Caedmon is one of only two Anglo-Saxon poets whose names are known. According to
Bede, writing in the
7th century, Caedmon was a cow-herd at a Yorkshire monastery, who was unable to sing in public until he miraculously found himself able to sing the
Creation, a poem of nine lines.
Saint Hilda the abbess of the monastery, encouraged his new calling and asked him to join the monastery. Although many verses have been attributed to Caedmon, the original nine lines of
alliterative Old English poetry are the only verses which can reliably be ascribed to him.
See also: alliterative verse