The most notable difference between the manuscript and the West Saxon text is, of course, the language. This is the earliest known version of this work. This is an image of Cædmon's Hymn in the "Moore" manuscript (737), Cambridge, Kk.5.16, f. The only one to survive today is his Hymn. He had miraculously received the “gift of song” (religious song, that is) and became hailed by the monks as a “lay brother.” According to Bede, Cædmon went on to compose other religious stories and poems which proved his gift to the monks. Cædmon insisted that he didn’t know how to sing, but the man in his dream insisted and Cædmon then sang about the Creator and in praise of God. There are several variations of the tale, but a dominant version cites Cædmon, who never played the harp or sang during festivities, was commanded to sing something by a man in his dream. According to Bede, Cædmon was an illiterate herdsman who lived at the Whitby monastery on the northeast shore of North Yorkshire. The sole source of original information about Cædmon's life and work is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Cædmon's Hymn is thought to be the earliest composed Old English poem, composed between 658 and 680.
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