Old English literature (sometimes referred to as Anglo-Saxon literature) encompasses

literature written in Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) in Anglo-Saxon England from the 7th
century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066. "Cædmon's Hymn", composed in the
7th century according to Bede, is often considered the oldest extant poem in English, whereas the
later poem, The Grave is one of the final poems written in Old English, and presents a
transitional text between Old and Middle English.[1] Likewise, the Peterborough Chronicle
continues until the 12th century.

The poem Beowulf, which often begins the traditional canon of English literature, is the most
famous work of Old English literature. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has also proven significant
for historical study, preserving a chronology of early English history.

In descending order of quantity, Old English literature consists of: sermons and saints' lives;
biblical translations; translated Latin works of the early Church Fathers; Anglo-Saxon chronicles
and narrative history works; laws, wills and other legal works; practical works on grammar,
medicine, geography; and poetry.[2] In all there are over 400 surviving manuscripts from the
period, of which about 189 are considered "major".[3]

Besides Old English literature, Anglo-Saxons wrote a number of Anglo-Latin works.

Old English literature, or Anglo-Saxon literature, encompasses the surviving literature written in
Old English in Anglo-Saxon England, in the period after the settlement of the Saxons and other
Germanic tribes in England, as the Jutes and the Angles, c. 450, after the withdrawal of the
Romans, and "ending soon after the Norman Conquest" in 1066; that is, c. 1100–50.[3] These
works include genres such as epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, Bible translations, legal works,
chronicles, riddles, and others.[4] In all there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the period.
[4]
The earliest surviving work of literature in Old English is Cædmon's Hymn, which was
probably composed between 658–80.[citation needed]

Oral tradition was very strong in early English culture and most literary works were written to be
performed.[5][6] Epic poems were thus very popular, and some, including Beowulf, have survived
to the present day.

Old English poetry falls broadly into two styles or fields of reference, the heroic Germanic and
the Christian. The Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity after their arrival in England.[7]
The most popular and well-known of Old English poetry is alliterative verse, which uses accent,
alliteration, the quantity of vowels, and patterns of syllabic accentuation.[8]

Heroic poetry[edit]

The Old English poetry which has received the most attention deals with the Germanic heroic
past. The longest at 3,182 lines, and the most important, is Beowulf, which appears in the
damaged Nowell Codex. The poem tells the story of the legendary Geatish hero Beowulf, who is
the title character. The story is set in Scandinavia, in Sweden and Denmark, and the tale likewise
probably is of Scandinavian origin. The story is biographical and sets the tone for much of the
rest of Old English poetry. It has achieved national epic status, on the same level as the Iliad, and
is of interest to historians, anthropologists, literary critics, and students the world over.

Other heroic poems besides Beowulf exist. Two have survived in fragments: The Fight at
Finnsburh, controversially interpreted by many to be a retelling of one of the battle scenes in
Beowulf, and Waldere, a version of the events of the life of Walter of Aquitaine. Two other
poems mention heroic figures: Widsith is believed to be very old in parts, dating back to events
in the 4th century concerning Eormanric and the Goths, and contains a catalogue of names and
places associated with valiant deeds. Deor is a lyric, in the style of Consolation of Philosophy,
applying examples of famous heroes, including Weland and Eormanric, to the narrator's own
case.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains various heroic poems inserted throughout. The earliest
from 937 is called The Battle of Brunanburh, which celebrates the victory of King Athelstan over
the Scots and Norse. There are five shorter poems: capture of the Five Boroughs (942);
coronation of King Edgar (973); death of King Edgar (975); death of Alfred the son of King
Æthelred (1036); and death of King Edward the Confessor (1065).

The 325 line poem The Battle of Maldon celebrates Earl Byrhtnoth and his men who fell in battle
against the Vikings in 991. It is considered one of the finest, but both the beginning and end are
missing and the only manuscript was destroyed in a fire in 1731. A well-known speech is near
the end of the poem:

The epic poem Beowulf, is the most famous work in Old English and has achieved national epic
status in England, despite being set in Scandinavia. The only surviving manuscript is the Nowell
Codex, the precise date of which is debated, but most estimates place it close to the year 1000.
Beowulf is the conventional title,[9][pages  needed] and its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon
poet, who is commonly referred to as the "Beowulf poet",[10] is dated between the 8th[11][12] and the
early 11th century.[13][pages  needed] In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to
the help of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (in Heorot) has been under attack by
a monster known as Grendel. [14][pages  needed]

Found in the same manuscript as Beowulf, the Nowell Codex, is the poem Judith, a retelling of
the story found in the Latin Vulgate Bible's Book of Judith about the beheader of the Assyrian
general Holofernes.[15]

Nearly all Anglo-Saxon authors are anonymous: twelve are known by name from Medieval
sources, but only four of those are known by their vernacular works with any certainty: Cædmon,
Bede, Alfred the Great, and Cynewulf. Cædmon is the earliest English poet whose name is
known.[16][pages  needed] Cædmon's only known surviving work is Cædmon's Hymn, which probably
dates from the late 7th century. The poem is one of the earliest attested examples of Old English
and is, with the runic Ruthwell Cross and Franks Casket inscriptions, one of three candidates for
the earliest attested example of Old English poetry. It is also one of the earliest recorded
examples of sustained poetry in a Germanic language. The poem, The Dream of the Rood, was
inscribed upon the Ruthwell Cross.[16][pages  needed]

Chronicles contained a range of historical and literary accounts, and a notable example is the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of
the Anglo-Saxons. Nine manuscripts survive in whole or in part, though not all are of equal
historical value and none of them is the original version. Almost all of the material in the
Chronicle is in the form of annals by year, the earliest being dated at 60 BC (the annals' date for
Caesar's invasions of Britain), and historical material follows up to the year in which the
chronicle was written, at which point contemporary records begin.[17]

The poem Battle of Maldon also deals with history. This is the name given to a work, of
uncertain date, celebrating the real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which the Anglo-Saxons failed to
prevent a Viking invasion. Only 325 lines of the poem are extant and both the beginning and the
ending are lost.[18]

The Wanderer is an Old English poem, containing 115 lines of alliterative verse, preserved only
in an anthology known as the Exeter Book, a manuscript dating from the late 10th century. As
often the case in Anglo-Saxon verse, the composer and compiler are anonymous, and within the
manuscript the poem is untitled. The Wanderer conveys the meditations of a solitary exile on his
past glories as a warrior in his lord's band of retainers, and his present hardships and the values
of forbearance and faith in God.[19] Another poem with a religious theme, The Seafarer is also in
the Exeter Book. In the past it has been frequently referred to as an elegy. However, in the
Cambridge Old English Reader (2004), Richard Marsden writes, "It is an exhortatory and
didactic poem, in which the miseries of winter seafaring are used as a metaphor for the challenge
faced by the committed Christian […]" (p. 221).

Classical antiquity was not forgotten in Anglo-Saxon England and several Old English poems
are adaptations of late classical philosophical texts. The longest is King Alfred's (849–99) 9th-
century translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy.[20]