BBC Four: King Alfred & the Anglo Saxons (Music, Movies, TV & Radio) Language Learning Forum

BBC Four: King Alfred & the Anglo Saxons
Tags: History \| Latin \| English
Language Learning Forum : Music, Movies, TV & Radio

montmorency
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Message 1 of 4

07 August 2013 at 12:54am | IP Logged

If you are able to view BBC TV iPlayer where you are, there was a very interesting
programme on this evening:

King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons

Quote:

Alfred of Wessex
Image for Alfred of Wessex
Watch now3 WEEKS LEFT
Episode 1 of 3
DURATION: 1 HOUR
King Alfred the Great fights a desperate guerrilla war in the marshes of Somerset -
burning the cakes on the way- before his decisive victory at Edington. Creating towns,
trade and coinage, reviving learning and literacy, Alfred then laid the foundations of
a single kingdom of 'all the English'. Filmed on location from Reading to Rome, using
original texts read in Old English, and interviews with leading scholars, Michael Wood
describes a man who was 'not just the greatest Briton, but one of the greatest rulers
of any time or place'

Alfred was a remarkable man. As well as his exploits as a warrior and governor, he
loved learning and wisdom, and personally translated many learned Latin works into Old
English.

Presented by the pleasantly unassuming Michael Wood.
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Teango
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Message 2 of 4

07 August 2013 at 5:03am | IP Logged

An enlightening documentary - thanks for posting this up, montmorency!

I don't know who reads out the various extracts in Old English interspersed throughout, but it sounds quite wonderful.

I'm also impressed with Michael Wood's ever-changing parade of wooly knitted scarves throughout...at one point (around the 17 and a half minute mark) he even reminds me a little of the 4th Doctor. ;)

By the way, if the link above doesn't work, you can also watch the whole episode for the time being from here: King Alfred and the Anglo-Saxons.

Edited by Teango on 07 August 2013 at 5:06am
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Iversen
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Message 3 of 4

07 August 2013 at 10:59am | IP Logged

Hurray for Youtube.

Anglosaxon is not totally opaque when there are subtitles, and the readings sound very natural and convincing.
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Josquin
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Message 4 of 4

07 August 2013 at 9:45pm | IP Logged

Very interesting, thank you!

I especially enjoyed those snippets of Old English. They made me wanna pick up my Old English books again...

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