The Old English Lives of St. Margaret

Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England #9

by Mary Clayton, Hugh Magennis

This book presents the two Old English versions of the colourful legend of the virgin martyr, St Margaret of Antioch, who became one of the most widely celebrated of medieval saints and the patron saint of childbirth. The two extant vernacular lives are published together, edited with a facing translation and commentary and introduced by extensive coverage of background sources, the state of the manuscripts, their language and the growth of the cult of St Margaret in Anglo-Saxon England. In addition there are printed fragments of a third version of the life and a Latin text from an Anglo-Saxon manuscript. The approach allows the reader to trace the early reception history of the texts and the way they developed over time, showing their significance as products of late Anglo-Saxon culture.

Genres: Medieval

252 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 1994

About the author

A lecturer in English lit., University College, Dublin.

Education: Nat. Univ. of Ireland, Univ. College, Cork, B.A., 1975; attended Univ. of Munich, 1975-76; Oxford Univ., D. Phil., 1983.

She is on the Advisory Editorial Board of Anglo-Saxon England and is President of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists. She is a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Reviews

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This history of the patron saint of women in childbirth was something I read for a class I took in graduate school, and also was a source for my master's thesis.