Written sometime between 657-680 a.d. by Caedmon, an Anglo-Saxon lay brother and herdsman living at Whitby Abbey who claimed the verses came to him in a dream. Upon presenting the full work the Abbot made him a full monk and he continued to write other works which have not been found. Little else is known of him including when he he lived or died, it is also not clear but he may have been sainted at some point. Considered a major work of Old English literature.
a) Original (using modern letters);
Nu scylun hergan
hefaenricaes uard,
metudæs maecti,
end his modgidanc,
uerc uuldurfadur
swe he uundra gihwaes,
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
b) English translation;
Now [we] must honour
the guardian of heaven,
the might of the architect,
and his purpose,
the work of the father of glory[39]
— as he, the eternal lord,
established
the beginning of wonders.
He, the holy creator,
first created heaven as a roof
for the children of men.
Then the guardian of mankind
the eternal lord,
the Lord almighty
afterwards appointed
the middle earth,
the lands, for men.'
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