An entertaining collection of strange, delightful and unexpectedly apt words from the origins of English, which illuminates the lives, beliefs and habits of our linguistic ancestors.''A marvelous book'' Neil Gaiman''Wonderful'' - Tom Holland''A lovely, lovely read'' - Lucy Mangan''Splendid'' - David Crystal''Thorough, entertaining, and absolutely fascinating.'' Paul Anthony Jones, Haggard HawksIn this beautiful little book, Hana Videen has gathered gems of words together to create a glorious trove and illuminate the lives, beliefs and habits of our linguistic ancestors. We discover a world where choking on a bit of bread might prove your guilt, where fiend-ship was as likely as friend-ship, and you might grow up to be a laughter-smith. These are the magical roots of our own language: you''ll never see English in the same way again.