What is Old English poetry?
[[File:Beowulf.firstpage.jpeg|thumb|right|The first page of [[Beowulf]]]] The earliest known English [[poem]] is a [[hymn]] on the [[creation]]. [[Bede]] says this was by [[:en:Cædmon|Cædmon]] (flourished 658&ndash;680). He was, according to legend, an [[illiterate]] [[:en:Herder|herdsman]] who produced [[poetry]] at a [[monastery]] at [[Whitby]].<ref>[[Bede]], ''Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum''.</ref> This is probably the earliest [[writing|written]] [[Anglo-Saxon]] poetry we have. Much of the poetry of the period is difficult to date, or even to arrange chronologically. Estimates for the date of the great [[epic]] ''[[Beowulf]]'' range from AD 608 through to AD 1000, and there has never been agreement.<ref>''See, for example,'' ''Beowulf: a dual-language edition''. New York:Doubleday, 1977; Newton S. 1993. ''The origins of Beowulf and the pre-Viking kingdom of East Anglia''. Cambridge.</ref> It is possible to identify some key moments. ''[[:en:The_Dream_of_the_Rood|The Dream of the Rood]]'' was written before about AD 700, when parts were carved in [[runes]] on the [[:en:Ruthwell_Cross|Ruthwell Cross]].<ref>Brendan Cassidy (ed) 1992. ''The Ruthwell Cross''. Princeton University Press.</ref> Some poems on historical events, such as ''[[:en:Battle_of_Brunanburh_(poem)|The Battle of Brunanburh]]'' (937) and ''[[:en:The_Battle_of_Maldon|The Battle of Maldon]]'' (991), seem to have been written shortly after the events, so they can be dated reasonably precisely. Anglo-Saxon poetry is known by the [[manuscripts]] in which it survives. The most important manuscripts are from the late 10th and early 11th centuries. They are known as the [[:en:Junius_manuscript|Cædmon manuscript]], the [[:en:Vercelli_Book|Vercelli Book]], the [[:en:Exeter_Book|Exeter Book]], and the [[:en:Nowell_Codex|Beowulf manuscript]]. ''Beowulf'' is the only heroic epic to have survived in its entirety, but fragments of others show that it was not unique in its time. Other genres include much religious verse, from devotional work