• the first fire-breathing dragon in English literature occurs in the Old English epic poem Beowulf?

Facts on topics related to Old English

Middle English

• The Digby Conversion of Saint Paul, a Middle English miracle play of the late 15th century, tells the story of the conversion of Paul the Apostle?
• the word "pitcher" originates from the 13th century Middle English word picher, which means earthen jug?

Old Norse

• Bolli Bollasson, a character in the Medieval Icelandic Laxdœla saga, is credited as the first West Norse member of the Varangian Guard (pictured)?
• the Old Icelandic Homily Book is a collection of Norse sermons dating from the 13th century?

Old High German

• the Kassel glosses, one of the earliest written documents of the Old High German language, form a practical language guide for foreigners and include phrases containing the jocular xenophobic jibe "Romans are stupid, Bavarians are smart"?

English language

• 16 of the 72 fiction authors with at least 100 million copies of their works in print did not write in English, and 16 of the 72 are women?
• 92% of students at West London's Villiers High School do not speak English as their first language?
• Andrew Carnegie (pictured) founded the Simplified Spelling Board in 1906, with the aim of making English the world language by addressing its difficult spelling?
• botanist Henry Lyte's Niewe Herball of 1578 was an English translation of the 1564 Cruydeboeck of Rembert Dodoens printed in Antwerp with the woodcuts of the original edition?
• children's book publisher Kane/Miller published the English language edition of Everyone Poops?
• Chilean Canadian writer Carmen Rodriguez publishes much of her work in both English and Spanish, and that she herself is responsible for their translation?
• Dutch linguist Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk published a Batak-Dutch dictionary to enable him to translate the Bible into Batak in 1861, and his posthumous trilingual Kawi-Balinese-Dutch dictionary was republished in English in 1971?
• Dutch rocker Wally Tax learned English by age 11 by working as a pimp for American sailors in the Port of Amsterdam?
• Edyta Górniak sang part of "To Nie Ja" in English at the dress rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, which almost caused the song to be disqualified?
• English once had a four-form yes and no system, employed by Shakespeare and others, instead of the two-form system that it has today?