The oldest surviving poem in this language is a short hymn attributed to a cowherd named Cædmon. For 10 points each:
[10e] Name this language which was also used for an epic about the warrior Beowulf.
ANSWER: Old English [or Anglo-Saxon; prompt on English]
[10m] In an Old English dream poem, the speaker has a dream in which this gem-encrusted object relates how it was “drenched in blood” soon after “dark nails” were driven through it.
ANSWER: the Rood [or the True Cross; accept “Dream of the Rood”; prompt on tree by asking, “What did the tree become?”]
[10h] In an Old English poem about this event, panic ensues after the cowardly Godric flees using the horse of the dead ealdorman Byrhtnoth.
ANSWER: Battle of Maldon
<MM, British Literature>