Cædmon's Hymn

Cædmon's Hymn is a short Old English poem attributed to

Cædmon, a supposedly illiterate and unmusical cow-herder who
was, according to the Northumbrian monk Bede (d. 731),
miraculously empowered to sing in honour of God the Creator.
The poem is Cædmon's only known composition.

The poem has a claim to being the oldest surviving English poem:
if Bede's account is correct, the poem was composed between 658
and 680, in the early stages of the Christianization of Anglo-Saxon
England; even on the basis of the surviving manuscripts, the poem
is the earliest securely dateable example of Old English verse.[1]
Correspondingly, it is one of the oldest surviving samples of
Germanic alliterative verse, constituting a prominent landmark for
the study of Old English literature and for the early use of
traditional poetic form for Christian themes following the
conversion of early medieval England to Christianity. Indeed, one
scholar has argued that Bede perceived it as a continuation of
Germanic praise poetry, which led him to include a Latin
translation but not the original poem.[2] Folio 129r of the early eleventh-
century Oxford, Bodleian Library,
The poem is also the Old English poem attested in the second MS Hatton 43, showing a page of
largest number of manuscripts — twenty-one — after Bede's Death Bede's Latin text, with Cædmon's
Song. These are all manuscripts of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of Hymn added in the lower margin
the English People. These manuscripts show significant variation
in the form of the text, making it an important case-study for the
scribal transmission of Old English verse.[3]

Text and translation

Cædmon's Hymn survives in Old English in twenty-one manuscripts, originally as marginal
annotations to Bede's Latin account of the poem. Some of these manuscripts reflect the Northumbrian
dialect of Bede and (putatively) of Cædmon, and some reflect the transfer of the poem into the West
Saxon dialect. Whether due to change in oral tradition or scribal transmission, the text varies in
different manuscripts. There is some debate as to the best translation of some of these variants.[4][5]

The following Old English text is a normalized reading of the oldest or second-oldest manuscript of
the poem, the mid-eighth-century Northumbrian Moore Bede (Cambridge, University Library, MS
Kk. 5. 16). The translation notes key points of debate as to meaning, and variation in other
manuscripts.

Nū scylun hergan hefaenrīcaes Uard, Now [we] shall honour / heaven-kingdom's Ward,
metudæs maecti end his mōdgidanc, the measurer's might / and his mind-plans[a],
uerc Uuldurfadur, suē hē uundra the work of the Glory-father[b] / as he of each
 gihuaes, wonder,
ēci dryctin ōr āstelidæ eternal lord, / the origin established;[c]
hē ǣrist scōp aelda barnum he first created[d] / for the children of men[e]
heben til hrōfe, hāleg scepen. heaven for a roof, / holy shaper.[f]
Thā middungeard moncynnæs Uard, Then Middle-earth / mankind's Ward,
eci Dryctin, æfter tīadæ eternal Lord, / after created,
fīrum foldu, Frēa allmectig.[6] the lands for men,[g] / Lord almighty.

Although the different Old English versions do not diverge from one another enormously, they vary
enough that researchers have been able to reconstruct five substantively different variants of the
poem, witnessed by different groups of the twenty-one
manuscripts. [7]: §5.1 (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/introduction/ch5.html) The following list links to critical
editions of each by Daniel O'Donnell: [7]

A Northumbrian recension characterised by the word aelda (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/editio

n/aelda/index.html) in line 5b.
A Northumbrian recension characterised by the word eordu (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/editi
on/eordu/index.html) in line 5b.
A West-Saxon recension characterised by the word ylda (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/edition/
ylda/index.html) in line 5b (which accounts for all the texts of the Old English translation of the
Historia ecclesiastica).
A West-Saxon recension characterised by the word eorðan (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/editio
n/eorthan/index.html) in line 5b.
A late, West-Saxon recension characterised by the word eorðe (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/e
dition/eorthe/index.html) in line 5b and extensive textual corruption.

One example of an attempted literary translation of Cædmon's Hymn (in this case of the eorðan
recension) is Harvey Shapiro's 2011 rendering:[8]

Guardian of heaven whom we come to praise

who mapped creation in His thought's sinews
Glory-Father who worked out each wonder
began with broad earth a gift for His children
first roofed it with heaven the Holy Shaper
established it forever as in the beginning
called it middle kingdom fenced it with angels
created a habitation for man to praise His splendor

Origins

Bede's story

Cædmon's Hymn survives only in manuscripts of Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum,
which recounts the poem as part of an elaborate miracle-story. Bede's chronology suggests that these
events took place under the abbacy of Hild of Whitby (658–
80),[7]: §1 (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/introduction/ch1.html) [9]
or in the decade after her death. Whether
Bede had this story directly from oral sources or whether he had access to a written account is a
matter of debate,[10] but although world literature attests to many stories of poetic inspiration that
recall Bede's, none is similar enough to be a likely
source.[7]: §2 (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/introduction/ch2.html) [11][12]

According to Bede, Cædmon was an illiterate cow-herder employed at the monastery of Whitby who
miraculously recited a Christian song of praise in Old English verse. In the story, Cædmon is
attending a feast; when the revellers pass a harp around for all to sing a song, he leaves the hall,
because he cannot contribute a song and feels ashamed. He falls asleep, and in a dream a man
appears to him, and asks him to sing a song. Cædmon responds that he cannot sing, yet the man tells
him to "Sing to me the beginning of all things". Cædmon is then able to sing verses and words that he
had not heard of before. On waking, Cædmon reported his experience first to a steward then to Hild,
the abbess of Whitby. She invites scholars to evaluate Cædmon's gift, and he is tasked with turning
more divine doctrine into song. Hild is so impressed with Cædmon's poetic gift that she encourages
him to become a monk. He learns the history of the Christian church and creates more poems, such as
the story of Genesis and many other biblical stories. This impresses his teachers. Bede says that
Cædmon, in composing verse, wanted to turn man from the 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.[13][14]

The following Latin text is the prose paraphrase of Cædmon's poem which Bede presents in his
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum; Bede did not give the text in Old English:

"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." Hic est sensus, non autem orde ipse uerborum, quae
dormiens ille canebat; neque enim possunt carmina, quamuis optime conposita, ex alia in
aliam linguam ad uerbum sine detrimento sui decoris ac dignitatis transferri.[15]

"Now we must praise the Maker of the heavenly kingdom, the power of the Creator and his
counsel, the deeds of the Father of glory and how he, since he is the eternal God, was the
Author of all marvels and first created the heavens as a roof for the children of men and
then, the almightly Guardian of the human race, created the Earth." This is the sense but
not the order of the words which he sang as he slept. For it is not possible to translate
verse, however well composed, literally from one language to another without some loss of
beauty and dignity.[16]

Scholarly debate

Many scholars have more or less accepted Bede's story, supposing that Cædmon existed and did
compose Cædmon's Hymn. They infer that Cædmon's poem then circulated in oral tradition, that
Bede knew it as an oral poem, and that his Latin paraphrase of the poem was a close rendering of this
text. They then infer that other members of Bede's community also knew this orally transmitted Old
English poem by heart, and that the text added into the margins of manuscripts of his Historia
ecclesiastica shortly after his death is essentially the same poem that Cædmon composed and Bede
knew.[10][17]
However, it is also possible that although the Old English poem was indeed in oral tradition prior to
Bede, the story of its composition is a fabrication.[10]

Meanwhile, the content of Bede's Latin paraphrase is somewhat different from all the surviving Old
English texts. Scholars have debated why this might be. Most scholars think that Bede was translating
from a (probably oral) version of the Old English poem like one of the surviving versions, but doing so
loosely. The earliest Old English version of the Hymn might have been the one that is most similar to
Bede's text, in which case other Old English versions diverged from it in oral or scribal transmission.
On the other hand, the earliest version might have been the one that is least similar to Bede's text, and
Old English versions that are more similar to Bede's text might have been adapted by scribes to make
them more similar to Bede's Latin.[7]: §5 (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/introduction/ch5.html#CH5)

Some have even argued that the Old English text does not predate Bede's Latin at all, but originated
as a (somewhat loose) verse translation of Bede's Latin
text.[7]: §B (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/introduction/noteb.html#NOTEB)

Manuscripts
All copies of the Cædmon's Hymn
are found in manuscripts of
Bede's Latin Historia
ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum or One of two candidates for the earliest surviving copy of Cædmon's Hymn is
the Old English translation of that found in the Moore Bede (Northumbria, ca. 737)
text; twenty-one manuscripts of
the Old English poem, dating
from the eighth century to the sixteenth, are known to have
existed.[18][7]: §4 (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/introduction/ch4.html)

List of manuscripts

This list is based on the survey by Paul Cavill.[18] Hyperlinks to O'Donnell's descriptions of each
manuscript are provided from the shelf-marks, and to his facsimiles and transcriptions from folio
numbers.[7]
 [hide]
Version Dialect of
Siglum Shelf-mark Origin Folio notes
of Bede Hymn

Kk. 5. 16, Cambridge, 128v (http

University Library (http s://caedmo
s://caedmon.seenet.or n.seenet.or
M 734 x 737 Latin Northumbrian
g/htm/introduction/ch4. g/htm/trans
html#CH4.2.2.12) (the cription/m/p
Moore Bede) arallel.html)

lat. Q. v. I. 18, St.

Petersburg, Saltykov- 107r (http
Schedrin Public s://caedmo
first half of
Library (https://caedm n.seenet.or
L eighth Latin Northumbrian
on.seenet.org/htm/intr g/htm/trans
century
oduction/ch4.html#CH cription/l/par
4.2.2.16) (the Saint allel.html)
Petersburg Bede)
32v (https://
R. 5. 22, Cambridge,
caedmon.se
Trinity College (https://
Fourteenth- enet.org/ht
Tr1 caedmon.seenet.org/h Latin West Saxon
century m/transcripti
tm/introduction/ch4.ht
on/tr1/parall
ml#CH4.2.2.21)
el.html)

152v (http
Bodley 163, Oxford, A corrector's
s://caedmo
Bodleian Library (http Mid- attempt to remove
n.seenet.or
Bd s://caedmon.seenet.or eleventh- Latin West Saxon the poem from
g/htm/trans
g/htm/introduction/ch4. century the text has made
cription/bd/p
html#CH4.2.2.2) it largely illegible.
arallel.html)

129r (http
Hatton 43, Oxford,
s://caedmo
Bodleian Library (http Mid-
n.seenet.or
H s://caedmon.seenet.or eleventh- Latin West Saxon
g/htm/trans
g/htm/introduction/ch4. century
cription/h/pa
html#CH4.2.2.8)
rallel.html)
Lat. 31, Oxford,
Lincoln College (http
Mid-twelfth-
Ln s://caedmon.seenet.or Latin West Saxon 83r
century
g/htm/introduction/ch4.
html#CH4.2.2.11)

99r (https://
Lat. 105, Oxford,
caedmon.se
Magdalen College (htt
Mid-twelfth- enet.org/ht
Mg ps://caedmon.seenet.o Latin West Saxon
century m/transcripti
rg/htm/introduction/ch
on/mg/paral
4.html#CH4.2.2.13)
lel.html)

81r (https://
I, Winchester,
caedmon.se
Cathedral (https://caed Mid-
enet.org/ht
W mon.seenet.org/htm/in eleventh- Latin West Saxon
m/transcripti
troduction/ch4.html#C century
on/w/paralle
H4.2.2.22)
l.html)
T1 Tanner 10, Oxford, First half of Old West Saxon 100r (http
Bodleian Library (http tenth century English s://caedmo
s://caedmon.seenet.or n.seenet.or
g/htm/introduction/ch4. g/htm/trans
 Version Dialect of
Siglum Shelf-mark Origin Folio notes
of Bede Hymn
html#CH4.2.2.19) (the cription/t1/p
Tanner Bede) arallel.html)

The section
Cotton Otho B. xi,
Mid-tenth to containing
London, British Library
early Old Cædmon's Hymn
C (https://caedmon.seen West Saxon
eleventh- English was destroyed in
et.org/htm/introductio
century the 1731
n/ch4.html#CH4.2.2.4)
Cottonian fire.
Additional 43703, pp. 25-25 (h Transcription of
London, British Library ttps://caedm Otho B. xi by
(https://caedmon.seen Sixteenth- Old on.seenet.o Laurence Nowell,
N West Saxon
et.org/htm/introductio century English rg/htm/trans predating the loss
n/ch4.html#CH4.2.2.1 cription/n/pa of Cædmon's
4) rallel.html) Hymn.

part ii, f.
279, Oxford, Corpus 112v (http
Christi College (https:// Early s://caedmo
Old
O caedmon.seenet.org/h eleventh- West Saxon n.seenet.or
English
tm/introduction/ch4.ht century g/htm/trans
ml#CH4.2.2.15) cription/o/pa
rallel.html)

72v (https://
Kk. 3. 18, Cambridge,
Second caedmon.se
University Library (http
quarter of Old enet.org/ht
Ca s://caedmon.seenet.or West Saxon
eleventh English m/transcripti
g/htm/introduction/ch4.
century on/ca/parall
html#CH4.2.2.5)
el.html)
p. 322 (http
41, Cambridge,
s://caedmo
Corpus Christi College First quarter
Old n.seenet.or
B1 (https://caedmon.seen of eleventh West Saxon
English g/htm/trans
et.org/htm/introductio century
cription/b1/p
n/ch4.html#CH4.2.2.1)
arallel.html)

Laud Misc. 243, 82v (https://

Oxford, Bodleian caedmon.se
First quarter
Ld1 Library (https://caedm Old enet.org/ht
of twelfth West Saxon
on.seenet.org/htm/intr English m/transcripti
century
oduction/ch4.html#CH on/ld/paralle
4.2.2.10) l.html)

116v (http
P. 5.i, Hereford,
s://caedmo
Cathedral Library (http First quarter
Old n.seenet.or
Hr s://caedmon.seenet.or of twelfth West Saxon
English g/htm/trans
g/htm/introduction/ch4. century
cription/hr/p
html#CH4.2.2.9)
arallel.html)
59v (https://
547 [334], Dijon,
caedmon.se
Bibliothèque Publique
Twelfth- enet.org/ht
Di (https://caedmon.seen Latin Northumbrian
century m/transcripti
et.org/htm/introductio
on/di/paralle
n/ch4.html#CH4.2.2.7)
l.html)

P1 Lat 5237, Paris, c. 1430 Latin Northumbrian 72v (https://

Bibliothèque Nationale caedmon.se
(https://caedmon.seen enet.org/ht
et.org/htm/introductio m/transcripti
 Version Dialect of
Siglum Shelf-mark Origin Folio notes
of Bede Hymn
n/ch4.html#CH4.2.2.1 on/p1/parall
7) el.html)

62r-v (http
8245-57, Brussels,
s://caedmo
Bibliothèque Royale (h
n.seenet.or
Br ttps://caedmon.seenet. 1489 Latin Northumbrian
g/htm/trans
org/htm/introduction/c
cription/br/p
h4.html#CH4.2.2.3)
arallel.html)
86v (https://
M.6, London, College
caedmon.se
of Arms (https://caedm
Twelfth- enet.org/ht
LCA on.seenet.org/htm/intr Latin West Saxon
century m/transcripti
oduction/ch4.html#CH
on/carms/p
4.2.2.6)
arallel.html)

HM. 35300, San 82r (https://

Marino CA, Huntington caedmon.se
Library (https://caedm Mid-fifteenth- enet.org/ht
SM Latin West Saxon
on.seenet.org/htm/intr century m/transcripti
oduction/ch4.html#CH on/sanm/pa
4.2.2.18) rallel.html)

134, Tournai, 78v (https://

Bibliothèque de la Ville caedmon.se Destroyed in
(https://caedmon.seen Twelfth- enet.org/ht 1940, but
To Latin West Saxon
et.org/htm/introductio century m/transcripti survives in
n/ch4.html#CH4.2.2.2 on/to/parall facsimile
0) el.html)

Scribal transmission

In the Latin copies, Cædmon's Hymn appears as a gloss to Bede's Latin translation of the Old English
poem. Despite its close connection with Bede's work, the Old English Hymn does not appear to have
been transmitted with the Latin Historia ecclesiastica regularly until relatively late in its textual
history: where the Old English text appears in a Latin manuscript, it was often added by a scribe other
than the one responsible for the main text. In three manuscript (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Laud Misc.
243; Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton 43; and Winchester, Cathedral I) the poem was copied by
scribes working a quarter-century or more after the main text was first set down.[19][20] 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.[7]: §7 (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/introduction/ch7.html)

Style
Despite the name, it is not a hymn in the narrow sense of the formal and structural criteria of
hymnody. It is, instead, a piece of traditional Old English alliterative poetry, which seems to have
been composed as an oral piece to be sung aloud; it is characterised by formulaic diction shared by
much other Old English poetry, and has been seen as a case-study for the application of oral-
formulaic theory to Old English verse.[21][22][23]: 382–84
Notwithstanding Bede's praise of Cædmon's Hymn in his Historia ecclesiastica, modern critics have
not generally regarded the poem as a great aesthetic
success. [7]: §3.1 (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/introduction/ch3.html#CH3) The poem is, however, metrically
regular; like other Old English verse, the nine lines of the Hymn are divided into half-lines by a
caesura, with the first most heavily stressed syllable in the first half alliterating with the first most
heavily stressed syllable in the second. Although Bede presents the poem as innovative in handling
Christian subject matter, its language and style is consistent with traditional Old English poetic style.
It is generally acknowledged that the text can be separated into two rhetorical sections (although
some scholars believe it could be divided into three), based on theme, syntax and pacing, the first
being lines one to four and the second being lines five to
nine. [7]: §3 (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/introduction/ch3.html#CH3) In the assessment of Daniel O'Donnell,
'stylistically, Cædmon's Hymn is probably most remarkable for its heavy use of ornamental poetic
variation, particularly in the poem's last five
lines'. [7]: §3.16 (https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/introduction/ch3.html#CH3)

There has been much scholarly debate and speculation as to whether or not there existed pre-
Cædmonian Christian composers by whom Cædmon may have been influenced, but the mainstream
opinion appears to be that it is "reasonably clear that Cædmon coined the Christian poetic formulas
that we find in the Hymn". Cædmon’s work "had a newness that it lost in the course of time", but it
has been asserted by many that his poetic innovations "entitle him to be reckoned a genius";
inasmuch as the content of the hymn might strike us as conventional or "banal", according to Malone
(1961), "we are led astray by our knowledge of later poetry".[24]

Editions, translations, and recordings

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 ed.). London:
University of Exeter. ISBN 9780859890786. [first publ. as Three Northumbrian Poems: Cædmon’s
Hymn, Bede’s Death Song and the Leiden Riddle (https://archive.org/details/threenorthumbria000
0smit), ed. by A. H. Smith (London, 1933)].
Cædmon’s Hymn: A Multimedia Study, Edition and Archive. 1.1 (http://caedmon.seenet.org/index.
html), ed. by Daniel Paul O'Donnell, SEENET Series A — Editions, 8 (Charlottesville, Virginia:
SEENET, 2018) [first published as O'Donnell, Daniel P. (2005). Cædmon's Hymn: A Multimedia
Study, Edition and Archive (https://books.google.com/books?id=8iEAcwwTMoIC). Cambridge:
Brewer. ISBN 978-1-84384-044-2.].
"Cædmon's Hymn": The Seven West Saxon Versions (https://uw.digitalmappa.org/12), ed. by
Martin Foys (Wisconsin, Madison: The Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2019) [repr. in the Old English Poetry in Facsimile project (http
s://oepoetryfacsimile.org/)].

Translations
Foreman, A.Z. (October 2010), "Verse Translation of Caedmon's Hymn", Poems Found in
Translation (http://poemsintranslation.blogspot.com/2010/01/cadmons-hymn-from-old-english.htm
l) (World Wide Web log), Google Blogger
Hagan, Harry, 'Cædmon’s Hymn and Translations for Singing', The Downside Review, 127 [446]
(2009), 13–22, doi:10.1177/001258060912744602 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F001258060912744
602)
'Cædmon's Hymn', trans. by Harvey Shapiro, in The Word Exchange: Anglo-Saxon Poems in
Translation, ed. by Greg Delanty and Michael Matto (New York: Norton, 2011), p. 421.
 'Cædmon's hymn (https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400888771-002)', trans. by Miller Wolf Oberman,
in The Unstill Ones (https://books.google.com/books?id=fYm9DgAAQBAJ) (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 2017), p. 3 ISBN 9781400888771.

Recordings
West-Saxon version (https://web.archive.org/web/20051211055718/https://wwnorton.com/nael/no
a/realmedia/CademonsHymn.rm) by R. D. Fulk
Northumbrian version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg4mg7q4bSQ), sung, by Lukas
Papenfusscline
Several versions (http://mdrout.webspace.wheatoncollege.edu/2010/09/14/c%c3%a6dmons-hymn
-normalized-west-saxon-all/) by Michael D. C. Drout
Caedmon's Hymn (https://librivox.org/search?title=Caedmon's+Hymn&author=CAEDMON&rea
der=&keywords=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&recorded_language=&sort_order=
catalog_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced) public domain audiobook at LibriVox

Appearances in popular culture

Caedmon's Song, a novel by Peter Robinson.
Caedmon's Call, a Houston, TX, based Christian band, is named for Caedmon.

Notes
a. The word 'modgidanc' pronounced 'mode-ye-thahnk' is a compound between 'mod' being the
poetic word for the mind and 'danc' being the word for thoughts, or plans (this is where the
Modern English 'think' comes from). Thus, literally the word means 'mind-thoughts', but is
understood poetically to mean over-arching plans, or God's grand design.
b. This is the traditional translation of these lines, in agreement with Bede's Latin version and with
versions of the Old English which add wē ("we") into the first line. An alternative translation of the
early texts, however, understands weorc as the subject: "Now the works of the Glory-father must
honour the Ward of heaven, the might of the measurer, and his mind-plans".[4] Yet another
proposes that hergan functions passively, with a series of subsequent subjects: 'now the Ward of
heaven, the might of the measurer and his conception, the work of the Glory-father must be
praised'.[5]
c. Anglo-Saxon poetic grammar is often hard to follow. These last two lines are essentially saying:
"The work of the father of glory, as he (the eternal lord) established the origin of every wonder."
d. 'scop' implies poetic creation; God is the great song-writer and the great poet, and creation is His
masterpiece.
e. This is the reading of the Northumbrian aelda and West-Saxon ylda recensions. The
Northumbrian eordu, West-Saxon eorðan, and (with some corruption) the West-Saxon eorðe
recensions would be translated "for the children of earth".
f. Here again the poetic 'scop' must be considered; 'shaper' is one way to translate 'scepen', but
alternatives could be 'poet', 'author', or 'mastermind'.
 g. The Northumbrian eordu and West-Saxon ylda and eorðe recensions would be translated "for
men among the lands" at this point.

References

Citations
1. O'Keeffe 1987, p. 222.
2. Biggs 1997, p. 304.
3. Daniel Paul O’Donnell, 'Different Strokes, Same Folk: Designing the Multi-Form Digital Edition',
Literature Compass 7.2 (2010), 110–119 (p. 112), doi:10.1111/j.1741-4113.2009.00683.x (https://d
oi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1741-4113.2009.00683.x).
4. Mitchell, Bruce (1985). "Cædmon's Hymn, Line 1: What Is the Subject of Scylun or Its Variants?"
(https://digital.library.leeds.ac.uk/216/). Studies in English. University of Leeds. n.s. 1: 190–197.
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5. Alfred Bammesberger, 'Discrepancies between Cædmon's Hymn and its Latin Rendering by
Bede', in Anglo-Saxon Micro-Texts, ed. by Ursula Lenker and Lucia Kornexl, Buchreihe der Anglia
/ Anglia Book Series, 67 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2019), pp. 329-46; doi:10.1515/9783110630961 (http
s://doi.org/10.1515%2F9783110630961).
6. Marsden, Richard (April 2004). The Cambridge Old English Reader (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=OE4Vqj3IYrcC&pg=PA80). Cambridge University Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-521-45612-8.
7. Cædmon’s Hymn: A Multimedia Study, Edition and Archive. 1.1 (http://caedmon.seenet.org/index.
html), ed. by Daniel Paul O'Donnell, SEENET Series A — Editions, 8 (Charlottesville, Virginia:
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Study, Edition and Archive (https://books.google.com/books?id=8iEAcwwTMoIC). Woodbridge:
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9. Dennis Cronan, 'Cædmon's Hymn: Context and Dating', English Studies, 91 (2010), 817-25;
doi:10.1080/0013838X.2010.488846 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F0013838X.2010.488846).
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Fell with her Unpublished Writings, ed. by Carole Hough and Kathryn A. Lowe (Donington: Tyas,
2002), pp. 1–17.
11. John D. Niles, 'Bede’s Cædmon, "The Man Who Had No Story" (Irish Tale-Type 2412B)', Folklore,
117 (2006), 141–55 doi:10.1080/00155870600707821 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F001558706007
07821).
12. Dennis Cronan, 'Cædmon and Hesiod', English Studies, 87 (2006), 379-401,
doi:10.1080/00138380600768106 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00138380600768106).
13. Colgrave & Mynors 1969, Book 4, ch. 22-24.
14. Abrams 1986, p. 29.
15. Baedae opera historica, ed. by C. Plummer (Oxford, 1896), II 259-60.
16. Colgrave, Bertram; Mynors, Roger Aubrey Baskerville, eds. (1969). Bede's Ecclesiastical History
of the English People (https://archive.org/details/x-bede-s-ecclesiastical-history/mode/2up).
Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 417. ISBN 978-0-19-822173-9.
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doi:10.1353/sip.2012.0028 (https://doi.org/10.1353%2Fsip.2012.0028).
18. Paul Cavill, 'The Manuscripts of Cædmon's Hymn', Anglia: Zeitschrift für englische Philologie, 118
(2000), 499-530.
19. Ker 1957, pp. 341, 326, 396.
20. O'Keeffe 1987, p. 36.
21. Fry, Donald K. (1974). "Cædmon as a Formulaic Poet". Forum for Modern Language Studies. 10
(3): 227–47. doi:10.1093/fmls/X.3.227 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Ffmls%2FX.3.227). [repr. as: Fry,
D.K. (1975). "Cædmon as a Formulaic Poet". In Duggan, JJ (ed.). Oral Literature: Seven Essays.
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23. Stevick, Robert D. (July 1962). "The Oral-Formulaic Analyses of Old English Verse". Speculum.
37 (3): 382–389. doi:10.2307/2852359 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2852359). JSTOR 2852359 (ht
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162509556).
24. Malone 1961, p. 194.

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Abrams, Meyer Howard, ed. (1986). The Norton Malone, Kemp (1961). "Cædmon and English
Anthology of English Literature (https://archiv Poetry". Modern Language Notes. 76 (3):
e.org/details/nortonanthologyo01abra/page/2 193–95. doi:10.2307/3039872 (https://doi.org/
6/mode/2up). W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393- 10.2307%2F3039872). JSTOR 3039872 (http
91249-4. s://www.jstor.org/stable/3039872).
Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, ed. O'Donnell, Daniel P. (October 2004). "Bede's
and tr. Colgrave, Bertram; Mynors, Roger AB Strategy in Paraphrasing Caedmon's Hymn".
(1969). Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the Journal of English and Germanic Philology.
English People. Oxford Medieval Texts. 103 (4). JSTOR 27712457 (https://www.jstor.o
Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-1982-2202- rg/stable/27712457).
5. O'Keeffe, Katherine O'Brien (January 1987).
Biggs, Frederick M. (Summer 1997). "Deor's "Orality and the Developing Text of
Threatened Blame Poem". Studies in Caedmon's Hymn". Speculum. 62 (1): 1–20.
Philology. 94 (3): 297–320. JSTOR 4174580 doi:10.2307/2852564 (https://doi.org/10.230
(https://www.jstor.org/stable/4174580). 7%2F2852564). JSTOR 2852564 (https://ww
Dobbie, Elliot Van Kirk (1937). The manuscripts w.jstor.org/stable/2852564).
of Cædmon's Hymn and Bede's Death Song S2CID 161081164 (https://api.semanticschola
with a critical text of the Epistola Cuthberti de r.org/CorpusID:161081164).
obitu Bedae. Columbia University Studies in Richards, Mary P., ed. (1994). Anglo-Saxon
English and Comparative Literature. New Manuscripts: Basic Readings. New York:
York: Columbia. Routledge. ISBN 9780815335672.
Ker, Neil Ripley (1957). Catalogue of Manuscripts
Containing Anglo-Saxon (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=snsNAQAAIAAJ). Oxford:
Clarendon Press.

Further reading
Altman, Rochelle (2008). "Hymnody,
Graphotactics, and 'Cædmon's Hymn' ".
Philological Review. 34 (2): 1–27.
Bammesberger, Alfred (2008). "Nu Scylun Hoover, David (1985). "Evidence for Primacy of
Hergan (Caedmon's Hymn, 1a)". ANQ. 21 (4): Alliteration in Old English Metre."Anglo-Saxon
2–6. doi:10.3200/anqq.21.4.2-6 (https://doi.or England 14: p. 75-96.
g/10.3200%2Fanqq.21.4.2-6). Kiernan, Kevin (2002). "Reading Cædmon's
S2CID 161640238 (https://api.semanticschola "Hymn" with Someone Else's Glosses (http://
r.org/CorpusID:161640238). www.uky.edu/~kiernan/ReadingCH/ReadingC
Blair, Peter Hunter (1994). "Bede's Ecclesiastical H.htm)." Old English Literature Critical
History of the English Nation and its Essays. Ed. Roy Liuzza. New Haven: Yale
Importance Today". Bede and His World The University Press, p. 103-24.
Jarrow Lectures 1958–1978. Great Britain: O'Keeffe, Katherine O'Brien (1990). Visible Song:
Variorum. pp. 21–33. Transitional Literacy in Old English Verse.
DeGregorio, Scott (2007). "Literary Contexts: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cædmon's Hymn as a Center of Bedes O'Keeffe, Katherine O'Brien (1999). "Cædmon".
World". In Frantzer, Allen J; Hines, John In Lapidge, Michael; Blair, John; Keynes,
(eds.). Cædmon's Hymn and Material Culture Simon; Scragg, Donald (eds.). Encyclopedia
in the World of Bede Six Essays. of Anglo-Saxon England. Molden, MA:
Morganstown: West Virginia University Press. Blackwell. p. 81.
pp. 51–79. Magennis, Hugh (2011). The Cambridge
Frantzen, Allen J.; Hines, John, eds. (2007). Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Literature. New
Cædmon's Hymn and Material Culture in the York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–35.
World of Bede Six Essays. Morganstown: ISBN 9780521734653.
West Virginia University Press.
ISBN 9781933202228.

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