Cædmon’s Hymn By Cædmon (c. 657-681) 26 09 2023

 

Nu sculon herigean heofonrices weard, meotodes meahte and his modgebanc weore wuldorfæder, swa he wundra gehwæs ece drihten, or onstealde.

He ærest sceop eorðan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend; þa middangeard moncynnes weard ece drihten, æfter teode fium foldan, frea ælmihtig

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Here's a translation into Modern English (courtesy of wikipedia):

Now [we) must honour the guardian of heaven, the might of the architect, and his purpose, the work of the father of glory as he, the eternal lord, established the beginning of wonders. He, the holycreator, 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. ---

Cædmon’s Hymn  By Cædmon (c. 657-681)  Cædmon was an Anglo-Saxon herdsman attached to the double monastery  of Streonæshalch (657–681). Originally ignorant of the art of song,  Cædmon learned to compose one night in the course of a dream.  Cædmon’s only known surviving work is Cædmon’s Hymn, the nine-line  alliterative vernacular praise poem in honour of the Christian god he  supposedly learned to sing in his initial dream. The poem is one of the  earliest attested examples of Old English and is one of three candidates for  the earliest attested example of Old English poetry. It is also one of the  earliest recorded examples of sustained poetry in a Germanic language.  (Summary from wikipedia)  Read by Kara Shallenberg; total running time: 00:01:39.  This recording is in the public domain and may be reproduced, distributed, or modified without permission. For  more information or to volunteer, visit librivox.org.  Cover picture of a 9th Century Manuscript (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Annales_Xantenses.jpg). Copyright expired in US, Canada, EU and all countries with author’s life +70 yrs laws. Cover design by Janette  Brown. This design is in the public domain.