ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the Germanic language branch of the Indo-European languages. It reviews Grimm’s and Verner’s Laws, illustrating the relationship of the Germanic to the non-Germanic languages by showing correspondences in the consonants of both. It discusses sound changes during the Germanic period to understand the phonological relationships among and within those languages. It looks, too, at the poetic practices of the old Germanic-speaking peoples, focusing on the development of noun metaphors (kennings), alliterative verse, heroic narrative, and wisdom literature.
