markn_1:
Here is a medievalist reading a passage in Old English (Beowulf obviously, one of the very few examples of Old English that still exists), and Middle English (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight). For my part, I think it’s fair to say I couldn’t understand a word of the Old English just listening to the recitation, and only got a word or two of the Middle English. I got a bit more from reading them.
A quibble: Beowulf is by no means “one of the very few examples of Old English that still exists…” The Dictionary of Old English Corpus contains 3,060 Anglo-Saxon texts .
Kobal2:
Yes, you and I can maybe hunt and peck a word here, a word there (and even then I have no idea how many false friends there could be). But this is the salient part : would you be able to ask where the loo is in that language, or understand when they ask you the same ? Non beode luðley.
I think “Where is the shitter” would be perfectly understandable to even an Anglo-Saxon.