Cædmon's Hymn

[Lalwendë]

I've just been reading about Caedmon and wondered if anything had been discussed on here before so I shall pull this thread up and ponder some things...

The story of Caedmon is fascinating so I've posted this excellent link. It also features several versions of Caedmon's Hymn as discussed in this thread. There was a lot of discussion on this thread about the use of the term 'middle-earth' by Tolkien, as this was also used by Caedmon (and no doubt is why a few Tolkien fans have eventually discovered Caedmon and his own story!). What interested me was how Caedmon seemed to 'receive' the gift of his poems and songs, and how similar this was to Tolkien's sense that he was 'discovering' something in his writing about Arda. I'm certain Tolkien will have had a thorough understanding of Caedmon, and so will have known his story; I'd like to think this story inspired his own notions of himself as a writer.

The other thing I found interesting was in the use of 'middle-earth' as a term. At the time of Caedmon's writing, the world was not yet fully explored, and what other lands were known about were considered very distant; this is similar to Middle Earth in that Valinor was known about yet effectively closed off to most of those who lived in Middle Earth.

The term also hints that this is a land which is in the centre of things, that there are worlds not only around it, but also above and below it. This gives a wonderful sense of possibility, that there is more to the world and to life. And in poetic contrast, one of the notes I was reading from the above website gives a modern version of geard as yard, so in that sense, Middle Earth can also be seen as cosy and provinical, even familiar.