Deor
A set of Old English glimpses of earlier Germanic myth, punctuated by the refrain þæs ofereode, þisses swa mæg -- or, as John Cleese would put it a thousand years later, "So far so good, now for the tricky bit".

Hávamál
An Old Norse wisdom poem at least partly recited by the chief Norse god (to Wagnerians Wotan, to the Norse Othinn, and to the Anglo-Saxons, who named him ancestor of most of their royal lines, Woden).

The Seafarer
An Old English elegy, combining moving verse ("And now my spirit twists out of my breast ... it soars widely through all the corners of the world, comes back to me, eager and unsatisfied ...") with the usual Old English mixture of the transience of the world and consolation hereafter. Or, as Theseus put it, "Merry and tragical! Tedious and brief! That is, hot ice, and wondrous strange snow."

The Wanderer
An Old English elegy, a vivid and moving lament about the fleetingness of worldly things, mixed with wise advice and, finally, consolation. Also the original of the song of Rohan sung by Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.