Cædmon

Cædmon is an Anglo-Saxon poet who is known as the earliest English poet whose name is known. He was an illiterate herdsman who was believed to have been miraculously granted the gift of poetic composition by a dream. His only known surviving work, Cædmon's Hymn, is considered the oldest recorded Old English poem.

Life

Cædmon lived in the monastery of Whitby, a place of learning in the Northumbrian kingdom. The details of his life are known from the writings of the Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to Bede, Cædmon was a lay brother who cared for the animals at the monastery. He was unable to sing or compose poetry, which was a common skill at the time. However, he received his poetic abilities in a dream one night and from then on used his gift to compose verses praising God, which were said to have moved his listeners to piety.

Cædmon's Hymn

Cædmon's Hymn is a nine-line alliterative vernacular praise poem in Old English sung by Cædmon, the earliest English (Northumbrian) poet whose name is known. The poem is a plea for divine help and guidance and is considered the oldest extant record of English Christian poetry. The original text has been preserved in several versions, varying in Old English dialects and manuscript sources.

Legacy

Cædmon's significance in English literature lies in his use of the vernacular language for religious and didactic verse, at a time when most learned writing was composed in Latin. His hymn also represents one of the earliest examples of Old English poetry. It is a testament to the power of oral tradition, and its influence can be seen in later English poets.