Old English was my first Germanic language (besides my native language, little miss Modern American Standard English) which opened a lot of doors for me in both my academic and religious life (i.e. it allowed me to read lots of my sacred texts in their original language, and then allowed me to learn Old Norse much easier, which opened up even more texts!!). I took Old English with one of my favorite professors I have ever had, who went on to helping me tremendously in learning Old Norse and then in applying for graduate school.
Resources: