In O Shining Light, my new book with my wife, Mamie, we offer the first stand-alone poetic translation of the Old English Advent Lyrics, a poem copied down in the southwest of England in the tenth-century.

In the Introduction, we note that we will make the original poem available read aloud on this site for anyone who wants to hear how the original poem sounds.

So, here they are: the twelve Old English Advent Lyrics, read as the English language sounded (more or less, and with a Midwestern American accent) a thousand years ago!

I. O King of All the Nations

II. O Key of David

III. O Jerusalem

IV. O Virgin of Virgins

V. O Radiant Dawn

VI. O Emmanuel

VII. O Joseph

VIII. O King of Peace

IX. O Lady of the World

X. O Lord of the Heavens

XI. O Trinity

XII. O Wonderful Exchange