Part of the problem with Old English is it isn't just the usual linguistic evolution over time like in most languages. English changed dramatically after 1066 a

Part of the problem with Old English is it isn't just the usual linguistic evolution over time like in most languages. English changed dramatically after 1066 and the Norman Conquest. In modern English there are more words of Romance origin than of the original Germanic origin. Hence people like Poul Anderson and his famous "Uncleftish Beholding".