The language that layman may percieve as old english i.e Shakespearean, (to much of your surprise) is actually Mordern English. Since the time of Henry VII, There was a shift from middle English to mordern English. Middle english (1100-1500 AD) looks something like this:
'Oure fadir þat art in heuenes halwid be þi name; þi reume or kyngdom come to be. Be þi wille don in herþe as it is dounin heuene. yeue to us today oure eche dayes bred. And foryeue to us oure dettis þat is oure synnys as we foryeuen to oure dettouris þat is to men þat han synned in us. And lede us not into temptacion but delyuere us from euyl.'
to Early Modern English i.e Shakespeare (1500-1800 AD) 'Our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debters. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'which is the common laguage we use today.
Ah, However Old English which dates from approx. 450-1100 AD looks like this:
Fæder ure þuþe eart on heofonum si þin nama gehalgod tobecume þin rice gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele soþlice.
'Yes rather unbelievable that the very language that you speak actually looked like that on paper about a thousand years ago.
By calling those times that Old Englisc was used as the so unaptly named 'dark ages' is rather ignorant of the fact that this, so named dark ages apparently covers a period which is a third of the entire time that English has been used on this Earth. Many works of literature , The Wanderer, Seafarer, The Ruin, the Wife's Lament, Dream of the rood,Beowulf and many many other countless poems and prose , was written during this period. So, how can one bear to label this age of enlightenment as something so crude and unthinking as 'the dark ages'. At the same time it also inspired one of the finest author's in the 20th century Mr. J.R.R Tolkien which sold many copies of his novel, The Lord of the Rings.
