Caedmon's Hymn

Nu sculon herigean      heofonrices Weard 
Meotodes meahte      and his modgepanc, 
weorc Wuldor-Fæder,      swa he wundra gehwæs 
ece Drihten      or onstealde 
He ærest sceop      ielda bearnum 
Heofon to hrofe      halig Scyppend 
ða middangeard      moncynnes Weard, 
ece Drihten      æfter teode 
firum foldan      Frea ælmihtig

Now we ought to praise     the Guardian of the heavenly kingdom,
The might of the Creator     and his conception,
The work of the glorious Father,     as he of each of the wonders,
Eternal Lord,     established the beginning.
He first created     for the sons of men
Heaven as a roof,     holy Creator;
Then the middle-earth,     the Guardian of mankind,
The eternal Lord,     afterwards made
The earth for men,     the Lord almighty.

--Caedmon ( 7th Century CE) monk of Whitby and former cowherd who was commanded in a dream to "sing to me the beginning of all things," acclaimed as one of the greatest English poets of his age by the Venerable Bede, written between 658 and 680 CE, translated from Old English by Elaine Traherne.

A different translation is offered here:

Praise we the fashioner now of Heaven's fabric,
The majesty of his might and his mind's wisdom,
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 roof-tree,
Then made he middle-earth to be their mansion.


Photo: Whitby Abbey ruins, Whitby, from the British Library