Wordcraft: English/Old English Dictionary and Thesaurus [Paperback]

That said, for those that find general interest and those students that have an academic interest in the study of the Old English language will find this book of use. The book is I believe and as the author has aimed to do, a work that has made accessible the central vocabulary of Old English. This is exactly the reason why (as I have just stated) this work is one for the student that is a beginner in the study of Old English and one for the general entusiast. Therefore, this book is a success in its core reason for creation.

There is also a pronunciation guide on the few pages at the start of the dictionary. Again this is very useful for the beginner and for those that are not familiar with the differences between the spelling of Old English and Modern English. Differences that at first confuse the reader because of the immediate difference of the past and present language.

The additional thesaurus is also useful for beginners and makes lists of words easier to find. The thesaurus is very interesting esp. for the enthusiast. Albeit the thesaurus is not comparable to the work that has been done on Modern (New) English thesauruses. Furthermore, for those students that need to write directly and creatively into Old English this thesaurus is not of much use. This is because the thesaurus is far too broad in its listed categories. The thesaurus is rather categorised into subjects i.e. art, house, kin, land etc. This is therefore not a detailed enough approach and will limit those that need similar vocabulary in their own work and understanding of the language.

That said, for those that find general interest and those students that have an academic interest in the study of the Old English language will find this book of use. The book is I believe and as the author has aimed to do, a work that has made accessible the central vocabulary of Old English. This is exactly the reason why (as I have just stated) this work is one for the student that is a beginner in the study of Old English and one for the general entusiast. Therefore, this book is a success in its core reason for creation.

There is also a pronunciation guide on the few pages at the start of the dictionary. Again this is very useful for the beginner and for those that are not familiar with the differences between the spelling of Old English and Modern English. Differences that at first confuse the reader because of the immediate difference of the past and present language.

The additional thesaurus is also useful for beginners and makes lists of words easier to find. The thesaurus is very interesting esp. for the enthusiast. Albeit the thesaurus is not comparable to the work that has been done on Modern (New) English thesauruses. Furthermore, for those students that need to write directly and creatively into Old English this thesaurus is not of much use. This is because the thesaurus is far too broad in its listed categories. The thesaurus is rather categorised into subjects i.e. art, house, kin, land etc. This is therefore not a detailed enough approach and will limit those that need similar vocabulary in their own work and understanding of the language.