'þære endebyrdnesse þis is' - Bede has querum iste est sensus, 'of which this is the general sense', because he only gives a Latin paraphrase of Cædmon's Hymn. Nonetheless, the Old English, in either its Northumbrian or West Saxon versions, has been added to many of the manuscripts of the Historia Ecclesiastica. The translator consequently omits Bede's remarks about the loss of beauty and dignity (decoris ac dignitatis) when one translates from English to Latin.
Cædmon's Hymn is the earliest vernacular poem recorded in OE. Its subject matter is clearly Christian, yet it addresses the Christian God with terms derived from heroic poetry.