(Photo Credit: Anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
We can categorize the English language to have gone through three separate stages within its language development: Old English, Middle English, and Modern English.
Beowulf is undoubtedly the most popular written work of literature during the Old English period. Here we can visually see the difference between Old English and Modern English. (Photo Credit: Anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
One example of a work of literature written in Old English is Beowulf, which is also taught at Bronx Science as part of the English Department curriculum (it is also taught in a Modern English translation). The original author is unknown, but the piece is one of the most popular English epics (extremely long poems), especially because of how long ago it was written. Beowulf is a long epic poem that follows a heroic protagonist against many quests against evils, specifically against a monster named Grendel.