The Middle Ages
​Literature & Community
Caedmon's Hymn   
(Click 'Captions' to enable Subtitles/[CC] in Old English w/Modern English translation) Lukas Papenfusscline performs Cædmon's Hymn, a poem composed by Cædmon, an illiterate cow-herder.  The work was passed down from a Latin translation by Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. It was composed between 658 and 680 and is the oldest recorded Old English poem.
Modern English text:
Now we ought to praise the Guardian of the heavenly kingdom,
The might of the Creator and his conception,
The work of the glorious Father, as he of each of the wonders,
Eternal Lord, established the beginning.
He first created for the sons of men 
Heaven as a roof, holy Creator;
Then the middle-earth, the Guardian of mankind,
The eternal Lord, afterwards made
The earth for men, the Lord almighty.
- translated by Elaine Treharne from the gloss found in a manuscript in St Petersburg.
A more direct translation:
Now we must praise the Protector of the heavenly kingdom,
the might of the Measurer and his Mind's purpose,
the work of the father of Glory, as he for each of the wonders,
the eternal Lord, established a beginning.
He shaped first heaven as a roof, the Holy Maker;
then, mankind's Guardian, the eternal Lord, made afterwards, solid ground for men, the almighty Lord.
Caedmon's Hymn (in old English) West Saxon Version Anglo-Saxon
Old English Caedmon's Hymn text:
Nū scylun hergan hefaenrīcaes Uard,
metudæs maecti end his mōdgidanc,
uerc Uuldurfadur, suē hē uundra gihwaes,
ēci dryctin ōr āstelidæ
hē ǣrist scōp aelda barnum
heben til hrōfe, hāleg scepen.
Thā middungeard moncynnæs Uard,
eci Dryctin, æfter tīadæ
firum foldu, Frēa allmectig.
​Caedmon's Hymn - Blake Wilson (Cardinal Singers)
'Caedmon's Hymn' is the earliest known Old English poem, written sometime between 658 and 680. Performed by the University of Louisville Cardinal Singers under the direction of Dr. Kent Hatteberg at our National ACDA preview concert on February 19, 2017. ​
Bede - commonly known as 'The Venerable Bede'
Ballads
The ballad "Sir Patrick Spens"
Get Up and Bar the Door
Sumer is Icumen in  (The Cuckoo Song)
I Sing of a Maiden
"The Twa Corbies" in song
"The Wife of Usher's Well" as performed by the homeschooled and always delightful Peasall Sisters!  
Julian of Norwich
Medieval Drama
Everyman
Portland Community College, Performing Arts Center. Spring 2012. Told with fantastic larger than life puppets (built by PCC's Puppetry class) and set in a wooded world of mystery and intrigue, this 600 year-old play follows the journey of the character "Everyman" who is tasked by "Death" to meet his maker "God" for a reckoning. Stalling for time, Everyman begs for the chance to bring a single companion with him to his death. He tries to enlist his Kin, Cousin, Goods, Beauty, Strength, and 5 wits, but none will follow him to his death. But will his feeble companion "Good Deeds" be worthy enough to follow him to his final reckoning? Come and find out, and see a modern spectacle that reaches across the centuries to tell a timeless tale of humor, struggle, and the indomitable human spirit!
The Second Shepherd's Play
The Play is a retelling of the Visitation of the Shepherds after a longer, invented story that mirrors it, in which the shepherds, before visiting the holy baby outside in a manger, must first rescue one of their sheep that has been hidden in a cradle indoors by a comically evil sheep-stealing couple. Once they have discovered and punished the thieves, the storyline switches to the familiar one of the three shepherds being told of the birth of Christ by an angel, and going to Bethlehem to offer the true Child gifts.
The Fall, 2010 Theatre/Sewanee Production of the Towneley Second Shepherds Play (in Middle English), directed by Matthew Irvin, costume-designed by Jennifer Matthews.
Oberammergau Passion Play