History

The first English-speaking pope

The lost language of Adrian IV (1100-1159)

May 14 •

How the Goths changed the fate of Europe

A guide to Gothic language and history

May 10 •

The king named ‘Little Daddy’

The linguistic afterlife of Attila the Hun

May 7 •

Do Americans really speak like Shakespeare?

Who can claim the "real" English?

Apr 23 •

The ancient art of beating about the bush

Why you should care about kennings

Apr 16 •

Why you (kinda) speak like a Viking

Turns out English is a little bit Norse

Apr 2 •

The 1000-year-old riddles we still can't solve

The weird world of the Exeter Book riddles

Mar 26 •

How the Black Death reshaped English

Unearthing the causes of the Great Vowel Shift

Mar 19 •

The Frankish paradox

How to conquer the world but lose yourself along the way

Jan 29 •

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts