What is the oldest piece of literature originating from the UK?

Answer 1

Technically the earliest literature originating from the United Kingdom would have been published in 1707 when England (which included Wales) and Scotland joined to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. However, the earliest works considered to be English literature would be those written in the Anglo saxon period (500ish AD until the Norman conquest in 1066) surviving mostly in the four major manuscripts. The dates in which these were written are not known for certain because everything we know about the works are from modern analysis. The epic poem Beowulf, perhaps the most important piece of literature out of this era, is thought to have been written somewhere between the 8th and 11th centuries. Some other works are suspected to have been written before that.