Resource Guides: ENGL/HUM 110: Origins of English, with Kathleen Murphy: History

General history

Dictionaries and Meanings
The history of English dictionaries from the 1500s to the present day. From the British Library
English Language Timeline
Interactive timeline with key events from the British Library
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English
In the Library Circulation Collection
Story of English
In the Library Circulation Collection
Studying the History of English
The Adventure of English
British television series. Stream the full documentary online
The adventure of English, 500 A.D. to 2000: The Biography of a Language
In the Library Circulating Collection
The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way
In the Library Circulating Collection
Ye Old Debunk
Video unraveling the mystery of "Ye"

Learn the history of the English language in 10 humorous minutes.

A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
Full text digitized 1916 edition
Anglo Saxon Chronicle
Digitized image and accompanying text of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, which is the earliest known history of England to have been written in the English language. From the British Library
Old English: An Overview
From the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary
Beowulf
Digitized image and accompanying text of Beowulf, the longest epic poem in Old English. From the British Library

The Status of Middle English
Short history from Harvard University
Middle English: An Overview
From the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary
Chaucer
Digitized image and accompanying text discussing Chaucer's use of English in the Canterbury Tales. From the British Library

Early Modern English: An Overview
From the staff at the Oxford English Dictionary
Nineteenth Century English: An Overview
From the staff at the Oxford English Dictionary