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Characteristics of Caedmon's Poetry

Caedmon wrote his poetry in Old English. He wrote ecclesiastical poetry and in its original form, it was without modern punctuation or caesura. We know of Caedmon from Bede's histories, who wrote in the late seventh and early eighth centuries. Bede cataloged the history of early Saxon England before it was a unified state. It was Bede who translated Caedmon's hymns into Latin, which was considered the language of literature at the time.

  1. Linguistic Characteristics

    • Saxon and Scandinavian culture were extremely influential for Caedmon.

      Saxon language influenced the means Caedmon used to express his vision of the creation, since he lived in eighth century England, which was influenced by Saxon language and culture much more than modern England. The few thousand lines of Old English poetry that survive were written down long after their composition, because Anglo-Saxon poetry like Caedmon's was a part of an oral tradition. Caedmon sang his lines; he was illiterate. The church remained the most powerful institution of the land after the sixth century, so Caedmon's poetry uses Christ as a primary theme.

    Religious Characteristics

    • Monasteries were the center of literacy in early England, and where Caedmon had his songs transcribed into poetry.

      Caedmon believed he was doing the work of an angel who commanded him to sing "the Creation of all things." He believed he was granted grace by God and was working in His service. While many of the poetical works of his time focused on the daily toils of living, Caedmon wanted to express God's creation of the Earth. He did so in lyrical song. Caedmon drew from biblical literary traditions to compose his work; the Christ-figure and Lord is a primary image. Caedmon established a school of Christian poetry; his poems veer into the devotional, didactic and mystical.

    Alliteration and Kennings

    • King Alfred encouraged a wave of literacy and learning in ninth century England; the monasteries that kept Caedmon's work throughout the ages were established by this movement.

      Alliteration and kennings are mainstays of Old English poetry. Alliteration is the repeated use of a single consonant, which creates a highly musical tone. It is easier to recollect because each line starts with a series of alliterations. Caedmon's Hymn is below; note how many alliterations begin with "m," like in the second line, "metudaes maechti end his modgidanc" (translated, "the might of the Creator, and his thought").

      Kennings are a metaphorical, two-word phrase. A kenning example would be Beowulf traversing the "whale-road," which refers to the sea, in the epic poem by the same name. In Genesis BK 1, Caedmon describes hell as a "torture-house," thus using his language to create metaphorical images.

      The Old English version of Caedmon's Hymn follows:

      Nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uard

      metudæs maecti end his modgidanc

      uerc uuldurfadur sue he uundra gihuaes

      eci dryctin or astelidæ

      he aerist scop aelda barnum

      heben til hrofe haleg scepen.

      tha middungeard moncynnæs uard

      eci dryctin æfter tiadæ

      firum foldu frea allmectig

    Saxon Characteristics

    • The Saxons were accustomed to living violent lives, filled with war and battlefield camaraderie. In Caedmon's books of Genesis, he used images of warfare in his vision of the figures of Christ and of God. The culture Caedmon lived in relied on servitude to a tribal lord; this influence is clear in Caedmon's books of Genesis. In these books, God appears to be a great leader in battle, rather than an omniscient God who, with a wave of his hand, banishes Lucifer's hosts to hell. He smites them and prevents them not from independence, but from attaining the glory and victory a warrior desires.

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