But it ' s usually the first writing studied in any english - literature survey course because it ' s the first piece of literature in english actually , old english , which eventually became modern english 但由于它是英国文学的滥觞，通常是英国文学概论课上第一部被研读的作品。诗里的文字其实是古英语，最后演变成现代英语。
Old english , or anglo - saxon , was a mix of the dialects brought from the european continent to britain by some old germanic tribes , the angles , the saxons , the jutes and the frisians 古英语，也叫盎格鲁撒克逊语，是欧洲大陆一些古日耳曼部族(盎格尔人、撒克逊人、朱特人和弗里斯人)陆续迁移到不列颠岛，带来的各自的方言融合而成的语言。
