Top 14 Old English Translator Websites and Tools

Use Old English translators as starting points, not final answers. Free tools like Old English Translator, LingoJam, Glosbe, and OpenL handle word-level lookups in seconds. For poems, tattoos, or academic work, cross-check the result with a dictionary (Bosworth-Toller, Clark Hall) or a human reviewer — automated tools miss case endings, kennings, and idioms.

What is Old English?

Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) was spoken in England and southern Scotland from roughly the 5th to the 12th century. It looks and sounds nothing like modern English. The grammar relied on inflected endings — nouns and adjectives changed form for case, number, and gender, and verbs conjugated for person and tense. Four main dialects shaped the surviving texts: Northumbrian, Mercian, Kentish, and West Saxon (the dialect of King Alfred and most preserved literature, including Beowulf).

Why translation is hard

• Inflection. Word endings carry meaning. Drop or misread one and the sentence flips.
• Spelling drift. Manuscripts spell the same word several ways. Tools trip over archaic forms.
• Tiny training data. Modern AI models have far fewer Old English examples than they have French or Spanish, so output is shakier.
• Poetic devices. Kennings (hron-rād, “whale-road” = sea), compounds, and alliterative meter resist literal translation.
• False fluency. One-click tools produce confident-sounding output that may be wrong.

12 Old English translator tools and websites

1. Old English Translator (oldenglishtranslator.co.uk)

A free, ad-free dictionary-style site with one of the largest paired Old/modern word lists. Type a word, pick “To Modern English” or “To Old English,” and the lookup returns in under a second. Better for single words than full sentences. Visit oldenglishtranslator.co.uk.

2. LingoJam

Browser-based phrase converter with an Old English option (and a separate Shakespearean translator). Paste text on the left, copy the output on the right. Output is stylistic — closer to “fake medieval” than verified Anglo-Saxon. Useful for fantasy writing and gaming, not scholarship. Visit LingoJam.

3. Fun Translations

Free Old English converter with a clean interface. Returns multiple modern equivalents because one Old English word often maps to several modern ones. Carries non-intrusive ads. Visit Fun Translations.

4. Glosbe

Translation memory site that pairs Old English (Anglo-Saxon, code ang) with modern English. Pulls examples from real source texts so you see the word in context, not just a dictionary entry. Strong for verifying meaning. Visit Glosbe ang/en.

5. OpenL

AI-powered translator covering 100+ languages including Old English. Handles longer passages better than rule-based tools but still misreads inflected forms. Free tier available; paid plans unlock bulk translation. Visit OpenL Old English.

6. EOW – Englisc Onstigende Wordbōc

Single-word lookup in both directions. Holds about 5,800 modern English headwords and 5,000 Old English entries. Marks vowel length with macrons (ā, ē, ī), useful for pronunciation. Visit hord.ca/projects/eow.

7. Majstro

Multilingual dictionary platform that includes Old English. Handles single words and short sentences, plus side tools like a virtual keyboard for Greek, Cyrillic, and Hebrew. Visit Majstro.

8. Freelang

Free downloadable Old English dictionary (Windows and Android) plus a web lookup. Decent offline option for single words. Visit Freelang Old English.

9. Babylon

Long-running translation suite. Web lookup handles Old English to several modern languages. The desktop app is paid. Visit Babylon Old English.

10. St Andrews Old English Vocabulary

Academic word list maintained by Christine Rauer at the University of St Andrews. About 500 high-frequency Old English words with definitions and grammar notes. Built for students learning to read primary texts. Visit St Andrews vocabulary list.

11. FontVilla

Modern-to-Old-English text converter that outputs Unicode. Output is stylized — useful for graphics, social posts, or names rather than accurate translation. Works best in Mozilla Firefox or other Unicode-friendly browsers. Visit FontVilla.

12. AnythingTranslate

Free web tool that converts modern English to Old English for creative use (writing, character names, fantasy world-building). Visit AnythingTranslate.

For serious work: dictionaries beat translators

If you’re translating a manuscript, citing a passage, or planning a tattoo, skip the one-click tools and use a dictionary plus a parser:

• Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary — the standard scholarly dictionary, free online.
• Dictionary of Old English (DOE) — University of Toronto project; the most detailed entries (subscription, free at many university libraries).
• Clark Hall, A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary — student-friendly print/PDF.
• The Old English Aerobics and Wiktionary for morphology and quick lookups.

How to translate a sentence step by step

1. Decide what you need. A vibe-correct fantasy phrase needs less rigor than an academic citation.
2. Break the sentence into words. Paste each into a dictionary tool to find the lemma (base form).
3. Identify the grammar. Note case (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative), number, gender, tense, and mood. Endings change meaning.
4. Write a literal gloss. Word-for-word in modern English, ignoring fluency.
5. Compare with parallel texts. Read how editors handle similar constructions in published Old English literature.
6. Smooth into modern English. Adjust word order and idiom for readability.
7. Get a human review if it’s permanent (tattoo, publication, monument).

Worked example: the Lord’s Prayer opening

Old English: Fæder ūre, þū þe eart on heofonum

Literal gloss: “Father our, you who are in heavens.” Smooth modern: “Our Father, who art in heaven.”

Quick comparison

FAQs

Are Old English and Anglo-Saxon the same thing?

Yes. “Anglo-Saxon” is the older name for the same language, used roughly 450–1150 CE.

Can I translate modern English into Old English exactly?

Not always. Old English lacks vocabulary for many modern concepts (computer, airplane, weekend), and its grammar doesn’t map one-to-one. You can approximate; you can’t always be exact.

Was Old English written in runes?

Mostly no. After Christianization (around 600 CE), Old English used the Latin alphabet plus a few extra letters: þ (thorn), ð (eth), æ (ash), and ƿ (wynn). Runes (the futhorc) appear in some early inscriptions and a small number of poems.

Can I trust a free translator for a tattoo?

No. Get a reviewed translation from a medievalist or a department of English/medieval studies before you ink anything permanent.

Why does the same Old English word return different modern translations?

Because Old English words often have several meanings, and the right one depends on grammatical context (case, number, surrounding words). One-shot translators can’t always read context.

How do I start learning Old English?

Start with a beginner grammar (Peter Baker’s Introduction to Old English is free online), learn the noun and verb paradigms, then read short texts in parallel translation. Pair this with dictionary lookups and you’ll progress faster than with translators alone.

Which tool is most accurate?

For sentences, none of the free one-click tools is reliably accurate. Glosbe and the Bosworth-Toller dictionary give you the truest word meanings; OpenL handles longer passages best but still needs review.

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