Cædmon's Hymn

Cædmon's Hymn

It is meet that we worship the Warden of heaven, The might of the Maker, His purpose of mind, The Glory-Father's work when of all His wonders Eternal God made a beginning. He earliest stablished for earth's children Heaven for a roof, the Holy Shaper; Then mankind's Warden, created the world, Eternal Monarch, making for men Land to live on, Almighty Lord! Northumbrian Dialect Nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uard, metudæs maecti end his modgidanc, uerc uuldurfadur sue he uundra gihuaes, eci dryctin, or astelidæ; he aerist scop aelda barnum heben til hrofe, haleg scepen, tha middungeard moncynnæs uard; eci dryctin æfter tiadæ firum foldu, frea allmectig.    For this Text in Context St. Caedmon, 1st named poet in English, monk Died c. 680 at Whitby, Yorkshire North Riding Bede (AD 672-735) give this account: He was, this man, settled in a worldly life until the time he was of old age, and he never learned any poetry. And therefore, often in beership, when there was deemed cause for bliss, that they should all sing in succession with the harp; when he saw the harp nearing him, he then arose from the feast out of shame and went home to his house. When he did that one time, such that he abandoned the house of the beership and was going out to the animals' shed, the keeping of which he was charged with that night, he then at a fitting time settled his limbs in rest and slept. Then some man stood over him in a dream and hailed and greeted him, and called him by his name: "Caedmon, sing me something." Then answered he and said, "I cannot sing; and because of that I went out of the beership and departed hither, because I could not sing." Then spoke he who was with him (he was speaking): "However, you could sing to me!" Then he said, "What shall I sing?" Said he, "Sing to me of the Creation." When he received this answer, he began at once to sing in praise of God the Shaper these verses, and those words of which he had never heard, of which the order was this:[the song above]     The Old English Alphabet   'Caedmon's hymn'.. Photograph of Manuscript. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 2 Sep 2014. http://quest.eb.com/#/search/113_907157/1/113_907157/cite