According to linguist John McWhorter it's because the Vikings learned it badly!
Mark Forsyth (The Inky Fool) has analysed Google Search query result data for lines of verse requested online. Here is the Top Ten:
Frequently asked questions
Thanks for the video
ReplyDeleteHad thought that english's 3rd person "s" was odd, but nice to hear from John McWhorter (big fan of his books).
Surprised that he would say "vikings learned english badly". I get it, but is there such a thing as bad when it comes to language ? There's common and less common, and somewhere in the middle is that creative mix that makes languages evolve. Cheers, Brad