Anglo-Saxon

The first works in English, written in Anglo-Saxon[*], appeared in the early Middle Ages. The oral tradition was very strong in the early English culture and most literary works were written to be performed. Epic poems were thus very popular and many have survived to the present day in the rich corpus of Anglo-Saxon literature that closely resembles today's northern English dialects of modern English. When such poetry was brought to England it was still being handed down orally from one generation to another, and the constant presence of consonant rhyme helped the Anglo-Saxon peoples remember it. But the first written literature dates to the early Christian monasteries and it is reasonable to believe that it was somehow adapted to suit to needs of Christian readers.

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[*] Some refer to this age and the language in use as Old English. I prefer Anglo-Saxon because the language was not recognizable as “English’ as we know it. It was more Germanic.