Caedmon Essay
Karolay Olaya The Ecclesiastical Essay English IV 27 September 2012 How does Caedmon qualify as histoy: Caedmon’s story qualify as history because his amazing poetry and verses changed how we see and express christianity. Have you ever felt like you don’t fit in for a reason? Well Caedmon was like that. He was a stable-hand at the monastery of Whitby in the seventh century. The Anglo-saxons loved singing; indeed, it was very common for men to gather for an evening and share tales through a song.
Everyone was expected to contribute. Caedmon; however, he would slip away because he was either too shy to sing or he just didn’t have nothing to share. According to the church historian Bede, who was born about seven years before Caedmon died, Caedmon slipped out of the hall one night to tend the animals while the others sang. Afterward, he fell asleep. A man spoke to him in a vision, saying, “Caedmon, sing me something. Caedmon replied that he could not sing. That was why he was out here, not in the hall. “Yet you could sing,” said the man, and suggested Caedmon sing “the beginning of all things. ” In his dream, Caedmon began to sing his great Hymn of Creation, “Now let us praise the guardian of the heavenly kingdom, the power of the Creator and the counsel of His mind, the works of the Father of glory: how He, the eternal Lord, originated every marvel”.
When Caedmon awoke, he found he remembered the verses perfectly and was able to sing them. The monks were convinced he had been given a gift by God. Whitby’s famous abbess, Hild (Hilda) convinced Caedmon to become a monk. His songs and poetry changed Christianity today because now people sing and praise to the lord through music which is an amazing to do and everything because of Caedmon.
