Scotland in The Early Middle Ages - Literature

Literature

Much of the earliest Welsh literature was actually composed in or near the country now called Scotland, although only written down in Wales much later. These include The Gododdin, considered the earliest surviving verse from Scotland, which is attributed to the bard Aneirin, said to have been resident in Gododdin in the 6th century, and the Battle of Gwen Ystrad attributed to Taliesin, traditionally thought to be a bard at the court of Rheged in roughly the same period. There are also religious works in Gaelic including the Elegy for St Columba by Dallan Forgaill, c. 597 and "In Praise of St Columba" by Beccan mac Luigdech of Rum, c. 677. In Latin they include a "Prayer for Protection" (attributed to St Mugint), c. mid-6th century and Altus Prosator ("The High Creator", attributed to St Columba), c. 597. In Old English there is The Dream of the Rood, from which lines are found on the Ruthwell Cross, making it the only surviving fragment of Northumbrian Old English from early Medieval Scotland.

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