Old English texts emphasize the fact that people should primarily be good listeners. The scop was an expert in manipulating the verbal art, a spokesman for the glory of the king and the thanes. God’s own words are repeated in the biblical paraphrases.The Christian lyrics express the religious feeling of devout speakers spreading Christ’s teaching. Poetry is therefore divinely inspired and the poet is required to glorify God through his compositions.Yet the damned will be in great numbers for there are many who pervert words, twisting their true meaning: Satan and other demons, fallen angels, boasters, and conceited human beings. All of them challenge the value of truth, the deep value of language by resorting to lies and self-praise. As loyalty was the primary heroic value, words were expected to be true. This is why many secular works deal with the connection between words and betrayal /or engagement. And this is why, whatever genre and whatever subject, all Old English texts lay emphasis on the importance of the right word, on the necessary equivalence between the word and the thing.