AllMovie

Program two in the series The Story of English traces the history of the language in terms of successive invasions of the British Isles, from the Anglo-Saxons through the Norman French in 1066. Practical, but necessarily theoretical demonstrations of English at various stages are demonstrated, such as The Lord's Prayer before and after the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the introduction of French words into the English language. Also demonstrated is Chaucer's English and the Middle English prior to Shakespeare. The video includes footage of Welshmen speaking, Hindu people chanting in Sanskrit, and a man in Northern Holland speaking Frisian. Robert McNeil hosts.