# Ōsweald Bera by Colin Gorrie

4 Hacker News commenters recommended Ōsweald Bera by Colin Gorrie and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a story that teaches Old English quickly. Caveat: only sold in physical form, and only from the US.

## Why people recommend it

- Teaches Old English through a story (1 comments): "a book which will teach you Old English by means of a story about a talking bear" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47102323))
- Fast way to learn Old English (1 comments): "taught me how to read Old English remarkably quickly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47106611))
- Got reader past 1300-era texts (1 comments): "I could get over the 1300 hump and at least make general sense of everything past there because I have read about half of Ōsweald Bera" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47112677))

## What people warn about

- Only sold in physical form from US (1 comments): "it only seems to be available in physical form and only from the US" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47107551))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Lingua Latina per se Illustrata by Hans Ørberg](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lingua-latina-per-se-illustrata.md): 10 recommend
- [Remembering the Kanji by James Heisig](https://hackerapproved.com/p/remembering-the-kanji.md): 3 recommend
- [The Fables of Orbilius by A.D. Godley](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fables-of-orbilius.md): 3 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=%C5%8Csweald+Bera+by+Colin+Gorrie&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Ōsweald Bera by Colin Gorrie", https://hackerapproved.com/p/sweald-bera/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).