How do you say "black" in Old English?

In Old English, you say black as blæc, spelled with the ligature æ called ash, pronounced roughly like black but with vowel like a in modern cat. This word blæc is the direct ancestor of modern English black and meant black, dark, or ink colored. Another Old English word sweart also meant black, dark, or swarthy, related to modern English swarthy and German schwarz, often used for dark complexion or gloomy darkness. In manuscripts, you would see blæc used for black clothing, hair, or objects. The pronunciation would be approximately blak with æ sound. If you wanted to write it in modern transcription, you could write blaec using ae instead of ash character. So the most common and direct translation is blæc, while sweart is alternative for dark or swarthy black. Modern English black descends from blæc through Middle English forms like blak and blacke, preserving meaning of darkest color opposite white.