[EdwardCoffin]

For me, an article in the New York Times back in 2019 [1] really made me want to learn Old English. The article pitches two features: the grammar is easy, and it has kennings. Kennings are essentially portmanteaus, Old English words made of two nouns that have been mashed together to create a new one. Later in the article some examples are given: the anonymous poet describes war and death with kennings like “battle-sweat” for blood (heaþuswate), “mind-worth” for honor (weorðmyndum), “bonehouse” for body (banhus).

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/04/magazine/letter-of-recomm... or https://archive.is/NIkJt

[IAmBroom]

Kinda the reverse for me... A radio interview quoted a linguist who described early rap music as an accidental rebirth of Beowulf-esque poetry. Internal rhymes, frequent allusions, and the rhythm of at least some matched Beofwulf's itself.

After that, I moved from the "it's just talking over music!" camp to the "it's a novel form of musical interpretation!" camp.

Straight outta Geatland, yo.