St. Cædmon's Hymn

 

I can't remember what made me think of Cædmon's Hymn again, but it sent me down a hole of St. Melangell (rabbit-hole ... get it???) of memory.  I used to have this thing memorized in Old English and was trying to set it to something singable.  No easy feat which, I guess, is why I never finished it.  As a refresher, Cædmon's hymn might be (likely is) the oldest poem written in Old English.  It's almost certainly the oldest surviving bit of Old English poetry.  Here's the story of it's composition as written by the Venerable Bede, one of my heroes of the faith:

Wherefore, being sometimes at feasts, when all agreed for glee's sake to sing in turn, he (Cædmon) no sooner saw the harp come towards him than he rose up from the board and went homewards. Once, when he had done this and gone from the feast to the stable, where he had that night charge of the cattle, he laid himself down to rest at the proper time and there appeared to him in his sleep one who said, greeting him by name, 

"Cædmon, sing some song to me." 

"I cannot sing," he answered, "and for that reason I left the feast and came hither, because I could not sing." 

He who talked with him answered, "However that may be, you shall sing to me."' 

"What shall I sing?" rejoined Cædmon. 

"Sing the beginning of created things," said the other. 

Having received this answer, the abbey's cowherd began to sing, to the praise of God the Creator, verses which he had never heard before, and afterwards awaking from his sleep, he remembered all that he had sung in his dream and added more to the same effect in verse worthy of the Deity.

Some interesting notes about some of the words:

• In the last line, "frea ælmihtig" means "Almighty Lord."  I'm sure you can tell which word is "almighty" but I had to look up "frea" because of it's similarity to Freya/Freyja, the Norse goddess of, among other things, war, sex and seiðr.  They are cognate, but they both come from earlier words meaning lady/lord respectively.  It's one of those things that would lead both Pagans and certain Protestants to conclude that, clearly, this is a reference to the Norse goddess and, thus, the entire poem is pagan, ackshully, etc, etc.  
• I used the English letters that are no longer in use, æ (ash ... pretty much like ae not joined together, but it looks cooler joined together), ƿ (wynn or "w"), 7 (ond/and), ȝ (yogh ... kind of "y", usually represented as "g" today), ð (eth or "th" like "that") and my favorite, þ (thorn or "th" like "think").
• Some of the lines are surprisingly understandable.  In the first line, there's only a couple of words we aren't still using today.  "Nu" is "now," "ƿe" is "we," "ƿeorc" is "work" and "æfter" is "after."  
• "Heofonrices" is really fascinating because it's the "Heaven-Reich" or the "Reich of Heaven"  "Reich" is always a bit triggering because of the "Third Reich," but it's a cool word nonetheless.
• "Ƿard" or "ward/warden" is easily understandable.  Actually, the word "lord" is actually "hlaf-ƿeard" or "loaf warden/keeper of bread" which is a great title for Jesus.  Oddly, that word isn't used in this poem, but another word for "lord" is, "drihten" 
• The letter "7" can be used in place of the "&".  
• "Ƿuldorfæder" is "Glory-Father" or "Father of Glory."  I hoped that "ƿuldor" had turned into or was etymologically related to "wonder" but, alas, 'tisn't so.  
• I'm assuming most people can parse out "middanȝeard" which is very close to "midgard" or "middle earth."  

	ORIGINAL TEXT: Nu ƿe sculon heriȝean heofonrices ƿeard, meotodes meahte 7 his modȝeþanc, ƿeorc ƿuldorfæder, sƿa he ƿundra ȝehƿæs, ece drihten, or onstealde. He ærest sceop eorðan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend; þa middanȝeard moncynnes ƿeard, ece drihten, æfter teode firum foldan, frea ælmihtig.
	LITERAL TRANSLATION: Now we must praise the Warden of the heavenly kingdom, the might of the Measurer and His mind's purpose, the work of the Father of Glory, as He for each of the wonders, the eternal Lord, established a beginning. He shaped first for the sons of the Earth heaven as a roof, the Holy Maker; then the Middle-World, mankind's Guardian, the eternal Lord, made afterwards, solid ground for men, the almighty Lord
	BEDE'S LATIN TRANSLATION: 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.
	MY FAVORITE TRANSLATION: Praise we the Fashioner now of Heaven's fabric, The majesty of his might and his heart-thought, Work of the world warden, worker of all wonders, How he the Lord of Glory everlasting, Wrought first for the race of men Heaven as a rooftree, Then made he Middle Earth to be their mansion.
	PRONUNCATION: New show lin hairy Anne - Heaven reaches word Meow tada's m'yech tah - and his mow yah thank Where'k woe dah fed her - swa heh wound rah Yahweh's Ah cha drick ten - oar install dah Hay arrest show'p - your the bear noom Heaven ta h'rover - high leg shift end The mitten yard - monk in his word Ah cha drick ten - after tear duh Fear'em foldin' - fray uh I'll make tea
	MY TRANSLATION: Now praise the Protector of Paradise The might of His mind and His holy heart The almighty All-Father's wondrous works For the Endless bade the world's beginning High Heaven He made, for men middle-earth From the flowing fjord to the fecund field Firm foundation to far flung firmament He made it all good, the wise world Warden