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Caedmon and Cynewulf
Caedmon and Cynewulf
Caedmon and Cynewulf
Caedmon is one of the earliest English poets whose full name is not
known. He was one of the twelve Anglo-Saxon poets of medieval literature.
Caedmon's only surviving work was The Hymn of Caedmon, one of the earliest
works in Old English. Along with the Ruthwell Cross and Franks' Larch, it is
one of three examples of Old English poetry and the earliest discovered
example of poetry in the Germanic language.
1
Apostles," "Juliana," "Helen," and "Christ II," also named as "Ascension," are
all survived in two eleventh-century manuscript volumes. Several more works
are also said to be written by him, although none of them have any supporting
evidence of having Cynewulf as an author.
What is also worth mentioning about Cynewulf is that each of those four
poems he wrote was lengthy up to several thousand poetic lines -- for
comparison, the "Hymn of Caedmon," one of the oldest known lyrical works of
Anglo-Saxon literature as we know it, contains only nine lines.
2
Moreover, the poetry of Cynewulf clearly represents a step forward from
the Caedmonian school. While Cynewulf is a soul's self-ravelation in the pursuit
of spiritual life, Caedmon's poetry is more like hymns in praise of the creator
and his creation. The inspiration for Christianity in Cynewulfian poetry extends
beyond just Christ. The poet is evidently primarily interested in the accounts of
saints and martyrs who were new testament inspirations. In contemporary
poetry, Christ is praised as a savior, and the poetic spirit is more elegiac than
epical. Once more, Caedmonian poetry is narrative and tells the creation story
as well as other biblical tales. Thoughtful and lyrical, as seen in the Dream of
the Rood, Cynewulfian poetry is reflective.
There is also the distinction between the two in regard to the poetic style.
Caedmon’s natural poetry is simple, straight forward and definitely easily
convincing. But Cynewulf is a poetic artist and his poetry is rich in artistic
graces. In variety profundity and sonority, Cynewulfian poetry is believed by a
number of scholars to superior to Caedmonian.