Question: What was the first literature of the anglo-saxons?

context: Cædmon is considered the first Old English poet whose work still survives. According to the account in Bede's "Historia ecclesiastica", he was first a herdsman before living as a monk at the abbey of Whitby in Northumbria in the 7th century. Only his first poem, comprising nine-lines, "Cædmon's Hymn", remains, in Northumbrian, West-Saxon and Latin versions that appear in 19 surviving manuscripts:
question: What was the first poem of the anglo-saxons?
short_answers: Cædmon's Hymn
context: The poem "Beowulf", which often begins the traditional canon of English literature, is the most famous work of Old English literature. The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" has also proven significant for historical study, preserving a chronology of early English history.
question: What was the first literature of the anglo-saxons in the traditional canon?
short_answers: Beowulf

Answer: While the first poem of the Anglo-Saxons was Cædmon's Hymn, their first literature in the traditional canon was the poem Beowulf by an anonymous author. Cædmon's Hymn was composed between 658 and 680 by the Old English poet Cædmon. Beowulf's date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars. The only certain dating is for the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025.