Lost Copy of Oldest English Poem Caedmon's Hymn Found in Rome

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) have unearthed a previously lost manuscript of Caedmon's Hymn, recognized as the oldest existing poem in English, at the National Central Library of Rome. This ninth-century Old English transcription, dated between AD800 and AD830, was identified by Elisabetta Magnanti and Mark Faulkner. It ranks as the third oldest version of the poem, following earlier manuscripts located in Cambridge and St Petersburg, which feature the Old English text only in the margins. Unlike these, the Rome manuscript presents the Old English in the main text, highlighting the language's emerging prominence. The poem exhibits a full stop after each word, showcasing early word separation. Caedmon, a cattle herder from Whitby Abbey, was inspired to write the poem following a divine vision, as documented by Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. This discovery arose from discrepancies regarding a copy in Rome; the library subsequently digitized and shared the pages. The results are detailed in Early Medieval England and its Neighbours. Andrea Cappa from the Rome library mentioned the ongoing digitization of over 40 million images, while Riccardo Fangarezzi of Nonantola Abbey described the find as a ray of sunlight.