Many genres, especially fantasy, make use of anachronistic language—enough so that it’s worth taking a closer look at words like thou and thee.
Anachronistic language is, simply put, a style of speech that belongs to an era other than the one in which the book is written. While it can add a new dimension to your dialogue, use it with caution—it’s easy to abuse language we don’t see often (in prose, anyway).
Knowing how this speech was used when it was extant helps us apply it to our own writing. We can then go in and spice up our dialogue with the appropriate pronouns—we just have to be sure not to go overboard.
Historical Context
First, some background information:
We often think of thou as a word denoting formality. Originally, however, it was actually used as an informal second-person pronoun, used with people who were considered equals or lower in society. This was the vernacular commonly used among peers or with servants.
By contrast, when the word thou was in use, you was the formal second-person pronoun. It was reserved for use with those of higher rank, like royalty (e.g. “your majesty”).
As time went on, you became commonplace among people of the same rank. Thou was relegated to use when addressing servants or those of lower social status. However, it was still used in religious contexts, as when addressing God—this is due to the fact that thou denoted intimacy, and is the reason why we see it in many older hymns and prayers still in use today.
Thou vs Thee
Knowing when to use thou and thee is relatively easy once you understand subjective and objective case pronouns. Most people (myself included) struggle with telling these types of pronouns apart, so you may want to check out this post first.
Thou is a subjective case pronoun. It replaces the word “you” (in an informal context) when referring to the person performing an action. One example is in the very first scene of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, when Marcellus says to Horatio, “Thou art a scholar.” (If you’ll recall from the aforementioned pronoun post, this is an example of a predicate noun.)
Thee is an objective case pronoun. It replaces the word “you” (in an informal context) when referring to the person on the receiving end of an action. We still see this word used in modern times—albeit infrequently—in patriotic songs. Recall: “My country, ‘tis of thee / Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.”
Thy and thine are possessives—they would replace “your” in a sentence, as in the third scene of Hamlet when Polonius says, “This above all: to thine own self be true.” The general rule is that thy precedes words beginning with consonant sounds, and thine precedes words beginning with vowel sounds (e.g. “thine own”). We do this today with the article “a”, which switches to “an” if the following word starts with a vowel sound (e.g. “a bat, an apple”).
Using “Thou” in Your Writing
One of the most common problems writers run into with anachronistic language isn’t the grammar itself—it’s consistency.
Anachronistic language must be consistent throughout the book or series. When a character speaks this way, they must have a reason to. They must have grown up hearing this speech pattern, or learned it and known they would be expected to conform to it later. If your main character is using “thou” on page one and “y’all” on page five, as a reader I’m going to have some questions—as the writer, be prepared to answer them. Preferably in your book.
Additionally, consider breaking the mold. A lot of fantasy novels—particularly in the YA subgenre—model their worlds after medieval and renaissance Europe (or at least, what they think medieval and renaissance Europe looked like based on certain stereotypes perpetuated by popular media). Why?
The anachronistic language in question—thou, thee, thy/thine—is no different. It sticks to the vanilla, European model. While of course, this isn’t a bad thing in and of itself, it’s always good to shake things up every now and again.
Ask yourself: are you drawn to this anachronistic language because it’s relevant to your specific story, or are you drawn to it simply because it is familiar to you as a reader? Don’t use language out of habit; use it because it is the best and truest way to tell your story.
Do you use anachronistic language in your writing? How do you incorporate it into your work? Do you like coming across it as a reader? Tell me your thoughts in a comment—I’d love to hear from you. And, as always, happy writing!
