gehn=aegde helle g=ast."

Here are eight words, apparently strange, but even a novice soon
recognizes five of them: _h=e, f=eond_ (fiend), _ofercw=om_
(overcame), _helle_ (hell), _g=ast_ (ghost). The word _ðone_, strange
as it looks, is merely the article "the."

...therefore he overcame the fiend,
Subdued the ghost of hell.

Let us take from the same poem another passage, containing the famous
simile:--

"...l=eoht inne st=od,
efne sw=a of hefene h=adre sc=ineð
rodores candel."

Of these eleven words, seven may be recognized: _l=eoht_ (light),
_inne_ (in), _st=od_ (stood), _of_, _hefene_ (heaven),_sc=ineð_
(shineth), _candel_ (candle).

...a light stood within,
Even so from heaven serenely shineth
The firmament's candle.

Some prefer to use "Old English" in place of "Anglo-Saxon" in order to
emphasize the continuity of the development of the language. It is,
however, sometimes convenient to employ different terms for different
periods of development of the same entity. We do not insist on calling
a man a "grown boy," although there may be no absolute line of