Cædmon's Hymn

[Annunfuiniel]

He first created for the sons of men
Heaven as a roof, the holy Creator,
then Middle-earth the keeper of mankind,
the Eternal Lord, afterwards made,
the earth for men, the Almighty Lord.

Salocin, the lines make much more sense if you mark that "the keeper of mankind" doesn't refer to the Middle-earth but is just repetition: "the holy Creator"="the keeper of mankind"=the Eternal Lord"=the Almighty Lord". The order of these phrases is indeed a bit confusing but that's how I saw the meaning.

EDIT: littlemanpoet's answer seems more educated though! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] I don't know old English at all so I totally missed that linguistic point of view.

[ April 12, 2003: Message edited by: Annunfuiniel ]