Bede's Death Song

Bede's tomb in Durham Cathedral

Bede's Death Song is the editorial name given to a five-line Old English poem, supposedly the final words of the Venerable Bede. It is, by far, the Old English poem that survives in the largest number of manuscripts — 35[1] or 45[2] (mostly later medieval manuscripts copied on the Continent). It is found in both Northumbrian and West Saxon dialects.

  1. ^ Daniel Paul O’Donnell, 'Different Strokes, Same Folk: Designing the Multi-Form Digital Edition', Literature Compass 7.2 (2010), 110–119 (p. 112), doi:10.1111/j.1741-4113.2009.00683.x.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference BEASE_59 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).