Essays demonstrating how the careful study of individual words can shed immense light on texts more broadly. Dedicated to honoring the remarkable achievements of Dr Antonette di Paolo Healey, the architect and lexicographer of the Old English Concordance, the Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, and the Dictionary of Old English, the essays in this volume reflect firsthand the research made possible by Dr. Healey's landmark contributions to her field. Each chapter highlights how the careful consideration and study of words can lead to greater insights, from an understanding of early medieval English concepts of time and identity, to reconceptualizations of canonical Old English poems, reappraisals of early medieval English authors and their works, greater understanding of the semantic fields of Old English words and manuscript traditions, and the solving of lexical puzzles. MAREN CLEGG HYER is Professor of English at Valdosta State University; HARUKO MOMMA is Professor of English at NewYork University; SAMANTHA ZACHER is Professor of English and Medieval Studies at Cornell University. Contributors: Brianna Daigneault, Damian Fleming, Roberta Frank, Robert Getz, Joyce Hill, Joan Holland, Maren Clegg Hyer, Christopher A. Jones, R.M. Liuzza, Haruko Momma, Katherine O'Brien O'Keeffe, Andy Orchard, Stephen Pelle, Christine Rauer, Terri Sanderson, Donald Scragg, Paul Szarmach, M. J. Toswell, Audrey Walton, Samantha Zacher.

This first comprehensive study of the dragon-fight in Old English and related literatures casts fresh light on Beowulf's last battle. The vivid depiction of a dragon-fight in the Old English poem Beowulf and its relationship with other literary encounters between heroes and dragons has been the subject of much scholarly debate; yet this is the first comprehensive study of the dragon-fight in secular and hagiographical literature. In a series of five detailed studies the author discusses the analogues and possible sources of Beowulf's famous last battle, drawing on hagiographical,historical, liturgical, heroic and other narrative material to explore the prominence of these episodes within the literary milieu of the Beowulf-poet and his audience. She assembles an extensive corpus of fights between saints and dragons, and demonstrates their striking resemblance to Beowulf's actions. A comparison with Scandinavian material is followed by case studies which examine the dragon-fights of St Samson and the archangel St Michael. Theanalogues discussed are presented with facing translations and detailed bibliographies. Dr CHRISTINE RAUER teaches in the Department of English at the University of St Andrews.

New edition with facing-page translation of a highly significant and influential Old English text. The Old English Martyrology is one of the longest and most important prose texts written in Anglo-Saxon England; it also represents one of the most impressive examples of encyclopaedic writing from the European Middle Ages.Probably intended as a reference work, it was used and transmitted for over 200 years, providing its readers with information on native and foreign saints, time measurement, the seasons of the year, biblical events, and cosmology. Its lively and engaging vignettes illustrate the importance of miracle stories for the early medieval cult of saints. This new edition presents a revised text, with a facing-page, newly-prepared English translation; they are accompanied by a commentary based on a fresh comparison with some 250 Latin and Old English texts, the first published glossary for this text, and extensive bibliographical information and indices. Dr Christine Raueris a Senior Lecturer in the School of English and the Institute of Mediaeval Studies at the University of St Andrews, Scotland.

New edition with facing-page translation of a highly significant and influential Old English text. The Old English Martyrology is one of the longest and most important prose texts written in Anglo-Saxon England; it also represents one of the most impressive examples of encyclopaedic writing from the European Middle Ages.Probably intended as a reference work, it was used and transmitted for over 200 years, providing its readers with information on native and foreign saints, time measurement, the seasons of the year, biblical events, and cosmology. Its lively and engaging vignettes illustrate the importance of miracle stories for the early medieval cult of saints. This new edition presents a revised text, with a facing-page, newly-prepared English translation; they are accompanied by a commentary based on a fresh comparison with some 250 Latin and Old English texts, the first published glossary for this text, and extensive bibliographical information and indices. Dr Christine Raueris a Senior Lecturer in the School of English and the Institute of Mediaeval Studies at the University of St Andrews, Scotland.