Uploaded March 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Anthony Burgess reading an Old English hymn by Caedmon, written between 658 and 680. It is the oldest recorded Old English poem. Burgess knew a great deal about the development of the English language. His writings on Old English can be seen in A Mouthful of Air (1992). The footage shows him in the Church of the Holy Name, Manchester.
Here is the text Burgess is reading:
Nū scylun hergan hefaenrīcaes Uard,
metudæs maecti end his mōdgidanc,
uerc Uuldurfadur, suē hē uundra gihwaes,
ēci dryctin ōr āstelidæ
hē ǣrist scōp aelda barnum
heben til hrōfe, hāleg scepen.
Thā middungeard moncynnæs Uard,
eci Dryctin, æfter tīadæ
firum foldu, Frēa allmectig
Anthony Burgess reading an Old English hymn by Caedmon, written between 658 and 680. It is the oldest recorded Old English poem. Burgess knew a great deal about the development of the English language. His writings on Old English can be seen in A Mouthful of Air (1992). The footage shows him in the Church of the Holy Name, Manchester.
Here is the text Burgess is reading:
Nū scylun hergan hefaenrīcaes Uard,
metudæs maecti end his mōdgidanc,
uerc Uuldurfadur, suē hē uundra gihwaes,
ēci dryctin ōr āstelidæ
hē ǣrist scōp aelda barnum
heben til hrōfe, hāleg scepen.
Thā middungeard moncynnæs Uard,
eci Dryctin, æfter tīadæ
firum foldu, Frēa allmectig
