In most AD&D® game campaigns, the Dungeon Master tries to
introduce some elements of language. Different kinds of speech may
be encountered in different parts of the world, and old or forgotten
kinds of writing may be found in ruins and libraries. Depending on
the languages known by a character, he may or may not be able to
read certain documents or communicate with those around him.

This can be an effective way to develop the cultures in a world,
but in terms of game presentation it does present problems. Alphabets
such as runic forms can be used to represent unfamiliar writing,
and whole languages can even be invented when required. However,
since players will usually not be able to understand these without
some study, the DM must be willing to translate them or have them
remain unreadable.

A particular character usually knows a number of languages.
Indeed, scholarly types (i.e., magic-users and clerics) will probably
make a study of them, and traders will probably learn several as
good business practice. It cannot always be assumed that a party will
be so sophisticated, though. Also, while the languages of neighboring
lands may be familiar, what reason is there to think that an
adventurer should be able to learn the archaic words on some crumbling
piece of parchment from centuries past?

Languages do die out, sometimes abruptly. For example, by the
time of the Caesars, there was perhaps only a handful of Romans
who could still understand Etruscan, which had been widely spoken
in central Italy only a few centuries before. More often, languages
evolve into other languages over time; from the Latin of the Roman
Empire, we now have a number of languages ranging from Spanish
to Romanian. English, too, has undergone and is still undergoing
this transition. To someone whose view of medieval Britain comes
from a diet of Shakespearean plays and Hollywood epics, it may
come as a surprise that the language of the period was not anything
closely resembling Shakespeare?s Elizabethan prose, but something
closer to a mix of about equal parts English, French, and Low German.
Old English, spoken a few centuries earlier, is hardly recognizable
as an ancestor of English at all, resembling perhaps one of the
Scandinavian languages.

All of this does not really have anything to do with gaming, of
course, except to provide us with a model with which to construct
the languages of a world. Suppose that for the ?common tongue?
there is a related, archaic ?ancient tongue.? Such a language would
be but a distant memory for most men. Possibly only a few masters
of the arts of learning can understand it fully, yet it promises untold
knowledge to those who can fathom the secret and magical writings
of that bygone period. Suppose, as in our previous example, a character
comes into possession of a piece of script hundreds of years old.
Will he be able to read it? Could you read something, say, 600 years
old?

Such a scenario is not difficult for a DM to simulate. In fact, no
exotic words or language learning rules need be developed. Instead,
English (more specifically, Middle English) is used as a model. Spoken
from A.D. 1150-1450, it is close enough to our own language to
be understood by the careful reader or listener, but still retains
enough unfamiliar elements to sound like something appropriate to
fantasy. With a little practice, it is fairly easy to write simple sentences
for game use with the aid of this guide. Exact grammatical correctness
is helpful, but not necessary for gaming purposes.

Depending on the degree to which the language is used, different
purposes can be achieved. At the simplest level, flavoring a message
written in ordinary English with a few words like scrowle for scroll,
wysard for wizard, and he loketh for he looks makes it more interest-
ing and gives it a familiar archaic sound. Sentences written out
completely in Middle English add to the authenticity; depending on
the degree of complexity used, they can become a kind of word
puzzle to test the cleverness of the gamer. Finally, words which have
lost or changed their meanings may be used to confound or tantalize
players. For example, the cryptic word woodnesse (madness)
scratched on a potion flask might not be decipherable, but it will
give the wise character enough reason to pause before drinking. Old
English, or Anglo-Saxon, is easily adapted to this use, but it is the
author's recommendation that it be used sparingly, if at all.

The process of creating sentences, as well as their uses, is best
understood by going through it a few times. As an example, suppose
I am planning a game around a rampaging dragon. No one has seen
this particular dragon in the region for a few hundred years, so
knowledge about it is rather sketchy. Characters searching the local
archives for records may find an old rhyme:

    From caverns creeps a loathsome beast;
    The red dragon flies from lands east
    To steal the treasure of distant lords.
    In dread, men name him Gormithor

Not the best verse ever composed, perhaps, but it does reveal
some useful information. Now, to convert this into "authentic ancient
tongue," I collect the words I want to use and lay them out:

    from/cavern/crepen/a/loothly/beest
    the/rede/dragoun/fleen/from/lond/est
    to/stelen/the/tresor/of/ferne/lords
    in/drede/men/clepen/him/Gormithor

I did not bother to look up the most basic words like from, a, or
of, and did not alter lords because it is part of the rhyme. The two
unfamiliar words, ferne and clepen, are taken from Chaucer, but
substitutes could have been found without going to the extra effort.
Finishing the exercise is simple a matter of putting the final grammatical
touches in:

    From cavernes crepeth a loothly beest;
    The rede dragoun fleeth from londes est
    To stelen the tresor of ferne lords.
    In drede, men clepen him Gormithor

Note that, in this case, rede and ferne were found with final e?s
already attached, and him did not need to be changed (as per the
grammatical rules below).

From this poem, it can be learned that the dragon comes from a
cavern in the east, the dragon?s name is Gormithor, and some sort of
treasure is hinted at. More lines may reveal more information. But
is the poem too hard to understand? Possibly. Words like ferne and
clepen are rather tricky, and the key word est might be missed.
Assuming that these elements will leave players baffled, I might
make substitutions such as putting a few of the old words back until
it makes sense. But if you don?t want to reveal everything right
away, it can be left as is. Here is one more example:

    These books are relics of ages old,
    When dwarves bore axes of iron cold;
    In them, you will read of walking death
    That slept not, 'neath stones great.

    these/book/are/relik/of/age/oold
    whan/dwerf/beren/sparth/of/yren/cold
    in/them/you/will/reden/of/walking/deeth
    that/slepen/not/?neath/stoon/great

    These bookes been reliks of ages oold,
    Whan dwerfes baren sparthes of yren cold;
    In hem ye wol rede of walkinge deeth
    That slepede nat, 'neath stoones greet.

Again, I did not look up all the words, and sparth is only included
for interest; axe would serve just as well. Neither have I necessarily
followed the grammatical rules to the letter. If I wished, I could put
some of the original words back to make the meaning clearer. A DM
could also allow for some type of translation abilities if it seemed
appropriate. By itself, though, the language creates some of the grey
areas that exist in any new and unfamiliar language, even after one
has studied it for some time.

Obviously, this language system is easiest to use in written form,
as in books, old maps, inscriptions, etc. It does offer a few possibilities
for speaking encounters. Creatures that might logically speak an
ancient tongue include all types of undead (who says a long-dead
ghost must speak modern American English?), beings awakened
from a long, enchanted sleep, or isolated groups, like a lost clan of
warriors on a remote island. Such encounters will quickly become
unmanageable if allowed to turn into a question-and-answer session
with slow and painful translation. It would be best to have the creature
give a short speech and then do something else, like attack, or
else have a short list of stock replies ready for it to use.

It should be noted that this article is intended as an aid to gaming
only, and should not be regarded as a complete reference for any
other purpose. If the reader is interested in the finer points of Middle
English grammar, including the numerous exceptions to the rules
presented here, further study is encouraged.
 

From English to ?ancient tongue?

Step one
Write the message out in everyday English. The word order and
syntax will remain virtually the same in the translation.

Step two
Select the proper word equivalents from the lists provided with
this article, and write them out in the same order as given in the
original message.  There are 4 alternatives to choose from when
making word selection:

    1. Use a modern word. There is a good chance that it will be the
            correct word in any case

    2. Make up your own word by converting a currently used word
            into pseudo-Middle English. Similar-sounding Middle English
            words can be used as a guide for doing this, or you can develop
            your own system. For example, an -ow ending could be
            changed to a -we ending, or -le to -el.

    3. Look the word up. A good English dictionary will give the
            Middle and Old English (ME and OE) equivalents for most
            words. Other forms, such as Old French (OF) or Old High
            German (OHG), may be given as well, and may be useful.

    4. Use a word equivalent which has lost its meaning. These require
            some research, usually in original language editions of
            works of literature, such as Chaucer?s Canterbury Tales. Grammar
            books and the like tend to be too technical to be of interest
            to the average reader. Often, the word used will be a matter of
            choice. For example, Chaucer uses at least three words for
            ?dagger?: anlas, boydekin, and dagger.

Step three
    Correct the grammar of the sentence as much as possible.  Note
the following guidelines:

1. Most simple articles and prepositions (such as of, in, on, a, the,
        etc.) are the same as their modern equivalents. There are a few
        exceptions, such as eek for also.

2. A selection of commonly used first-, second-, and third-person
        pronouns follows:

Singular forms
 

1st person	2nd person	3rd person
I	thou	he/she/hit (it)
my	thy	his/hir/his
me	thee	him/hir/him

Plural forms
 

1st person	2nd person	3rd person
we	ye	they
oure	youre	hit
us	yow	hem

Forms of be

Present tense	Past tense
I am	I was
thou been	thou were
he/she/hit is	he/she/hit was
we/ye/they been	we/ye/they were

3. To conjugate a verb, first cross out the ending, if it was listed
with one. (Dictionaries usually list them with an -en ending; for
example, finden would be changed to find-.) Then decide
which tense to use. For the present tense, tack on the following
endings:
 

Pronoun	Suffix
I	-e
thou	-est
he, she, hit	-eth
we, ye, they	-en

The negative form adds the word ne before is, was, etc. (e.g.,
thou ne been, I ne was). This can be contracted to nis, nas, etc.

For past tense, decide whether the verb is strong or weak. If the
modern form takes an -ed ending (as do most words, like love/
loved)), use the weak ending. If it does not take an -ed ending, but
changes its central vowel in the past tense (like run/ran), use the
strong ending.

Pronoun	Weak suffix	Strong suffix*
I	-ede	(a) -
thou	-edest	(a) -e
he, she, it	-ede	(a) --
we, ye, they	-eden	(a) -en

* The (a) indicates that a central vowel change involving a, o,
or u occurs in the word.

The future tense is denoted by wol or shal (will or shall); for example:
he wol finde and he shal finde. The use of the future tense
requires an -e suffix to the verb.

The imperative form (involving a command, like come here!)
depends on whether it is addressed to one person or several. If to
one person, no suffix is added. If to several, an -eth suffix is used
("Findeth my ring, varlets!").

The infinitive form (e.g., to give, to find, to have) requires an -en
ending to the verb (such as bidden, meaning to ask).

Any verb can be changed into a negative by adding nat (not) after
it. Example, he findeth nat and he shal nat.

Participle suffixes that may be used are below:
 

Present	Past, weak	Past, strong
-ing	-ed	-en

Common sense and experimentation will yield any other verb
forms necessary for gaming purposes.

4. The following are a few rules concerning nouns and related
        modifiers.

When modifying a noun, an adjective takes an -e ending. For
example, when using oold with wysard, we get the oolde wysard.

Plurals are created by adding -es or -s to the noun. For most
words ending with a consonant, -es is the preferred ending. For
example, lond becomes londes.

A possessive is created by adding -es or -s. Again, -es is preferred
for words and names ending with a consonant; for example, the
knyghtes tale.

Pronunciation

Consonants are pronounced in the modern manner, except that all
of the consonants present are pronounced, such as the k and gh in
knyght. The gh sound corresponds to the ch in the German word
ich. [Those who recall the manner in which the Frenchman pronounced
the word ?knights? in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(?ka-NIK-its?) should grasp this more easily ? Editor].

Vowels are pronounced as done in German, French, or Italian. If
that doesn't sound right, pronounce them as in modern English. See
the table below.
 

Vowel	Pronounced as
a	a in far
e	a in fate or in fare
e*	a in comma
i, y	e in he, or i in pin
o	o in go
u	u in pull

* -- The final e in a word, such as in fere. This is written as an
upside-down e in pronunciation guides.

The final syllables -e, -ed, -en, and -es form an additional and
separate syllable. Pronounce one more syllable than is currently
pronounced in these cases; for example, fere (fire) is pronounced
fer'-e. Silent e sounds are not used..

Suggested reading

Literature:
Look for editions of Old or Middle English texts in the original
language, with glossaries, footnotes, or translations. Books are listed
here in reverse chronological order.

Le Morte d'Arthur, Thomas Malory (1485).
Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer (1387).
Troilus and Cressida, Geoffrey Chaucer (1385).
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, unknown (14th century).
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, unknown (9th-12th century).
Beowulf, unknown (7th or 8th century).

Reference:
    Stratmann, Francis Henry. A Middle English Dictionary. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1978.
    Webster's Third New International Dictionary. Springfield, MA:
G&C Merriam Co., 1981.

Archaic word lists

Nouns
arrow = arwe
axe = sparth
bag = poke
barbarian = barbre
battle = batel
beast = beest
bottle = botel
bow = bowe
buckler (shield) = bokeler
castle = castel
chain = knettinge
chain mail coat = hauberk
cloak = cloke
copper = coppe
death = deeth
dice = dees
dog (large) = alaunt
dragon = dragoun
drugs = drogges
dungeon = donjon
dwarf = dwerf
elf = elf
eye = eie
fire = fere
food = mete
forester = forster
ghost = goost
giant = geaunt
goblin = gobelin
gold = gold
guild = gild
hand = hond
helmet = helm
horse = courser, hors
horse (war) = destrier
inn = in
iron = yren
island = yle
jewelry = perree
knight = knyght
land = lond
lute = ribible
magic = magik
man = wight
maze = mase
mirror = mirour
number = noumbre
ornament (jeweled) = nouches
pen = penne
poison = poyson
priest = preest
rhyme = rym
scroll = scrowle
sea = see
secret = prevey
shield = sheld
ship = schip
silver = silver
slave = thral
sound, voice = stevene
spear = spere
spider = loppe
squire = squyer
staff = staf
stone = stoon
street = strete
sword = swerd
table = bord
thief = theef
town = toun
trap = brike, trappe
treasure = tresor
wine = wyn
witch = wicche
wizard = wysard
wood = shawe
word = word

Adjectives
black = blak
blue = blew
dead = deed
distant = ferne
fair = fair
false = fals
foolish = nyce
great = greet
green = grene
hideous = loothly
high = hie
low = lah
mad = wood
near = ny
old = oold
perfect = parfit
red = rede
secret = prevey
small = smal
such = swich
true = trewe
white = whyt
wicked = wikked
wise = wys
yellow = yelwe
young = yong

Verbs
awake = adaw-
ask = bidd-
break = brek-
burn = brenn-
bury = beri-
catch = hent-
creep = crep-
dread = dred-
eat = et-
escape = scap-
fight = fight-
find = find-
fly = fle-
guess = devyn-
have = hav-
heal = sound-
hear = her-
look = lok-
name = clep-
open = open -
read = red-
rescue = rescow-
ride = ryd-
sail = seil-
shoot = shot-
sing = syng-
slay = sle-
sleep = slep-
sleep (put to) = aswev-
speak = spek-
steal = stel-
summon = somon-
swim = swimm-
throw = thraw-
walk = walk-
write = endyt-

Other words
also = eek
such = swich