It is remarkable that there is something similar to the "Heliand" in the Anglo-Saxon poem, the "Genesis." The theory has been successfully started and proved by later discoveries that both have the same origin. The Saxons of Germany and the Saxons of England were not so far away one from the other that they could not have intercourse and exchange (Plate XI).
However this may be, it is evident that the Bible had an influence in teaching the German nations from the beginning, and that the new civilisation which was to be built would have the Bible as one of its foundations.
Plate XI—LINDISFARNE GOSPELS
(Brit. Mus. Cotton: Nero D IV.)
Written about 690 in honour of St. Cuthbert († 687), in English round style. The interlinear version was added two hundred and fifty years later—remark in the midst of the left-hand column the words: xpi (=Christi) evangelium with Cristes godspell above it.
From "Fac-similes of Biblical Manuscripts." By permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.