Cædmon's Hymn
C ædmon's "Hymn" is a short Old English poem originally composed by Cædmon, a supposedly
illiterate cow-herder who was, according to Bede, able to sing in honour of God the Creator,
using words that he had never heard before. It was composed between 658 and 680 and is the
oldest recorded Old English poem, being composed within living memory of the Christianization of
Anglo-Saxon England. It is also one of the oldest surviving samples of Germanic alliterative verse.
Te "Hymn" is Cædmon's only surviving composition. It was designed to be sung from memory and
was later preserved in written form by others, surviving today in at least 19 verifed manuscript copies.
Te poem has passed down from a Latin translation by Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English
People but the monks who were coping the manuscripts decided, most of the times, to write it in Old
English, their everyday own language, even in the Latin copies of Bede's Historia, for example on the
edge of the page, in the end of the paragraph or between the lines of the latin Hymn.
Bede (Bædæ - as written on his tomb stone) wrote about the poet and his work in his Historia
ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, book 4, chapter 24. According to Bede, Cædmon was an illiterate cow-
herder "who was actually employed by the monastery of Whitby" and who miraculously was able to
recite a Christian song of creation in Old English verse. Tis miracle happened after Cædmon left a
feast when they were passing a harp around for all to sing a song. He left the hall after feeling ashamed
that he could not contribute a song. Later in a dream he said a man appeared to him and asked him to
sing a song. Cædmon responded that he could not sing, yet the man told him that he could and asked
him to "Sing to me the beginning of all things." Cædmon was then able to sing verses and words that
he had not heard of before. Cædmon then reported his experience frst to a steward then to Hild, the
abbess of Whitby. She invited scholars to evaluate Cædmon’s gift, and he was sent home to turn more
divine doctrine into song. Te abbess was so impressed with the success of his gift that she encouraged
him to become a monk. He learned the history of the Christian church and created more music like the
story of Genesis and many biblical stories which impressed his teachers. Bede says that Cædmon in his
creation of his songs wanted to turn man from love of sin to a love of good deeds. Cædmon is said to
have died peacefully in his sleep after asking for the Eucharist and making sure he was at peace with his
fellow men.
The Latin Text
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 fliis hominum
caelum pro culmine tecti
dehinc terram custos humani generis
omnipotens creavit.
The Old English Text
Nu ƿe sculon herian heofon
rices ƿeard. metudes mihte.
⁊ his mod ge þanc. ƿurc
ƿuldor fæder. sƿa he ƿun-
dra ge hƿilc ece drihten
ord astalde. He ærest ge
scop ylda bearnum heofon
to rofe. halig scyppend.
middan gearde mancynnes
ƿeard ece drihten. Æfter
tida firum on foldum
frea ælmihtig.
The Modern 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
as he, the eternal lord, established the beginning of wonders;
he first created for the children of men
heaven as a roof, the holy creator
Then the guardian of mankind,
the eternal lord, afterwards appointed the middle earth,
the lands for men, the Lord almighty.
