Late Old English

History

• Prehistoric Old English (c. 450–650) — For this period, Old English is mostly a reconstructed language, as no literary witnesses survive, with the exception of limited epigraphic evidence. This language (or closely related group of dialects spoken by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, and pre-dating documented Old English or Anglo-Saxon) has also been called Primitive Old English.
• Early Old English (c. 650–900) — The period of the oldest manuscript traditions, with authors such as Cædmon, Bede, Cynewulf, and Aldhelm.
• Late Old English (c. 900–1150) — The final stage of the language leading up to the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent transition to Early Middle English.