In this book are selected translations of prose and poetry from the Old English period, about 500 A.D. to the Norman Conquest in 1066. It also contains the historical and literary background the reader needs to understand the literature. The familiar works of Old English are all here — "Beowulf" and others. But there are also less familiar works that have surprising life and grace. There are riddles, charms, prescriptions for diseases (some of them in verse), stories that have as much impact today as they did then, and poetry whose feelings show how little men have changed since those early days. All in all, this book represents the basis of our literary heritage. These selections are among the very first things written in our language. And some of them are still among the very finest.