Hwæt! Wé Gárdena in géardagum
þéodcyninga þrym gefrúnon
hú ðá æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scéfing sceaþena þréatum
monegum maégþum meodosetla oftéah
It's a long stretch to say it's the same language as modern English, so shouldn't be counted as "literature in the English language".
It could however count as literature written by the English people.
For a comparison, these are the first 5 lines of Chanson de Roland
CARLES li reis, nostre emperere magnes,
Set anz tuz pleins ad estet en Espaigne:
Tresqu’en la mer cunquist la tere altaigne.
N’i ad castel ki devant lui remaigne;
Mur ne citet n’i est remés a fraindre,
Relative to modern French and English, the French of Chanson de Roland is comparable to the English of Chaucer.
Hwæt! Wé Gárdena in géardagum
þéodcyninga þrym gefrúnon
hú ðá æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scéfing sceaþena þréatum
monegum maégþum meodosetla oftéah
It's a long stretch to say it's the same language as modern English, so shouldn't be counted as "literature in the English language".
It could however count as literature written by the English people.
For a comparison, these are the first 5 lines of Chanson de Roland
CARLES li reis, nostre emperere magnes,
Set anz tuz pleins ad estet en Espaigne:
Tresqu’en la mer cunquist la tere altaigne.
N’i ad castel ki devant lui remaigne;
Mur ne citet n’i est remés a fraindre,
Relative to modern French and English, the French of Chanson de Roland is comparable to the English of Chaucer.