Editing Cædmon

{{short description|Ancient English poet}}
{{Other uses|Caedmon (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]
|name=Cædmon of Whitby
|image=MemorialToCaedmon(RichardThomas)Jul2006.jpg
|caption=Memorial to Cædmon, St Mary's Churchyard, [[Whitby]].
|titles=[[The Most Venerable#Eastern Orthodoxy|Venerable]]|death_date=c. 684
|feast_day=11 February
|venerated_in=[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br>[[Catholicism]]<br>[[Anglicanism]]
|major_works=''[[Cædmon's Hymn]]''}}

'''Cædmon''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|æ|d|m|ən|,_|ˈ|k|æ|d|m|ɒ|n}}; fl. c. 657–684) is the earliest English poet whose name is known.<ref>Henry Bradley (1886). "[[wikisource:Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cædmon|Cædmon]]". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). ''Dictionary of National Biography''. '''8'''. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 195-201.</ref> A [[Northumbria]]n cowherd who cared for the animals at the [[double monastery]] of Streonæshalch (now known as [[Whitby Abbey]]) during the abbacy of [[Hilda of Whitby|St. Hilda]], he was originally ignorant of "the art of song" but learned to compose one night in the course of a dream, according to the 8th-century Christian historian and saint [[Bede]]. He later became a zealous monk and an accomplished and inspirational Christian poet.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Cædmon | volume= 4 |last1= Bradley |first1= Henry |author1-link= Henry Bradley | pages = 934&ndash;935 |short=1}}</ref> He is [[venerated]] as a [[saint]] in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism, with a feast day on 11 February.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome |url=http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/saintsc.htm |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=www.orthodoxengland.org.uk}}</ref>

Cædmon is one of twelve [[Anglo-Saxon literature|Anglo-Saxon poets]] identified in [[Middle Ages|mediaeval]] sources, and one of three of these for whom both roughly contemporary biographical information and examples of literary output have survived.<ref>The twelve named Anglo-Saxon poets are [[Æduwen]], [[Aldhelm]], [[Alfred the Great]], [[Anlaf (poet)|Anlaf]], [[Baldulf]], [[Bede]], Cædmon, [[Cnut]], [[Cynewulf]], [[Dunstan]], [[Hereward]] and [[Wulfstan the Cantor|Wulfstan]] (or perhaps Wulfsige). Most of these are considered by modern scholars to be spurious—see [[Cædmon#odonnell2005|O'Donnell 2005, Introduction 1.22]]. The three for whom biographical information and documented texts survive are Alfred, Bede, and Cædmon. Cædmon is the only Anglo-Saxon poet known primarily for his ability to compose vernacular verse, and no vernacular verse survives that is known to have been written by either Bede or Alfred. There are a number of verse texts known to have been composed by [[Cynewulf]], but we know nothing of his biography. (No study appears to exist of the "named" Anglo-Saxon poets—the list here has been compiled from [[Cædmon#frank1993|Frank 1993]], [[Cædmon#opland1980|Opland 1980]], [[Cædmon#sisam1953|Sisam 1953]] and [[Cædmon#robinson1990|Robinson 1990]].)</ref> His story is related in the ''[[Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum]]'' ("Ecclesiastical History of the English People") by Bede, who wrote, "[t]here was in the Monastery of this Abbess a certain brother particularly remarkable for the Grace of God, who was wont to make religious verses, so that whatever was interpreted to him out of [[Bible|scripture]], he soon after put the same into poetical expressions of much sweetness and humility in [[Old English]], which was his native language. By his verse the minds of many were often excited to despise the world, and to aspire to heaven."

Cædmon's only known surviving work is ''[[Cædmon's Hymn]]'', a nine-line [[Alliterative verse|alliterative]] [[vernacular]] praise poem in honour of God. The poem is one of the early attested examples of [[Old English language|Old English]] and is, with the [[runic]] [[Ruthwell Cross]] and [[Franks Casket]] inscriptions, one of three candidates for the earliest attested example of [[Anglo-Saxon literature|Old English poetry]]. It is also one of the early recorded examples of sustained poetry in a Germanic language. In 1898, Cædmon's Cross was erected in his honour in the graveyard of [[Church of Saint Mary, Whitby|St Mary's Church]] in [[Whitby]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Time to move Caedmon's Cross?|url=http://theheritagetrust.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/time-to-move-caedmons-cross/|website=The Heritage Trust|date=December 2012|publisher=The Heritage Trust|access-date=24 October 2014}}</ref>

==Life==
[[File:St Andrew, Bethune Road - Stained glass window - geograph.org.uk - 4398049.jpg|thumb|Caedmon and Bede depicted in [[stained glass]] at [[St Andrew, Stoke Newington]].]]
===Bede's account===
The sole source of original information about Cædmon's life and work is [[Bede]]'s ''Historia ecclesiastica''.<ref>Book IV, Chapter 24. The most recent edition is [[#colgraveandmynors1969|Colgrave and Mynors 1969]]</ref> According to Bede, Cædmon was a [[lay brother]] who cared for the animals at the monastery Streonæshalch (now known as [[Whitby Abbey]]). One evening, while the monks were feasting, singing, and playing a harp, Cædmon left early to sleep with the animals because he knew no songs. The impression clearly given by St. Bede is that he lacked the knowledge of how to compose the lyrics to songs. While asleep, he had a dream in which "someone" (''quidam'') approached him and asked him to sing ''principium creaturarum'', "the beginning of created things." After first refusing to sing, Cædmon subsequently produced a short [[eulogy|eulogistic]] poem praising God, the Creator of heaven and earth.

Upon awakening the next morning, Caedmon remembered everything he had sung and added additional lines to his poem. He told his foreman about his dream and gift and was taken immediately to see the [[abbess]], believed to be [[Hilda of Whitby|St Hilda of Whitby]]. The abbess and her counsellors asked Cædmon about his vision and, satisfied that it was a gift from God, gave him a new commission, this time for a poem based on "a passage of sacred history or doctrine", by way of a test. 

When Cædmon returned the next morning with the requested poem, he was invited to take [[monastic vows]]. The abbess ordered her scholars to teach Cædmon sacred history and doctrine, which after a night of thought, Bede records, Cædmon would turn into the most beautiful verse. According to Bede, Cædmon was responsible for a large number of splendid vernacular poetic texts on a variety of Christian topics.

After a long and zealously pious life, Cædmon died like a [[saint]]: receiving a [[wikt:premonition|premonition]] of death, he asked to be moved to the abbey's hospice for the terminally ill where, having gathered his friends around him, he died after receiving the Holy Eucharist, just before [[nocturns]]. Although he is often listed as a saint, this is not confirmed by Bede and it has been argued that such assertions are incorrect.<ref>[[#stanley1998|Stanley 1998]]</ref>

The details of Bede's story, and in particular of the miraculous nature of Cædmon's poetic inspiration, are not generally accepted by scholars as being entirely accurate, but there seems no good reason to doubt the existence of a poet named Cædmon. Bede's narrative has to be read in the context of the Christian belief in miracles, and it shows at the very least that Bede, an educated and intelligent man, believed Cædmon to be an important figure in the history of English intellectual and religious life.<ref name="odonnell2005">[[#odonnell2005|O'Donnell 2005]]</ref>

===Dates===
Bede gives no specific dates in his story. Cædmon is said to have taken [[Holy Orders|holy orders]] at an advanced age and it is implied that he lived at Streonæshalch at least in part during Hilda's abbacy (657&ndash;680). Book IV Chapter 25 of the ''Historia ecclesiastica'' appears to suggest that Cædmon's death occurred at about the same time as the fire at [[Coldingham Priory|Coldingham Abbey]], an event dated in the E text of the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' to 679, but after 681 by Bede.<ref>See [[#ireland1986|Ireland 1986]], pp. 228; [[#dumville1981|Dumville 1981]], p. 148</ref>  

The reference to ''his temporibus'' "at this time" in the opening lines of Chapter 25 may refer more generally to Cædmon's career as a poet. However, the next datable event in the ''Historia ecclesiastica'' is King [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria|Ecgfrith]]'s raid on [[Ireland]] in 684 (Book IV, Chapter 26). Taken together, this evidence suggests an active period beginning between 657 and 680 and ending between 679 and 684.

===Modern discoveries===
The only biographical or historical information that modern scholarship has been able to add to Bede's account concerns the Brittonic origins of the poet's name. Although Bede specifically notes that English was Cædmon's "own" language, the poet's name is of [[Celt]]ic origin: from [[Old Welsh|Proto-Welsh]] {{asterisk}}''Cadṽan'' (from [[British language (Celtic)|Brythonic]] {{asterisk}}''Catumandos'').<ref>[[#jackson1953|Jackson 1953]], p. 554</ref>  Several scholars have suggested that Cædmon himself may have been bilingual on the basis of this etymology, Hilda's close contact with Celtic political and religious hierarchies, and some (not very close) analogues to the ''Hymn'' in [[Old Irish]] poetry.<ref>See in particular [[#ireland1986|Ireland 1986]], p. 238 and [[#schwab1972|Schwab 1972]], p. 48</ref> Other scholars have noticed a possible [[Onomastics|onomastic]] allusion to '[[Adam Kadmon]]' in the poet's name, perhaps suggesting that the entire story is allegorical.<ref>See in particular [[#ohare1992|O'Hare 1992]], pp. 350&ndash;351</ref>

===Other medieval sources===
[[File:Whitby Abbey - Project Gutenberg eText 16785.jpg|thumb|Ruins of [[Whitby Abbey]] in [[North Yorkshire]], England&mdash; founded in 657 by [[St. Hilda]], the original abbey fell to a [[Viking]] attack in 867 and was abandoned. It was re-established in 1078 and flourished until 1540 when it was destroyed by [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]].]]

No other independent accounts of Cædmon's life and work are known to exist. The only other reference to Cædmon in English sources before the 12th century is found in the 10th-century Old English translation of Bede's Latin ''Historia''. Otherwise, no mention of Cædmon is found in the corpus of surviving Old English. The Old English translation of the ''Historia ecclesiastica'' does contain several minor details not found in Bede's Latin original account.<ref>See [[#opland1980|Opland 1980]], pp. 111&ndash;120</ref>

Of these, the most significant is that Cædmon felt "shame" for his inability to sing vernacular songs before his vision, and the suggestion that Hilda's scribes copied down his verse ''{{lang|ang|æt muðe}}'' "from his mouth".<ref>See [[#opland1980|Opland 1980]], pp. 111&ndash;120</ref>  These differences are in keeping with the Old English translator's practice in reworking Bede's Latin original,<ref>See [[#whitelock1963|Whitelock 1963]] for a general discussion.</ref> however, and need not, as Wrenn argues, suggest the existence of an independent English tradition of the Cædmon story.<ref>[[#wrenn1946|Wrenn 1946]], p. 281.</ref>

====''Heliand''====
A second, possibly pre-12th-century allusion to the Cædmon story is found in two Latin texts associated with the [[Old Saxon]] ''[[Heliand]]'' poem. These texts, the ''Praefatio'' (Preface) and ''Versus de Poeta'' (Lines about the poet), explain the origins of an Old Saxon biblical translation (for which the ''Heliand'' is the only known candidate)<ref>[[#andersson1974|Andersson 1974]], p. 278.</ref> in language strongly reminiscent of, and indeed at times identical to, Bede's account of Cædmon's career.<ref>Convenient accounts of the relevant portions of the ''Praefatio'' and ''Versus'' can be found in [[#smith1978|Smith 1978]], pp. 13&ndash;14, and [[#plummer1896|Plummer 1896]] II pp. 255&ndash;258.</ref>  According to the prose ''Praefatio'', the Old Saxon poem was composed by a renowned vernacular poet at the command of the emperor [[Louis the Pious]]. The text then adds that this poet had known nothing of vernacular composition until he was ordered to translate the precepts of sacred law into vernacular song in a dream.<ref>See [[#andersson1974|Andersson 1974]] for a review of the evidence for and against the authenticity of the prefaces.</ref><ref>See [[#1965|Green 1965]], particularly pp. 286&ndash;294.</ref>

The ''Versus de Poeta'' contain an expanded account of the dream itself, adding that the poet had been a herdsman before his inspiration and that the inspiration itself had come through the medium of a heavenly voice when he fell asleep after pasturing his cattle. While our knowledge of these texts is based entirely on a 16th-century edition by [[Matthias Flacius|Flacius Illyricus]],<ref>[[#flacius|Catalogus testium veritatis 1562]].</ref> both are usually assumed on semantic and grammatical grounds to be of medieval composition.<ref>See [[#andersson1974|Andersson 1974]] for a review of the evidence for and against the authenticity of the prefaces.</ref>  This apparent debt to the Cædmon story agrees with semantic evidence attested to by Green demonstrating the influence of Old English biblical poetry and terminology on early continental Germanic literatures.<ref>See [[#1965|Green 1965]], particularly pp. 286&ndash;294.</ref>

===Sources and analogues===
In contrast to his usual practice elsewhere in the ''Historia ecclesiastica'', Bede provides no information about his sources for the Cædmon story. Since a similar paucity of sources is also characteristic of other stories from Whitby Abbey in his work, this may indicate that his knowledge of Cædmon's life was based on tradition current at his home monastery in (relatively) nearby [[Wearmouth-Jarrow]].

Perhaps as a result of this lack of documentation, scholars have devoted considerable attention since the 1830s to tracking down possible sources or analogues to Bede's account. These parallels have been drawn from all around the world, including [[Bible|biblical]] and [[classical literature]], stories told by the aboriginal peoples of [[Indigenous Australians|Australia]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|North America]] and the [[Fijians|Fiji Islands]], mission-age accounts of the conversion of the [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]] in Southern [[Africa]], the lives of English [[Romantic poetry|romantic poets]], and various elements of [[Hindu scripture|Hindu]] and [[Qur'an|Muslim scripture]] and tradition.<ref>Good reviews of analogue research can be found in [[#pound1929|Pound 1929]], [[#lester1974|Lester 1974]], and [[#odonnell2005|O'Donnell 2005]].</ref> 

Although the search was begun by scholars such as [[Sir Francis Palgrave]], who hoped either to find Bede's source for the Cædmon story or to demonstrate that its details were so commonplace as to hardly merit consideration as legitimate historiography,<ref>[[#palgrave1832|Palgrave 1832]]</ref> subsequent research has instead ended up demonstrating the uniqueness of Bede's version: as Lester shows, no "analogue" to the Cædmon story found before 1974 mirrors Bede's chapter in more than about half its main properties;<ref>[[#lester1974|Lester 1974]], p. 228.</ref> the same observation can be extended to cover all analogues since identified.<ref>[[#odonnell2005|O'Donnell 2005]].</ref>

==Work==

===General corpus===
Bede's account indicates that Cædmon was responsible for the composition of a large [[:wikt:oeuvre|oeuvre]] of vernacular religious poetry. In contrast to Saints [[Aldhelm]] and [[Dunstan]],<ref>On whose careers as vernacular poets in comparison to that of Cædmon, see [[#opland1980|Opland 1980]], pp. 120&ndash;127 and 178&ndash;180.</ref> Cædmon's poetry is said to have been exclusively religious. Bede reports that Cædmon "could never compose any foolish or trivial poem, but only those which were concerned with devotion", and his list of Cædmon's output includes work on religious subjects only: accounts of creation, translations from the [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]]s, and songs about the "terrors of future judgment, horrors of hell, ... joys of the heavenly kingdom, ... and divine mercies and judgments." 

Of this corpus, only his first poem survives. While vernacular poems matching Bede's description of several of Cædmon's later works are found in [[Caedmon manuscript|London, British Library, Junius 11]], traditionally referred to as the "Junius" or "Cædmon" manuscript, the older traditional attribution of these texts to Cædmon or Cædmon's influence cannot stand. The poems show significant stylistic differences both internally and with Cædmon's original ''Hymn'',<ref>See [[#wrenn1946|Wrenn 1946]]</ref> and there is nothing about their order or content to suggest that they could not have been composed and anthologised without any influence from Bede's discussion of Cædmon's oeuvre. 

The first three Junius poems are in their biblical order and, while ''[[Christ and Satan]]'' could be understood as partially fitting Bede's description of Cædmon's work on future judgment, pains of hell and joys of the heavenly kingdom,<ref>[[#gollancz1927|Gollancz 1927]], p. xlvi</ref> the match is not exact enough to preclude independent composition. As Fritz and Day have shown, Bede's list itself may owe less to direct knowledge of Cædmon's actual output than to traditional ideas about the subjects fit for Christian poetry<ref>[[#fritz1969|Fritz 1969]], p. 336</ref> or the order of the [[catechism]].<ref>[[#day1975|Day 1975]], pp. 54&ndash;55</ref>  Similar influences may, of course, also have affected the makeup of the Junius volume.<ref>See [[#day1975|Day 1975]], p. 55, for a discussion of ''Christ and Satan''.</ref>

===''Cædmon's Hymn''===
{{main|Cædmon's Hymn}}
[[File:Caedmon's Hymn Moore mine01.gif|thumb|500px|One of two candidates for the earliest surviving copy of ''Cædmon's Hymn'' is found in "The Moore Bede" (ca. 737) which is held by the [[Cambridge University Library]] (Kk. 5. 16, often referred to as '''M'''). The other candidate is St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, lat. Q. v. I. 18 (P)]]
The only known survivor from Cædmon's oeuvre is his ''Hymn'' ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAZyc8M5Q4I audio version]<ref>[[File:Loudspeaker.svg|11x11px]] Hwit Draga: "Caedmon's Hymn (in old English) West Saxon Version Anglo-Saxon." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAZyc8M5Q4I  Online], accessed 6 November 2020.</ref>). The poem is known from 21 [[manuscript]] copies,<ref>Arranged by city and library, these are ([[sigla]] [symbols] commonly found in modern discussions of the text follow each shelf-mark): [[Royal Library of Belgium|Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale]], 8245–57 (Br); [[Cambridge, Corpus Christi College]], 41 (B1); [[Cambridge, Trinity College, R. 5. 22]] (Tr1); [[Cambridge, University Library, Kk. 3. 18]] (Ca); [[Cambridge, University Library, Kk. 5. 16]] ("The Moore Bede") (M); [[Dijon, Bibliothèque Municipale, 574]] (Di); [[Hereford, Cathedral Library, P. 5. i]] (Hr); [[London, British Library, Additional 43703]] (N [see also C]); † [[Cotton Otho]] B. xi ([[London, British Library, Cotton Otho B. xi]] + [[London, British Library, Otho B. x]], ff. 55, 58, 62 + [[London, British Library, Additional 34652]], f. 2) (C [see also N]); [[London, College of Arms, s.n.]] (CArms); [[Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 163]] (Bd); [[Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton 43]] (H); [[Oxford, Bodleian Library, Laud Misc. 243]] (Ld); [[Oxford, Bodleian Library, Tanner 10]] (T1); [[Oxford, Corpus Christi College, 279]], B (O); [[Oxford, Lincoln College, lat. 31]] (Ln); [[Oxford, Magdalen College, lat. 105]] (Mg); [[Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, lat. 5237]] (P1); [[Leningrad Bede|St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, lat. Q. v. I. 18 ("The St. Petersburg Bede"; "The Leningrad Bede")]] (P); [[San Marino CA, Huntington Library, HM 35300]] formerly [[Bury St. Edmunds, Cathedral Library, 1]] (SanM); † [[Tournai, Bibliothèque de la Ville, 134]] (To); [[Winchester, Cathedral I]] (W).
</ref> making it the best-attested Old English poem after [[Bede|Bede's ''Death Song'']] (with 35 [[Textual criticism|witnesses]]) and the best attested in the poetic corpus in manuscripts copied or owned in the British Isles during the Anglo-Saxon period.<ref>See [[#dobbie1937|Dobbie 1937]] and the additional manuscripts described in [[#humphreysandross1975|Humphreys and Ross 1975]]; the most recent account is in [[#odonnell2005|O'Donnell 2005]]</ref> The ''Hymn'' also has by far the most complicated known textual history of any surviving Old English poem.<ref>[[#dobbie1937|Dobbie 1937]] with important additions and revisions in [[#humphreysandross1975|Humphreys and Ross 1975]]; [[#odonnell1996|O'Donnell 1996]]; and [[#orton1998|Orton 1998]].</ref>

It is found in two dialects and five distinct [[recension]]s (Northumbrian ''{{lang|ang|aelda}}'', Northumbrian ''{{lang|ang|eordu}}'', West-Saxon ''{{lang|ang|eorðan}}'', West-Saxon ''{{lang|ang|ylda}}'', and West-Saxon ''{{lang|ang|eorðe}}''), all but one of which are known from three or more witnesses.<ref>[[#dobbie1937|Dobbie 1937]] with important additions and revisions in [[#humphreysandross1975|Humphreys and Ross 1975]]; [[#odonnell1996|O'Donnell 1996]]; and [[#orton1998|Orton 1998]].</ref> It is one of the early attested examples of written Old English and one of the early recorded examples of sustained poetry in a [[Germanic languages|Germanic language]].<ref>[[#stanley1995|Stanley 1995]], p. 139.</ref> Together with the runic [[Ruthwell Cross]] and [[Franks Casket]] inscriptions, ''Cædmon's Hymn'' is one of three candidates for the early attested example of [[Old English literature|Old English poetry]].<ref>[[#ocarragain2005|Ó Carragáin 2005]]</ref>

There is continuing critical debate about the status of the poem as it is now available to us. While some scholars accept the texts of the Hymn as more or less accurate transmissions of Cædmon's original, others argue that they originated as a back-translation from Bede's Latin, and that there is no surviving witness to the original text.<ref name="odonnell2005"/>{{Full citation needed|date=July 2020}}

====Manuscript evidence====
All copies of ''Hymn'' are found in manuscripts of the ''Historia ecclesiastica'' or its translation, where they serve as either a [[gloss (annotation)|gloss]] to Bede's Latin translation of the Old English poem, or, in the case of the Old English version, a replacement for Bede's translation in the main text of the History. Despite this close connection with Bede's work, the ''Hymn'' does not appear to have been transmitted with the ''Historia ecclesiastica'' regularly until relatively late in its textual history. Scribes other than those responsible for the main text often copy the vernacular text of the ''Hymn'' in manuscripts of the Latin Historia. In three cases, ''Oxford, Bodleian Library, Laud Misc. 243'', ''Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton 43'', and ''Winchester, Cathedral I'', the poem is copied by scribes working a quarter-century or more after the main text was first set down.<ref>See [[#ker1957|Ker 1957]], arts. 341, 326 and 396; also [[#okeeffe1990|O'Keeffe 1990]], p. 36.</ref> 

Even when the poem is in the same hand as the manuscript's main text, there is little evidence to suggest that it was copied from the same exemplar as the Latin ''Historia'': nearly identical versions of the Old English poem are found in manuscripts belonging to different recensions of the Latin text; closely related copies of the Latin ''Historia'' sometimes contain very different versions of the Old English poem. With the exception of the Old English translation, no single recension of the ''Historia ecclesiastica'' is characterised by the presence of a particular recension of the vernacular poem.<ref>Compare the recensional identifications for witnesses to the Old English Hymn in [[#dobbie1937|Dobbie 1937]] with those for manuscripts of the Latin ''Historia'' in [[#colgraveandmynors1969|Colgrave and Mynors 1969]], pp. xxxix–lxx.</ref>

====Earliest text====
The oldest known version of the poem is the [[Northumbria]]n {{lang|ang|aelda}} [[recension]].<ref>As [[#odonnell2005|O'Donnell 2005]] argues, however, this does not mean that this version must most closely resemble Cædmon's original text. The West-Saxon ''eorðan'' recension in particular shows several readings which, although attested later, are for a variety of reasons more likely to represent forms found in the original poem than those of the ''aelda'' text.</ref> The surviving witnesses to this text, [[Cambridge, University Library, Kk. 5. 16]] (M) and [[Leningrad Bede|St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, lat. Q. v. I. 18]] (P), date to at least the mid-8th century. '''M''' in particular is traditionally ascribed to Bede's own monastery and lifetime, though there is little evidence to suggest it was copied much before the mid-8th century.<ref>See [[#odonnell2005|O'Donnell 2005]].</ref>

The following text, first column on the left below, has been transcribed from '''M''' (mid-8th century; Northumbria). The text has been normalised to show a line-break between each line and modern word-division. A transcription of the likely pronunciation of the text in the early 8th-century Northumbrian dialect in which the text is written is included, along with a modern English translation.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|- valign=top
| style="width:33%" |
:nu scylun hergan &nbsp; hefaenricaes uard
:metudæs maecti &nbsp; end his modgidanc
:uerc uuldurfadur &nbsp; swe he uundra gihwaes
:eci dryctin &nbsp; or astelidæ
:he aerist scop &nbsp; aelda barnu''m''
:heben til hrofe &nbsp; haleg scepen.
:tha middungeard &nbsp; moncynnæs uard
:eci dryctin &nbsp;  æfter tiadæ
:firum fold''u'' &nbsp; frea allmectig<ref>Text from Richard Marsden, ''The Cambridge Old English Reader'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 80, collated with manuscript facsimile.</ref>
| style="width:33%" |
:{{IPA|[nuː ˈskʲylun ˈherjɑn ˈhevænriːkʲæs wɑrd<br /><!-- 
--> metudæs ˈmæxti end his ˈmoːdɣiðɔŋk<br /><!-- 
--> werk ˈwuldurfɑdur sweː heː ˈwundrɑ ɣiˈhwæs<br /><!-- 
--> eːkʲi ˈdryxtin or ɑːˈstelidæ<br /><!-- 
--> heː ˈæːrist skoːp ˈældɑ ˈbɑrnum<br /><!-- 
-->ˈheven til ˈhroːve ˈhɑːleɣ ˈskʲepːen<br /><!-- 
--> θɑː ˈmidːunɣæɑrd ˈmɔŋkʲynːæs wɑrd<br /><!-- 
--> ˈeːkʲi ˈdryxtin ˈæfter ˈtiadæ<br /><!-- 
--> ˈfirum ˈfoldu ˈfræːɑ ˈɑlːmextiɣ]}}<ref>Based on the information in A. Campbell, ''Old English Grammar'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959)</ref>
| style="width:33%" |
:Now [we] must honour the guardian of heaven,
:the might of the architect, and his purpose,
:the work of the father of glory<ref>This is the traditional translation of these lines, in agreement with Bede's Latin version.
An alternative translation of the ''{{lang|ang|eorðan}}'' and ''{{lang|ang|aelda}}'' texts, however, understands ''{{lang|ang|weorc}}'' as the subject: "Now the works of the father of glory must honour the guardian of heaven, the might of the architect, and his mind's purpose". See [[#mitchell1985|Mitchell 1985]], [[#ball1985|Ball 1985]], pp.&nbsp;39&ndash;41, and [[#howlett1974|Howlett 1974]], p.&nbsp;6.</ref> — as he the beginning of wonders
:established, the eternal lord,
:He first created for the children of men<ref>This is the reading of the West-Saxon ''ylda'' and Northumbrian ''aelda'' recensions. The West-Saxon ''eorðan'', Northumbrian ''eordu'', and with some corruption, the West-Saxon ''eorðe'' recensions would be translated "for the children of earth".</ref>
:heaven as a roof, the holy creator
:Then the [[midgard|middle earth]], the guardian of mankind
:the eternal lord, afterwards appointed
:the lands for men,<ref>The Northumbrian '''eordu''' and West-Saxon '''ylda''' and '''eorðe''' recensions would be translated "for men among the lands" at this point.</ref> the Lord almighty.
|}

Bede's Latin version runs as follows:
:{{lang|la|Nunc laudare debemus auctorem regni caelestis, potentiam creatoris, et consilium illius facta Patris gloriae: quomodo ille, cum sit aeternus Deus, omnium miraculorum auctor exstitit; qui primo filiis hominum caelum pro culmine tecti dehinc terram custos humani generis omnipotens creavit.}}
:"Now we must praise the author of the heavenly realm, the might of the creator, and his purpose, the work of the father of glory: as he, who, the almighty guardian of the human race, is the eternal God, is the author of all miracles; who first created the heavens as highest roof for the children men, then the earth."

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
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*<span id="ball1985">Ball, C. J. E. 1985. "Homonymy and polysemy in Old English: a problem for lexicographers." In: ''Problems of Old English Lexicography: studies in memory of Angus Cameron'', ed. A. Bammesberger. (Eichstätter Beiträge, 15.) 39&ndash;46. Regensburg: Pustet.</span>
*<span id="bessinger1974">Bessinger, J. B. Jr. 1974. "Homage to Cædmon and others: a Beowulfian praise song." In: ''Old English Studies in Honour of John C. Pope''. Ed. Robert B. Burlin, Edward B. Irving Jr. & Marie Borroff. 91&ndash;106. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.</span>
*<span id="colgraveandmynors1969">Colgrave, B. and Mynors, R. A. B., eds. 1969. ''Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.</span>
*<span id="day1975">Day, V. 1975. "The influence of the catechetical ''narratio'' on Old English and some other medieval literature" ''Anglo-Saxon England''; 3: 51&ndash;61.</span>
*<span id="dobbie1937">Dobbie, E. v. K. 1937. "The manuscripts of ''Cædmon's Hymn'' and ''Bede's Death Song'' with a critical text of the ''Epistola Cuthberti de obitu Bedae''. (Columbia University Studies in English and Comparative Literature; 128.) New York: Columbia University Press.</span>
*<span id="dumville1981">Dumville, D. 1981. "'Beowulf' and the Celtic world: the uses of evidence". ''Traditio''; 37: 109&ndash;160.</span>
*<span id="flacius">[[Matthias Flacius|Flacius, Matthias]]. 1562. ''Catalogus testium veritatis''. Strasbourg.</span>
*<span id="frank1993">Frank, Roberta. 1993. "The search for the Anglo-Saxon oral poet" [T. Northcote Toller memorial lecture; 9 March 1992]. ''[[Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library]]''; 75 (no. 1): 11–36.</span>
*<span id="fritz1969">Fritz, D. W. 1969. "Cædmon: a traditional Christian poet". ''Mediaevalia'' 31: 334&ndash;337.</span>
*<span id="fry1975">Fry, D. K. 1975. "Cædmon as formulaic poet". ''Oral Literature: seven essays''. Ed. J. J. Duggan. 41&ndash;61. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.</span>
*<span id="fry1979">Fry, D. K. 1979. "Old English formulaic statistics". ''In Geardagum''; 3: 1&ndash;6.</span>
*<span id="gollancz1927">[[Israel Gollancz|Gollancz, I.]], ed. 1927. ''The Cædmon manuscript of Anglo-Saxon biblical poetry: Junius XI in the Bodleian Library''. London: Oxford U. P. for the British Academy. (Facsimile of the MS.)</span>
*<span id="1965">Green, D. H. 1965. ''The Carolingian Lord: semantic studies on four Old High German words: Balder, Frô, Truhtin, Hêrro.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. </span>
*<span id="hieatt1985">Hieatt, C. B. 1985. "Cædmon in context: transforming the formula". ''[[Journal of English and Germanic Philology]]''; 84: 485&ndash;497.</span>
*<span id="howlett1974">Howlett, D. R. 1974. "[http://digital.library.leeds.ac.uk/id/eprint/129 The theology of Cædmon's Hymn]". [https://archive.org/details/lse-1974-whole-issue ''Leeds Studies in English'' 7]: 1&ndash;12.</span>
*<span id="humphreysandross1975">Humphreys, K. W. & Ross, A. S. C. 1975. "Further manuscripts of Bede's 'Historia ecclesiastica', of the 'Epistola Cuthberti de obitu Bedae', and further Anglo-Saxon texts of 'Cædmon's Hymn' and 'Bede's Death Song'". ''Notes and Queries''; 220: 50&ndash;55.</span>
*<span id="ireland1986">Ireland, C. A. 1986. "The Celtic Background to the Story of Cædmon and his Hymn". Unpublished Ph.D. diss. University of California at Los Angeles.</span>
*<span id="jackson1953">Jackson, K. 1953. ''Language and History in Early Britain''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.</span>
*<span id="ker1957">[[Neil Ripley Ker|Ker, N. R.]] 1957. ''Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. </span>
*<span id="klaeber1912">[[Frederick Klaeber|Klaeber, F.]] 1912. "Die christlichen Elemente im Beowulf". ''[[Anglia (journal)|Anglia]]''; 35: 111&ndash;136.</span>
*<span id="lester1974">Lester, G. A. 1974. "The Cædmon story and its analogues". ''Neophilologus''; 58: 225&ndash;237.</span>
*<span id="miletich1983">Miletich, J. S. 1983. "Old English 'formulaic' studies and Cædmon's Hymn in a comparative context". ''Festschrift für Nikola R. Pribić''. Ed. Josip Matešić and Erwin Wedel. (Selecta Slavica; 9.) 183&ndash;194. Neuried: Hieronymus. {{ISBN|3-88893-021-9}}</span>
*<span id="mitchell1985">Mitchell, B. 1985. "[http://digital.library.leeds.ac.uk/216/ Cædmon's Hymn line 1: What is the subject of scylun or its variants?]" [https://archive.org/details/lse-1985-whole-issue ''Leeds Studies in English''; 16]: 190&ndash;197.</span>
*<span id="morland1992">Morland, L. 1992. "Cædmon and the Germanic tradition". ''De Gustibus: essays for Alain Renoir''. Ed. John Miles Foley, J. Chris Womack, & Whitney A. Womack. (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities; 1482.) 324–358. New York: Garland. </span>
*<span id="ocarragain2005">Ó Carragáin, Éamonn. 2005. ''Ritual and the rood: liturgical images and the Old English poems of the Dream of the rood tradition''. London : British Library; Toronto; New York : University of Toronto Press.</span>
*<span id="odonnell1996">O'Donnell, D. P. 1996. "A Northumbrian version of 'Cædmon's Hymn' (Northumbrian ''eordu'' recension) in Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale MS 8245–57, ff. 62r2-v1: identification, edition, and filiation." In: ''Beda Venerabilis: Historian, monk, and Northumbrian''. Ed. L. A. J. R. Houwen and A. A. MacDonald. (Mediaevalia Groningana; 19.) 139–165. Groningen: Forsten.</span>
*<span id="odonnell2005">O'Donnell, D. P. 2005. ''Cædmon's Hymn, a multimedia study, edition, and witness archive''. (SEENET A; 7.) Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.</span>
*<span id="ohare1992">O'Hare, C. 1992. "The story of Cædmon: Bede's account of the first English poet". ''American Benedictine Review''; 43: 345–57.</span>
*<span id="okeeffe1990">O'Keeffe, K. O'B. 1990. ''Visible song: transitional literacy in Old English verse''. (Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England; 4.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.</span>
*<span id="opland1980">Opland, J. 1980. ''Anglo-Saxon oral poetry: a study of the traditions''. New Haven: Yale University Press. </span>
*<span id="orton1998">Orton, P. 1998. "The transmission of the West-Saxon versions of ''Cædmon's Hymn'': a reappraisal". ''Studia Neophilologica''; 70: 153–164.</span>
*<span id="palgrave1832">[[Francis Palgrave|Palgrave, F.]] 1832. "Observations on the history of Cædmon". ''Archaeologia''; 24: 341–342.</span>
*<span id="plummer1896">[[Charles Plummer (historian)|Plummer, C.]], ed. 1896. ''Venerabilis Baedae Historiam ecclesiasticam gentis anglorum, historiam abbatum, epistolam ad Ecgberctum una cum historia abbatum commentario tam critico quam historico instruxit Carolus Plummer ad fidem codicum manuscriptorum denuo recognovit''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.</span>
*<span id="pound1929">Pound, L. 1929. "Cædmon's dream song". ''Studies in English Philology: A miscellany in honor of Frederick Klaeber''. Ed. Kemp Malone and Martin B. Ruud. 232–239. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.</span>
*<span id="princi1988">Princi Braccini, G. 1988. ''L'Inno di Caedmon e la sua leggenda. Una bibliografia annotata''. (Quaderni dell'Istituto di Linguistica dell'Università di Urbino; 5) Urbino: I-XII, 1–151.</span>
*<span id="princi1989">Princi Braccini, G. 1989. "Creazione dell'uomo o destino dell'uomo? Due ipotesi per ''firum foldan'' (''Inno di Caedmon'' v. 9)". ''Studi Medievali'', s. 3, XXX: 65–142.</span>
*<span id="robinson1990">Robinson, F. C. 1990. "Old English poetry: the question of authorship". ''ANQ''; n.s. 3: 59–64.</span>
*<span id="schwab1972">Schwab, U. 1972. ''Cædmon''. (Testi e Studi: Pubblicazioni dell'Istituto di Lingue e Letterature Germaniche, Università di Messina.) Messina: Peloritana Editrice.</span>
*<span id="sisam1953">[[Kenneth Sisam|Sisam, K.]] 1953. ''Studies in the History of Old English literature''. Oxford: Clarendon Press</span>.
*<span id="smith1978">Smith, A. H., ed. 1978. ''Three Northumbrian Poems: Cædmon's Hymn, Bede's Death Song and the Leiden Riddle''. With a bibliography compiled by M. J. Swanton. Revised edition. (Exeter Medieval English Texts and Studies.) Exeter: University of Exeter Press.</span>
*<span id="stanley1995">Stanley, E. G. 1995. "New formulas for old: Cædmon's Hymn". ''Pagans and Christians: the interplay between Christian Latin and traditional Germanic cultures in Early Medieval Europe''. eds. T. Hofstra, L. A. R. J. Houwen, and A. A. McDonald. Groningen: Forsten. 131–48.</span>
*<span id="stanley1998">Stanley, E. G. 1998. "St. Cædmon". ''Notes and Queries''; 143: 4–5</span>.
*<span id="whitelock1963">Whitelock, D. 1963. "The Old English Bede". (Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Lecture, 1962.) ''Proceedings of the British Academy''; 48: 57–93.</span>
*<span id="wrenn1946">[[Charles Leslie Wrenn|Wrenn, C. L.]] "The poetry of Cædmon". (Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Lecture, 1945.) ''Proceedings of the British Academy''; 32: 277–295.</span>
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource-author}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=8837}}
* {{Internet Archive author |search=(Cædmon OR Caedmon)}}
* {{Librivox author |id=4123}}
*[http://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/4078 Account of the Poet Caedmon, MSS SC 1564] at [[L. Tom Perry Special Collections]], [[Harold B. Lee Library]], [[Brigham Young University]]
*[http://www.heorot.dk/bede-caedmon.html Bede's Story of Cædmon]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160201211451/http://www.bedesworld.co.uk/ Bede's World]
*[http://www.wilfrid.com/saints/hilda.htm St. Hilda and Cædmon Page at St. Wilfrid's]
*[http://poemsintranslation.blogspot.com/2010/01/cadmons-hymn-from-old-english.html English verse-translation of Cædmon's Hymn]
*[https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=as_li_qf_sp_sr_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&index=aps&keywords=John%20K%20Deaconson&linkCode=as2&tag=theadvofthebi-21 Cædmon: The Lord's Poet (a novel by John K. Deaconson)]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caedmon}}
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