWRw2Yf-

We cannot be 100% sure of how English was spoken in the past, ...but scholars can make an educated guess that will give us at least some idea. To get a more detailed understanding, I recommend listening to some of the recordings mentioned at the end of this video.


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0:00 Intro

0:10 Preamble
0:27 Ormulum: Comment
0:39 Ormulum: Reading
1:05 Ayenbite of Inwyt: Comment

1:17 Ayenbite of Inwyt: Reading
1:37 Canterbury Tales: Comment
2:08 Canterbury Tales: Reading
3:12 Further recordings

The opening lines of three texts of the later Middle Ages (the Ormulum of Orm, Ayenbite of Inwyt (Aȝenbite of Inwit), and Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, showing the pronunciation of some of the dialects of English at that time.Show More