Description
Book SynopsisThe story of Mary has been unduly neglected by students and teachers of Old English, but, with its gripping and intense narrative, it raises exciting issues in the study of medieval literature and culture, issues concerning gender, spirituality, cultural history and other current preoccupations.
Trade ReviewThe edition and elegant translation are very well-presented, and the book is suitable for use by students as well as scholars who require textual apparatus, including as it does a useful glossary of Old English at the back… This welcome edition, then, should have the effect of boosting interest in the story of Mary of Egypt amongst Old English scholars, who are now in a much better position for using the Life as a teaching text, for example, and for all those concerned with the study of gender and religion in the medieval period. * Mystics Quarterly, 29.1-2 *
Hugh Magennis’ excellent edition . . . is both scholarly and user-friendly… This text is supplied with a readable but dignified facing-page translation, as well as a Glossary… a short but useful Commentary… [and an] excellent introduction. * English Studies, Vol. 84, no. 4 *
Hugh Magennis has produced a fine edition of the Old English Life of St Mary of Egypt… an invaluable addition to the library of any scholar of Anglo-Saxon hagiography or of any medieval literary culture. * Medium Aevum, Vol. LXX11 *
In the stylish, compact paperback volume … the whole project is clearly well executed and represents a useful, informative, and affordable contribution to the study of Anglo-Saxon hagiography… It is clear that over the last few years Hugh Magennis has made a great contribution not just to the Anglo-Saxon but also to the larger European tradition of this saint, and has demonstrated his skill again in this new accomplished edition. * Journal of English and Germanic Philology *
Dr Magennis’s … new edition of the Life of St. Mary of Egypt, published almost exactly a century after that by Skeat, leaves little to be desired. The Introduction provides all that is essential for our understanding of the Old English Life… Everything in this Introduction is marked by sound method and thorough, knowledgable analysis… Magennis’s accurate edition of the Old English text, based on Julius E.vii, is accompanied by a Modern English translation… A carefully compiled glossary to the Old English text concludes the book. * Anglia: Zeitschrift für Englische Philologie, Band 123, Heft 1 *
A valuable contribution to our understanding of the vernacular hagiographic tradition. * Early Medieval Europe, vol. 12 *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction The Legend of St Mary of Egypt St Mary of Egypt in the Latin West The Old English Version and its Manuscripts The Old English Texts: Issues of Transmission and Relationship Source Language Style and Register in the Old English Life Select Bibliography Text and Translation Editorial Procedure Old English Text Translation Commentary Variant Readings Appendix: Vita S. Mariae Egyptiacae Latin Text Translation Glossary
