An apology for the study of northern antiquities

The essay mounts a learned defense of the study of northern antiquities and Anglo-Saxon origins in reply to a contemporary proposal to regulate and polish English. It argues that antiquarian scholarship is essential for any sensible language reform, rebuts claims that English monosyllables and consonant clusters are vulgar or unsuitable for literature, and shows their virtues for brevity and poetic effect through historical and literary examples. The author combines scholarly refutation with personal motive, explaining how this work and an accompanying Anglo-Saxon grammar were intended to open linguistic study to those denied classical education.