The Anglo-Saxon Language.—­Our oldest English literature is written in the language spoken by the Angles and the Saxons.  This at first sight looks like a strange tongue to one conversant with modern English only; but the language that we employ to-day has the framework, the bone and sinew, of the earlier tongue.  Modern English is no more unlike Anglo-Saxon than a bearded man is unlike his former childish self.  A few examples will show the likeness and the difference.  “The noble queen” would in Anglo-Saxon be s=eo aeethele cw=en; “the noble queen’s,” eth=aere aeethelan cw=ene. S=eo is the nominative feminine singular, eth=aere the genitive, of the definite article.  The adjective and the noun also change their forms with the varying cases.  In its inflections, Anglo-Saxon resembles its sister language, the modern German.

After the first feeling of strangeness has passed away, it is easy to recognize many of the old words.  Take, for instance, this from Beowulf:—­

  “...eth=y h=e ethone f=eond ofercw=om,
  gehn=aegde helle g=ast.”

Here are eight words, apparently strange, but even a novice soon recognizes five of them:  h=e, f=eond (fiend), ofercw=om (overcame), helle (hell), g=ast (ghost).  The word ethone, strange as it looks, is merely the article “the.”

  ...therefore he overcame the fiend,
  Subdued the ghost of hell.

Let us take from the same poem another passage, containing the famous simile:—­

  “...l=eoht inne st=od,
  efne sw=a of hefene h=adre sc=ineeth
  rodores candel.”

Of these eleven words, seven may be recognized:  l=eoht (light), inne (in), st=od (stood), of, hefene (heaven),_sc=ineeth_ (shineth), candel (candle).

  ...a light stood within,
  Even so from heaven serenely shineth
  The firmament’s candle.

Some prefer to use “Old English” in place of “Anglo-Saxon” in order to emphasize the continuity of the development of the language.  It is, however, sometimes convenient to employ different terms for different periods of development of the same entity.  We do not insist on calling a man a “grown boy,” although there may be no absolute line of demarcation between boy and man.

Earliest Anglo-Saxon Literature.—­As with the Greeks and Romans, so with the Teutons, poetry afforded the first literary outlet for the feelings.  The first productions were handed down by memory.  Poetry is easily memorized and naturally lends itself to singing and musical accompaniment.  Under such circumstances, even prose would speedily fall into metrical form.  Poetry is, furthermore, the most suitable vehicle of expression for the emotions.  The ancients, unlike modern writers, seldom undertook to make literature unless they felt so deeply that silence was impossible.

The Form of Anglo-Saxon Poetry.—­Each line is divided Into two parts by a major pause.  Because each of these parts was often printed as a complete line in old texts, Beowulf has sometimes been called a poem of 6368 lines, although it has but 3184.