Talk:Old English literature

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Questionable Translations

Can someone with some knowledge of Old English please look at the line-by-line translations. I have enough OE to be able to see that the translations don't line up at all well. For example, Hē ǣrest gesceōp / eorðan bearnum is translated as "First He created heaven as a roof", yet "heaven as a roof, holy maker (heofon tō hrōfe, / hālig Scyppend) appears in the next line and is translated as "The holy Maker, for the sons of men". This is confusing, and this phrase not even difficult to translate directly. These lines should be translated as:

Hē ǣrest gesceōp / eorðan bearnum - He first shaped / for Earth's children

heofon tō hrōfe / hālig Scyppend- Heaven as a roof / Holy Maker

Surely it's much easier to see the relationship to modern English if we have a line-by-line, and (as much as possible) a word-for-word translation. Ianbrettcooper (talk) 15:19, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

I've done a quick literal word-for-word translation of Caedmon's Hymn:

Now we shall honor heaven’s Guardian,

The Creator’s might and his purpose,

The work of the father of glory, as He, of every wonder,

Eternal Lord, established the beginning.

He first shaped, for Earth's children,

Heaven as a roof, holy Maker;

Then middle-earth, mankind's Guardian

The eternal Lord, thereafter created

The land for men, God almighty.

Maybe this could form the basis of a better translation of this part. Ianbrettcooper (talk) 16:04, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

Did Bede say that?

According to Bede, the 7th century work Cædmon's Hymn is considered as the oldest surviving poem in English.

I'm not sure how to word that better.--Jack Upland (talk) 07:51, 3 September 2021 (UTC)

Old english literature

English 49.126.14.195 (talk) 07:20, 5 July 2022 (UTC)