Guide
How to read Middle English.
Read aloud first — spelling is phonetic. Learn the three strange letters, the sounded final -e, and the Great Vowel Shift.
Alphabet & special letters
Þ þ — thorn
th as in thin. The → Þe.
Ð ð — eth
th as in this. Often interchangeable with þ.
Ȝ ȝ — yogh
y, gh or guttural ch. yeer → ȝeer.
Æ æ · Œ œ
ash/ethel survivals, mostly replaced by a/e by 1400.
How it sounded
- knyght = /kniçt/ — say the k, gargle the gh.
- sevene = SEV-eh-nuh — final -e is a schwa.
- r is trilled; vowels are purer than modern.
- After 1400 the Great Vowel Shift raises long vowels — the sound bridge to Shakespeare.
Famous texts
- Canterbury Tales (Chaucer, ~1387) — London East Midland; start here.
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (~1390) — West Midland alliterative verse.
- Piers Plowman (Langland) — social allegory, multiple versions.
- Le Morte d'Arthur (Malory, 1485) — late transitional prose.