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Bede on Caedmon: Anglo-Saxon History

Bede discusses Caedmon, the first Anglo-Saxon Christian poet. Caedmon was an illiterate herdsman who was inspired to compose religious poems after a dream. When he recited a hymn of praise in old English verse, he was brought to the monastery at Whitby. Caedmon went on to compose more Christian poems in his native language and vernacular style, influencing the conversion of Anglo-Saxons to Christianity through his poetic expressions of scripture. His most famous work is Caedmon's Hymn, considered to be the oldest surviving English poem.

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Fr Joby Pulickakunnel
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26 views4 pages

Bede on Caedmon: Anglo-Saxon History

Bede discusses Caedmon, the first Anglo-Saxon Christian poet. Caedmon was an illiterate herdsman who was inspired to compose religious poems after a dream. When he recited a hymn of praise in old English verse, he was brought to the monastery at Whitby. Caedmon went on to compose more Christian poems in his native language and vernacular style, influencing the conversion of Anglo-Saxons to Christianity through his poetic expressions of scripture. His most famous work is Caedmon's Hymn, considered to be the oldest surviving English poem.

Uploaded by

Fr Joby Pulickakunnel
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

BEDE – ON CAEDMON

SAINT BEDE – THE VENERABLE BEDE- ANGLO SAXON HISTORIAN (672-735)


(ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE – LATIN VERSION- A SOURCE THAT
SPECIFIES ABOUT THE CONVERSION OF THE ANGLO-SAXON TRIBES TO
CHRISTIANITY- HISTORY OF ENGLAND-TRUSTWORTHY EVIDENCE – ANGLO SAXON HISTORY - 731)
REPUTATION AS A SAINT WAS BASED ON HIS SCRIPTUAL COMMENTARIES
TAKEN TO MONASTERY AT 7, BECAME DEACON (LOWEST RANK OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 19), PRIEST (30)
WORKS DIVIDED INTO – GRAMMATICAL & SCIENTIFIC, SCRIPTUAL COMMENTARY,
HISTORICAL & BIOGRAPHICAL
“ON TIMES” & “ON THE RECKONING OF TIME” BOOKS CONCERNED WITH THE RECKONING
OF EASTER
HIS INTERPRETATIONS WERE ALLEGORICAL, TREATED BIBLICAL TEXTS AS SYMBOLS
BEDE’S TALENT AS A HISTORIAN – DOCUMENTS+HISTORIES+LOCAL ORAL
TRADITIONS + LEGENDS
AMONG OTHER LITERARY FIGURES CAEDMON IS STILL WIDELY READ
✔ CAEDMON (FIRST ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN POET) (ACHIEVEMENTS & STORY FUNCTIONS AS A
RELIGIOUS & CULTURAL MYTH)

*ILLITERATE CELTIC HERDSMAN, LAY BROTHER, EMPLOYED AT MONASTERY OF WHITBY, IGNORANT


OF “THE ART OF SONG” RECITED A CHRISTIAN SONG OF PRAISE IN OLD ENGLISH VERSE ON
COMPULSION; COMPOSED AS A RESULT OF A STRANGE DREAM.

SIGNIFICANT DREAM –VISION OF A MAN WHO COMMANDED HIM TO


SING-DIVINE INSPIRATION - THE ABBESS (head of an abbey of nuns) URGES
CAEDMON TO BECOME A MONK-URGES HIM TO SING “SING TO ME THE
BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS – SHE WAS AMAZED & DELIGHTED BY HIS
POETRY- CONTRIBUTE TO RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY & BROTHERHOOD-
CHOSEN BY GOD –NOT AN AVERAGE SHEPHERD
CAEDMON’S HYMN- SPONTANEOUS; 731- 9 LINE ALLITERATIVE VERNACULAR
PRAISE POEM – “GOD CREATED HEAVENS & EARTH FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF
MEN”- EARLIEST INFLUENCES OF CHRISTIANITY-ONLY AVAILABLE FORM
A SYMBOL OF ADAPTING THE ARISTOCRATIC HEROIC ANGLO-SAXON
VERSE TRADITION TO EXPRESS CHRISTIAN THEMES
HE WAS GRANTED A PREMONITION OF HIS DEATH FOLLOWING A SHORT
ILLNESS (AN HONOUR RESERVED FOR GOD’S FOLLOWERS)
“MASTER/LEADER/ALMIGHTY” – WORDS USED TO REFER GOD
CAEDMON’S – ON HYMN ( 9 LINE ALLITERATIVE VERNACULAR PRAISE POEM)
NATIVE LANG – ENGLISH / RELIGIOUS VERSES CONVERTED INTO SCRIPTURES &
POETICAL EXPRESSIONS
INSTIGATED READERS TO ASPIRE TO HEAVEN
FOLLOWED BY THE DREAM – ABBESS ORDERS TO TAKE MONASTIC VOWS; TAUGHT
SACRED HISTORY ON A VARIETY OF CHRISTIAN TOPICS
SAINTLY EXISTENCE IS NOT CONFIRMED BY BEDE – ARGUMENT THAT SUCH
ASSERTIONS ARE INCORRECT – BEDE GIVES NO SPECIFIC DATES
ORIGIN – THOUGH SPECIFIED BY BEDE AS ENGLISH; NAME SUGGESTS CELTIC
ORIGIN “CAEDMON” / SOME SCHOLARS SUGGEST “ONOMASTIC ALLUSION” (STUDY
RELATING TO HISTORY & ORIGIN OF PROPER NAMES) ADAM KADMON /
ALLEGORICAL
REFERENCE FOUND IN TWO LATIN TEXTS: OLD SAXON HELIAND POEM/
1)PRAEFATIO (PREFACE) 2) VERSUS DE POETA (LINES ABOUT THE POET)
NO OTHER SOURCE IS FOUND – NO LEGITIMATE HISTORIOGRAPHY
ARGUMENT ON ORIGIN/TRANSLATION FROM BEDE’S LATIN/ LESS ACCURATE
TRANSMISION OF CAEDMON’S ORIGINAL
• Now let me praise the keeper of Heaven's kingdom,
• The might of the Creator, and his thought,
• The work of the Father of glory, how each of wonders
• The Eternal Lord established in the beginning.
• He first created for the sons of men
• Heaven as a roof, the holy Creator,
• Then Middle-earth the keeper of mankind,
• The Eternal Lord, afterwards made,
• The earth for men, the Almighty Lord.

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