Dead Language Society

Dead Language Society

Home
Story of English
Literature & Lore
Etymology
Sound & Spelling
Poetry & Style
Before English
Book Club
Archive
About
How to read Beowulf (and actually enjoy it)
It’s not really about the monsters
May 27 • Colin Gorrie
English has no future
Will, shall, and other mysteries
May 20 • Colin Gorrie
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Book Club 2. 491–1125
Gawain's ride north
May 19 • Colin Gorrie
1:04:21
The ancient logic of “snuck”
Bad grammar or living fossil of Proto-Germanic?
May 13 • Colin Gorrie
Why you’re not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition
And why you do it anyway
May 6 • Colin Gorrie
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Book Club 1: 1–490
Enter the Green Knight
May 5 • Colin Gorrie
1:03:56

April 2026

The Canterbury Commute
Verses composed in Middle English while waiting for the 7:42 train
Apr 29 • Colin Gorrie
How to pronounce Middle English
A complete guide + audio
Apr 22 • Colin Gorrie
Why you should read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
This spring’s book club pick
Apr 15 • Colin Gorrie
A bluffer’s guide to etymology
How to guess the age and origin of any English word
Apr 8 • Colin Gorrie
Why the verb “to be” is so irregular
The answer is six thousand years old
Apr 1 • Colin Gorrie

March 2026

The age when English could do anything
And why we wouldn't have Shakespeare without it
Mar 25 • Colin Gorrie
© 2026 Colin Gorrie · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture