Conclusion:
Thus, Old English literature, or Anglo-Saxon literature, comprises literature written in Old English in Anglo-Saxon England, in the period after the settlement of the Saxons and other Germanic tribes in England after the withdrawal of the Romans and “ending soon after the Norman Conquest” in 1066. These works include such genres as epic poetry, Bible translations, legal works, chronicles, riddles, and others. All in all there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the period.
Oral tradition was very strong in early English culture and most literary works were written to be performed. Epic poems were very popular, and some, including Beowulf, have survived to the present day. Much Old English verse in the manuscripts is probably adapted from the earlier Germanic war poems from the continent. When such poetry was brought to England it was still handed down orally from one generation to another. Old English poetry falls broadly into two styles or fields of reference, the heroic Germanic and the Christian. The Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity after their arrival in England. The epic poem Beowulf is the most famous work in Old English and has achieved national epic status in England, despite being set in Scandinavia. Nearly all Anglo-Saxon authors are anonymous: twelve are known by name from Medieval sources, but only four of those are known by their works with any certainty: Caedmon, Bede, Alfred the Great, and Cynewulf. Cædmon is the earliest English poet whose name is known
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