Words, Words, Words 14: The Father of English...

Hell is murky. Today we enter limbo, which is technically the least painful section of hell but actually leaves me with some of the toughest questions in the poem. What does Dante make--what do Christians in general make--of all the noble, wise, and humane people who apparently l ...  Show more

ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE: We've made it at last to the gates of hell, and we're on our way to the river of Acheron. On the way, we'll meet the "neutrals" and the cowards—those who never lived and have no names. From here on out, the poem becomes a horror movie. But in ...  Show more

Irina Dumitrescu and Mary Wellesley return with a new twelve-part Close Readings series, Medieval Beginnings, exploring the strange and wonderful literary landscape of the Middle Ages. Starting in January 2023, the series will consider well-known works such as Beowulf and Sir Gaw ...  Show more

Are you a history buff? Maybe you just like reading fantasy books? Maybe you're watching the newest Game of Thrones prequel or looking forward to the Lord of the Rings TV series. Either way, you'll want to learn English words and phrases so you can either talk about ...

Luke reads verses from a modernised version of this medieval poem, considered one of the masterpieces of Middle English literature.

Listen to hear the rhyme and rhythm of the poetry, the descriptive vocabulary and details of the story, with vocabulary explanations and c ...

A conversation with my dad about a great medieval adventure story originally written in middle English and updated and translated into modern English by Simon Armitage. Dad talks about the origin of this story, its connection to the history of the English language, and the poe ...