Spricst þu Englisce? Don’t understand? If I’d transport myself to 7th century London very little would be understandable to me, even with my German. Wes hāl Lundenwic! Hello London! Lunden - what vaguely I guess refers to Londinium, and -wic denoting a trading settlement (notice many towns have the ending wic, wick, wich in the UK). The place to see and be seen and make big bucks was the Strand, no not that big road in London today, it was the Thames beach (yes that’s the meaning of the word in Anglo-Saxon and in German still). And no, it wasn’t exactly Ipanema beach either, it was where the clever Saxon traders pulled ships unto the sandy banks to offload and upload trade, haggle, gossip, etc… So spare a thought when you next walk along der Strand - watch your step! Bēo gesund!
