Status Updates From The Earliest English Poems

The Battle of Maldon:
‘Then neared the fight,
The glory-trial. The time grew on
When there the fated men must fall;
The war-cry was raised up. Ravens wound higher,
The eagle, carrion-eager; on earth - the cry!’

“In the earth-realm all is crossed;
Wyrd’s will changeth the world.
Wealth is lent us, friends are lent us,
Man is lent, kin is lent;
All this earth’s frame shall stand empty.”
The Wanderer