18 Feb 2025

karmicdragonfly: (Default)
Just sitting around tonight; figured I would give a go at Cædmon's Hymn from the 7th century - as one does.

It's short, not too hard to interpret, and definitely one of the selections that should be on my reading list.

The text I used was a late West Saxon version of the hymn because it matches the dialect used in my class.
https://caedmon.seenet.org/htm/edition/eorthe/index.html

Cædmon's Hymn

Nu ƿe sceolon herian heofonrices ƿeard,
metudes mihte, ond his modgeþanc,
ƿeorc ƿulderfæder— sƿa he
ærest sceop eorðe bearnum
heofon to hrofe.

Þa middangeard, moncynnes ƿeard,
ece drihten, æfter teode
fyrum on folden, frea ælmihtig,
halig scyppend.

My first go at it

Now we should praise heaven kingdom's guardian,
might of the creator, and his intention,
the work of wondrous-father -- so he
first created for the children of the earth
sky as roof.

Then ("middle") earth, mankind's guardian,
eternal lord, afterwards prepared
for men in the fields, god almighty,
holy created.

Translation by Experienced Translator

Now let us praise Heaven-Kingdom's guardian,
the Maker's might and his mind's thoughts,
the work of the glory-father—
...
He first shaped for men's sons
Heaven as a roof. ...
then middle-earth mankind's guardian,
eternal Lord, afterwards prepared
the earth for men, the Lord almighty.

Note: There are various textual versions, and I deleted a few words from this translation because they were not in the text I used.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/159193/caedmon39s-hymn

And another experienced translation for comparison

Now [we] must honour the guardian of heaven,
the might of the architect, and his purpose,
the work of the father of glory
as he, the eternal lord, established the beginning of wonders;
he first created for the children of men
heaven as a roof, the holy creator
then the guardian of mankind,
the eternal lord, afterwards appointed the middle earth,
the lands for men, the Lord almighty.

http://www.jayleeming.com/uploads/2/3/5/6/23563262/caedmons_hymn.pdf

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