38 years ago I watched this series on PBS, and was captivated. This is the first time I’ve seen it since then. Still a fascinating topic, the English language, even changed so much since 1986!

One of the best shows ever seen on TV.

I posted this originally in 2006. I'm glad to see my copy reposted by dozens of other youtubers since then. In 2006, nobody remembered this video cassette anymore.

What an unexpected joy to find this upload on KZread after all these years. When we watched this in honors english class back in the fall of 87, I was so entranced by it that I asked for the whole series on VHS for Christmas. Thanks for some awesome geek memories.

@TigerzLionzPistonzWingz

4 жыл бұрын

I've been entranced since 1986 too!

@meadowlarkascending

2 жыл бұрын

@@TigerzLionzPistonzWingz Me, three -- love it!

@emilybelzer5773

2 жыл бұрын

That's where I fell in love with it, in 1998!

@caseytemple77

Жыл бұрын

1992 for me

@bwsmyhero

9 ай бұрын

1986 for me, on its first showing. I hope to find all the episodes on KZread.

Listening to the old man speaking Frisian, I can totally see where the southern English accents come from.

Fascinating at 30:00. Where they describe how Old English had different words whether something was singular or plural. Then it was simplified, to where we just add "s" to any word for plural.

Thank you for sharing this series

A wonderful series!

Thank you for the upload!

"2000 years ago, on the shores of Northwest Europe, lived a tribe called the Aglii: ancestors of the English speaking peoples."

Falling hath felled a flowering kingdom

This second episode shows the beginnings of English from its Angle & Saxon(Anglo-Saxon) roots.

Off topic but Tollund Man (the head with the hat and noose) really is beautiful. He looks so peaceful.

Where can I find 3?

"The king meets the bishop" (vs. its opposite) is a bad example of the significance of "innovative Norman syntax system" as compared to the "auld-fashionned Sassenach inflection system", since "to meet" implies mutual participation and concurrent incidence; in my local version of English, the king and the bishop are meeting each other, no matter who initiates the action. (it takes two to enact the verb "to meet"... of course, there are shades of meaning; one is doing the the "meeting", and the other is "being met", but it's hazy at best... "The king KILLS the bishop" would be a better and more contrasting example..)

@NewFalconerRecords

3 жыл бұрын

I've seen this series a number of times and that example always puzzled me. Thank you.

Is Program 3 uploaded? I seem to be missing it... thanks, Robert

@sirphineasluciusambercromb9114

Жыл бұрын

In 2006, I posted the full series. Since then others have corrected some problems with my initial upload. I found this at Mid Continent Library in Independence, Missouri, USA across the street from the Truman Library and recorded it onto my old BlackBerry from the VHS on my television. I know this is from that download by where the cassette pops and makes odd noises.

@bwsmyhero

9 ай бұрын

Yeah, same here.

Good god why was I assigned this for a lecture

@FathermockerOrganon

29 күн бұрын

Dude it's probably the most interesting tv show I've ever watched, how could you find it boring

@suereams1904

18 күн бұрын

It’s incredible, just give it time to sink in.

Yje series is older than I thought it was, copyright 1987 and made not by America's PBS as I first thought, but Britain's BBC.

@PerthTowne

4 жыл бұрын

It was shown on PBS in the US.

The first few minutes are getting me fired up, I wish I could gather European and Asian Indo-European speakers and teach them about how similar our languages are.

I am astounded that 1986 looks so different and weird in these old films. That rather stings as 1986 is when I was a young adult. Ouch.

Hi people watching this for Brit Lit

17:48 what beautiful land

Where has english derived from?

@samkohen4589

Жыл бұрын

From a part of the Netherlands known as the Frisian Islands where there was a tribe known as the Angles. From there came the word Anglo-Saxon

Waddup AP Lit class If y'all see this, reply fam cuz I'm doing it late night stupidly

@TigerzLionzPistonzWingz

4 жыл бұрын

Wow, that's some modern er uh English. Fam.

@aliciayu7866

2 жыл бұрын

ok but me too

@aliciayu7866

2 жыл бұрын

ap lit gang

Is that Nigel North playing a medieval lute at 56:35!?

@wilmdanby3232

8 жыл бұрын

+Brynnan Robbins Mental!

Hello UNMDP students!!! Which professor brought you here today?

@adamseddon1847

3 жыл бұрын

mike

Mark Heap at 55:30!

@DLLW93

7 жыл бұрын

Someone else spotted him!

18:14 Hamlet is a French word, hameau. Oh dear, got it wrong from the very start!

It very difficult understanding

It's crazy to think that when this documentary was being made Northern Ireland was one of the most dangerous places on earth

heeeeey battenburg squad

The first two lines of the Lord's prayer are covered here: 40:36

He leaned Anglo-Saxon and Viking to understand dusty texts. I learned Brazilian Portuguese and Brazilian Italian to pick up women. We're both driven by heads but they weren't the same body parts LOL

латыпова, привет

Although I'm an atheist, I believe that they should be allowed to worship as they choose...without the dismissal attitudes of the government or other Greeks...After all, weren't these gods worshiped long before Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?...Who is to say that they aren't the real religion?...They were here first...

@shill700

5 жыл бұрын

lol

@bwsmyhero

9 ай бұрын

Just because they were first, it doesn’t mean they were the right ones. If those religions died out, there must have been a reason. All your comment shows me is a lack of commitment to any religion, thus an ignorance of any and all religions, really. And foolishness.

@TOBY-jy7bz

Ай бұрын

​@@bwsmyhero Died out because their believers were purged by the Catholic church. Don't fool yourself, none of those gods or religions are any more or less believable than yours

Except that the view of the Anglo-Saxons, as invaders and replacers isn't supportable by modern archaeology or genetics.

The young " minstrel " in the turtleneck at 21:00...bit of a prat.

@RKHageman

3 жыл бұрын

“Minstrel”??? A lot you know. Here are some of Dr. Page’s credentials. “Professor Christopher Page FBA. Christopher Page was Gresham Professor of Music from 2014-2018. He is Professor of Medieval Music and Literature, a Fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge. He is an internationally renowned performer and writer, as well as being an experienced presenter through BBC Radio. He holds the Dent Medal of the Royal Musical Association awarded for outstanding services to musicology.”

@NewFalconerRecords

3 жыл бұрын

@@RKHageman Thanks for that information, and I loved that musical piece -- could have listened to much more of it. But to be honest, even I couldn't get past that turtleneck jumper on first viewing.

@RKHageman

3 жыл бұрын

New Falconer Records Bear in mind, that was the early 80s. You’re looking at a historical artifact! ;-)

@bwsmyhero

9 ай бұрын

@@NewFalconerRecordsThe turtleneck is all you noticed?? I didn’t even pay attention to that. I was listening to the words.

welsh accent reminds me of indian accent. probably bcauz celts were indo-europeans??

I hope that welsh is mandatory in Welsh schools

" ..... like Latin that developed into modern romance languages like French and Spanish. Dude, the modern language which reflects the Latin language better than French or Spainish is ITALIAN!! No mention of it! BTW, coffee is not a ancient word, so its use and pronunciation is meaningless in pre-English speaking tribes! This dude must think everyone is stupid!

@wallace4181

8 жыл бұрын

+Giovanni Serafino You don't go much for humour do you.

@giovanniserafino1731

8 жыл бұрын

+Wallace actually, dear friend, I do have a very good sense of. humour, Indeed! LOL! My point was , that they mentioned French ( which in my opinion Is just barely a Romance language because of its pronunciation,) Spanish, okay on the right road, but completely left out my own language which is Italian! If there is any language that reflects Latin, it is Italian! What are your thoughts ?

@giovanniserafino1731

8 жыл бұрын

+They Said what are you talking about? You are not making any sense!

@giovanniserafino1731

8 жыл бұрын

+EJ160E man you are one piece of shit!

@lockerby

7 жыл бұрын

Hmm dunno about that: Spanish is in many ways the most conservative of Romance languages: my linguist friends would say if there's such a thing as Modern Latin it's Spanish. It does seem odd to mention French but not Italian though!