The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary

by Hana Videen

Why did the earn (eagle) fly to the sun? Where do you find henna (hens) that burst into flame? How do you defeat an yip (elephant)? And what on earth is a moonhead? Welcome to the strange and delightful world of Old English animals, good, bad and baffling, and an absolute romp for fantasy enthusiasts.

Many of the animals we encounter in everyday life, from the creatures in our fields to those in our fantasies, have remained the same since medieval times - but the words we use, and the ways we describe them, have often changed beyond recognition...
Old English was spoken over a thousand years ago, when every animal was a deor. In this glittering Old English bestiary we find deors big and small, the ordinary and the extraordinary, the good, the bad and the downright baffling. From walker-weavers (spiders) and grey-cloaked ones (eagles) to moon-heads and teeth-tyrants (historians still don't know!), we discover a world both familiar and where ants could be monsters and panthers could be your friend, where dog-headed men were as real as elephants and where whales were as sneaky as wolves.
From the author of The Wordhord comes another delightful dive into the realm of Old English - words and creatures that will change the way you see the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Language, Linguistics, Animals, Historical, Audiobook

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 2, 2023

About the author

Hana Videen has been hoarding Old English words since 2013, when she began tweeting one every day. Now thousands follow for these daily gems from her 'wordhord'. Hana holds a doctorate in English from King's College London, and is now a writer and blogger based in Canada, where she translates curiosities of history into engaging narratives.

Reviews

[John Hatley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an educational adventure into the history of the Old English language (roughly between 400 and 1100), perfect for philologists like me. I did get a little tired of the Sunday church sermons, however.

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Providing a fun, engaging and for the most part pretty easily read (and yes, even for non linguists and non historians) textual glimpse into both Anglo Saxon culture and also Old English as a language, Hana Videen with her 2023 books The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary delightfully and wonderfully dives into and showcases mostly early mediaeval manuscripts about animals both real and fantastical. Influenced by Christian beliefs as well as accounts from antiquity (from before Christ), the representations of animals in the Old English texts used in The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary vary from mundanely common (spiders, deer, ants, wolves, eagles, doves, whales, snakes) to exotic (elephants, panthers, lions) and with mythical creatures, with phoenixes, dragons as well as some today totally unfamiliar creatures equally making appearances in The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary, such as for example the nicor (a ferocious water monster) and the moon-head (a type of lizard that some scholars think might represent a crocodile). And with each of the specific animal-centred chapters of The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary showing not only cultural information but also detailed, interesting and always linguistically sound word etymologies, as well as presenting Old English/Modern English glossaries with pronunciation guides, Hana Videen's presented text for The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary is to and for me and in my not so humble opinion absolutely spectacular, is totally wonderful, and indeed, not only a bestiary but also a linguistic introduction to Old English.

Five very much appreciated stars for the main textual body of The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary, and with the detailed sources that Hana Videen is showing at the back of The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary and that there is also a general listing of ALL of the Old English words Videen presents and uses in The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary both cementing and solidifying said five stars and also being a very much personally appreciated added bonus for me (as many books that have internal glossaries often do not then bother with providing a general all encompassing list at the back, and yes, I am very glad that The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary avoids this, and that having glossaries both within each of the chapters as well as at the end makes using The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary for linguistic research, study and information much more user friendly and easier).

[julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love linguistics and animals :)) my condolences to everyone i'll now be bombarding with "did you know...?" facts-- my arsenal of etymology trivia has grown significantly

[Ben Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining and informative tour of old English by way of animals!

[JP · Rating 4 out of 5]

After enjoying the Wordhord read this as well and was not disappointed. Another interesting and enjoyable read. I really like the part about speculating about what different animals could have been. Would definitely recommend both 'hords'

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Oh no, it’s a fact book” my wife groaned after I had got about five pages through the book, and already put it down five times to relay an interesting tidbit. She’s so lucky.

I really enjoy books about the history of language, and this is such an accessible entry point to Old English. It’s so interesting to see how the language evolved. It’s an easily digestible structure as well: short chapters each focused on a different animal, extolling how the people at the time told stories (mainly religious parables and analogies) about them. The animals meant different things to people, and stood for different virtues (the most surprising being whales as a symbol for deceit and greed).

By far the most interesting for me was the section on the weird and wonderful, and an almost fantastical element of storytelling. The writing about the Nowell Codex and the historic manuscripts about Alexander the Great’s adventures east were so intriguing.

It’s the kind of book with a fact every page that you immediately want to share (sorry again to everyone around me) but also the kind of book where I’m certain I won’t retain most of the knowledge I gathered. It couldn’t help feel a tiny bit repetitive at points, and while the ‘wordhoard’ summaries were a clever addition I cared less about the vocabulary than the nature of historic storytelling.

Excellent book, and a good gift for anyone who wants a fact book to share joyously with family.

[Regine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for snacking on, if you enjoy etymological tidbits about animals in Old English. Not as good for extended foraging, unless you have a taste for Christian symbolism.

[Stefen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was really interesting, not quite what I was expecting but I appreciated the extensive use of Old English and the attempts at glossing it

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful

[Evie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary, by Hana Videen
Rating: 5/5
Published: 2nd November
Old English was spoken over a thousand years ago, when every animal was a deor. Hana Videen takes us on a wonderful journey of linguistics, and fully immerses you in a world where spiders are known as ‘walker-weavers,’ and whales are ‘hostile-fighters.’ She explains how the English language has developed from Old English, and the consequences this has had on how we perceive animals in the modern day. Each chapter deals with a certain animal, either real or imagined, and Videen explains how Old English society sought to attribute certain characteristics to them. These characteristics changed over time – the eagle can be a hostile devourer of life, but also an indicator of happiness, success and joy; the panther, once a dangerous beast, is transformed through literature and is eventually thought to signify Christ himself. Animals are drawn upon to add lustre and meaning to a variety of Old English texts – biblical stories, medical texts (leechbooks) and poetry. Videen offers a fascinating insight into the etymology of these animals, but also into Old English society itself. It is an absolute treasure trove of words, and a lovely read. It’s charming!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful book about the history and thought of people in early medieval England, told through old English vocabulary. I can't recommend this book, and the other, The Wordhord, enough to anybody who likes history, the medieval period, or even just animals. You get to learn about evil whales, self-immolating hens, gold-hoarding ants, and even healfhundingas (half-dogs).

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating tour through the descriptions of various animals, real and fantastical, in the corpus of Old English literature. Both informative and entertaining, and illustrative of how our ancestors sometimes thought very differently about the creatures of the world. Oferwyrðe.

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

an enjoyable tome, lots to learn and admire! due to the paucity of textual evidence i think it can sometimes be a bit meandering with close readings and tangents, but still enjoyable - i especially liked the ant chapter and the epilogue.

ive also seen people complaining about the christian stories and interpretations in this book and i think this is silly? its explained at the start about how few old english texts survive, it shouldn't be a shock that a lot of these were going to record christian perspectives (who knew monks could write?) plus it's all about saints and martyrs, arguably the most whacky and whimsical part of the canon. i know christianity is overbearing but do people want to learn about the world or nah

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited for this book that I preordered it! So I wanted to love this, since I loved her first book so much, but I couldn't get into it at all. I was bored out of my mind, and I can't even tell you why. I love books about language and I love learning about Anglo-Saxon especially, so this should have been right up my alley. I'm giving it two stars because the concept is amazing and I know lots of people will love this! I may give it another go eventually. Sadly, this is a DNF for me. Honestly though, if she writes another book, I'm definitely going to preorder it. I haven't given up on her yet.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

More hippos than I expected.

Videen examines animals in Old English writings, examining how they were used both as characters in moral tales (a whale often represented Satan and its mouth a Hell mouth!), histories - Alexander the Great ran into all sorts of fantastic creatures, from elephants to griffins - and their use in every day life. (sheep dung pops up in several recipes for medicines you have to drink!)

Personal favorite was, in a chapter on some of the words with no current known translation, there is real scholarly debate if one of the creatures running around the tale of Beowulf was supposed to be a hippo of all creatures!

[Tom Fordham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book in imcreminents. Whilst it contained plenty of new and exciting Old English words it lacks the same energy as its predecessor the Wordhord. As a lot of it revolves around religious symbology it can be dry in areas, but some chapters were interesting and baffling. Either way it's missed the mark a bit, however it'll still be a great resource to get in the mind of old English speakers!

[Lorna Merrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5- Really interesting etymological read. I’m surprised to say my favourite bits were the animals that were ordinary or extraordinary - the baffling part felt the weakest to me. Would definitely recommend to anyone interested in language, history of animals or just medieval history generally! Really a weird and wonderful read.

[Moniek · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book! Learned a lot of new words; funny to see that many of the old English words actually resemble my own language, Dutch. Nicely written with many facts and explanations, it's a book more from the language side than on the animal side. Nonetheless it gives insight on how animals were perceived in those times.

[May Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5⭐️

Amazing book on Old English words. How fascinating to see so many words that have survived into the english we speak today, but also it gives us so many information on how animals were thought of in those days.

I'd recommend it to anyone who likes history, english history or languages.

[Katie]

DNF at 120 ish.
Just wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I like the wordhords, the illustrations of other bestiaries, and the general history and knowledge compiled together.
All the religious context and biblical tales strangled the enjoyment out of it for me.

[Camille · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting concept and I absolutely loved the conclusion (is speech what differentiates us from animals and what makes us human, and ‘thus more important’ than animals? Beg to differ) but I found myself losing interest throughout the chapters.

[Rachel Feeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful exploration of etymology and symbolism, the latter having strong connections to Christian influences of the times. I did not expect Alexander the Great to be so well documented in Old English texts.

[Stella Battenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at history of perceptions of animals!

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Daniel Silliman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of wonders. Delightful and sometimes ridiculous cultural history of Old English ideas about animals, which is by turns surprising, thought-provoking, and informative.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky and fascinating.

[Wren Worthington · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject really interests me but reading this book felt like trying to have a conversation with someone who just couldn't stop going off on tangents. Deeply frustrating.

[Sadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun dive into Old English animals and how people in the Middle Ages made sense of the natural world. Videen makes excellent use of translated primary sources to put Old English into action.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly charming and delightful read. This book is fun for language nerds, history nerds, and animal nerds.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the information was comprehensive and historically accurate I just found the book dull.