For centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, everyone was still writing in Latin. It was the language used by scholars, monks, and government officials and since they were the main ones writing, most of what has come down from about 400 CE to about 700 CE is in Latin. Which means our first known literature in many languages was only written down centuries after those languages started being spoken, when it became fashionable to write in the local languages again.
In the 600s, people in Britain spoke what we now call Old English. It was a Germanic language, brought by invaders and retained by locals. Sometime between 657 and 680, a cowherd named Caedmon, who spoke Old English, lived in northern England’s Northumbria. Caedmon was likely illiterate, so most of what we know about his existence and what happened next comes from oral tradition.
An angel was said to appear to Caedmon in a dream. He asked Caedmon to sing a song of the creation of the world – “sing me frumsceaft.” The hymn he was inspired to compose Caedmon recited to others, who recited to others….who eventually recited it for the scholar Bede, who wrote it down. Today, Caedmon’s Hymn is the first known English poem. Although you need a translation to understand it!
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