sculan

Meaning

1. should

   Wē strange sċulon beran þāra unstrangena byrðenne.

   Strong people like us should bear the burden of the weak.

   c. 992, Ælfric, "Likewise of Saint Peter"

2. must

   Beowulf, line 455

   Fate goes always as it must.

3. to have to

   early 11th century, anonymous gloss of Ælfric's Latin Colloquy (c. 995)

   Every day I have to plow a full acre or more.

4. to be supposed to do something (used like "supposedly" or "they say...")

   Þēah þe hē cristen bēon sċolde, nolde hē nāne āre witan þǣre cristenan ǣfæstnesse.

   Though he was supposedly a Christian, he refused to show any respect for the Christian religion.

   late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

5. to owe

   c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Luke 16:5

   When the debtors had all been gathered together, he asked the first one, "How much do you owe my master?"

6. will (indicating the future)

Conjugation