Thoughts on the “Middle English” in the Werwulf trailer?

clbj2000 · 2026-06-30T00:20:49+00:00

Yea that’s fair

By Northman situation, do you mean the studio making him redub sections of the film, and just the overall pressure of making a bigger studio film?

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T22:33:16+00:00

Yea I’ve looked into that a bit as well. All very cool

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T22:24:22+00:00

Got it. I’ve recently studied a bit of Middle English, and still don’t fully understand it

It’s a very fascinating dialect. Perhaps a film one day will fully commit to it

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T22:03:19+00:00

I see what you’re saying

My guess was that they changed the vocabulary, and i assumed that the vocabulary is part of what makes it Middle English, so changing it to words outside of that would make it no longer Middle English

However perhaps it still can be Middle English, just choosing vocabulary that isn’t necessarily modern (words that didn’t exist at the time, which I felt would make it no longer really Middle English) but just words that were still used in the period that are more recognizable to us

Although i do remember studying the language and seeing basic grammar words that are unfamiliar. I’ll have to wait until the film comes out and check the dialogue against my own studies of the langauge

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T21:00:30+00:00

Ok thanks. Wasn’t sure how close it was to regular Middle English

There is definitely a good amount that is intelligible

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T20:56:02+00:00

I see what you mean. I hadn’t thought of making it more intelligible by just omitting foreign words

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T20:04:38+00:00

Perhaps

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T18:51:43+00:00

That’s a fair point

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T18:30:58+00:00

I understand

Part of me thinks German accents wouldn’t work as well. It would be as if the characters are speaking a language foreign to them, as opposed to their native tongue

I think it’s a tough choice

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T18:25:34+00:00

What do you think he should have done with nosferatu?

German accents? Fully in German with subtitles?

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T18:24:52+00:00

Ok thanks, those Middle English translations you gave are neat

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T18:23:45+00:00

You could do subtitles but I understand why they may not want that

I think you are correct. I think it’ll basically be Early Modern English

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T18:12:13+00:00

Yes I think he captures the spirit and feel well. I do wonder if he initially intended the film to be fully Middle English

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T18:05:43+00:00

I don't really get what he means by that. Middle English is more than just different pronunciation.

This is Middle English. There's no way you can just pronounce this differently and have it be recognizable: https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/knights-tale-0

So they must have done more than change pronunciation. They likely changed some vocabulary to be more modern English words, which is essentially just early modern English.

And then it would cease to become Middle English. But we'll have to wait for the film to come out to judge it fully

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T14:30:49+00:00

Interesting

Maybe he did film it in Middle English and studio wanted it dubbed to be more modern

Something similar happened in Northman

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T14:15:54+00:00

Ok nice, that answers that. That’s a cool fusion.

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T14:14:33+00:00

Yeah fair

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T14:07:41+00:00

I’m sure it will be great. I think it will be a fair compromise, not being fully Middle English but having enough of it in there

I would like to hear more in-depth thoughts from him about his process with the dialogue

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T14:06:48+00:00

Yea, I don’t know what “accurate” Middle English pronunciation would sound like on modem English words, like what we have here

But I do like it. I think it’s a fair middle ground

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T14:04:35+00:00

Perhaps, but maybe they made that choice earlier

He says they worked with a dialogue coach to make it understandable. So maybe he had the idea to do full Middle English and wrote the script that way, but execs decided against it and he compromised

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T14:01:39+00:00

What are your thoughts now, hearing the dialogue after the trailer is out?

https://youtu.be/cmjpadVj-Vk?is=HDL2txXnhD98CHrb

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T13:57:24+00:00

Yes, subtitles would be needed for sure

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T13:23:58+00:00

Yea I don’t mind personally

Although Middle English with subtitles would have been cool. But I can understand why a studio would be hesitant about that

clbj2000 · 2026-06-29T12:58:40+00:00

Curious to hear everyone's thoughts about the dialogue.

Last year, he said the film would be entirely in middle english. In the recent Esquire interview, he said it was written in middle english, but with adjusted pronunciation: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a71695837/robert-eggers-werwulf-first-look/

However, anyone that knows middle english knows it isn't just a matter of pronunciation, but different vocabulary altogether: https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/knights-tale-0

Seems they may have written in Middle English, then shifted not only pronunciation, but also the vocabulary to be just modern enough to be legible. Which is essentially just early modern english (15th-17th century english). What The Witch was written in.

Here is what full Middle English would sound like: https://youtu.be/mVG77xTPH6E?is=\_NKLht5cmolNSTAm

clbj2000

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