The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf tells the story of the hero's slaying of three fabulous monsters, set against the historical background of sixth-century Scandinavian wars and dynasties. Its alliterative and metrical rules are complex, and many previous translators have attempted to replicate them. Here, blank verse has been used, as being more suitable for the less inflected and freer syntax of modern English, and therefore offering a more familiar and neutral form - less likely to distract from the interest and subtleties of the poem. Staying close to the original throughout, Richard Hamer's translation is ideal for contemporary readers to fully enjoy this early masterpiece.

A Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse contains the Old English texts of all the major short poems, such as 'The Battle of Maldon', 'The Dream of the Rood', 'The Wanderer' and 'The Seafarer', as well as a generous representation of the many important fragments, riddles and gnomic verses that survive from the seventh to the twelfth centuries, with facing-page verse translations. These poems are the well-spring of the English poetic tradition, and this anthology provides a unique window into the mind and culture of the Anglo-Saxons. The volume is an essential companion to Faber's edition of Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney.

Twenty-six Lives of Saints, mainly from the British Isles, or with British connections. Almost all previously unpublished, the Lives were added as supplementary material to the Gilte Legende deriving from the enormously influential Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine.

The Gilte Legende is, for the most part, a close translation "drawn out of Frensshe into Englisshe" in 1438, of Jean de Vignay's Legende doree of about 1333-40, itself a close translation of Jacobus de Voragine's Legenda aurea, completed c.1267. The importance of the Legenda aurea as one of the most widely copied and read books of the later middle ages can hardly be over-estimated. This is the first of a projected set of three volumes; volumes I and II will contain the text, and volume III the general introduction, notes and commentary. Richard Hamer is an Emeritus Student of Christ Church, Oxford, and former Tutor in English Literature. Vida Russell was formerly a Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Adelaide.

Gilte Legende is, for the most part a close translation 'drawen out of Frensshe into Englisshe' made in 1438 from Jean de Vignay's Legende doree, a French version, made c. 1433, of Jacobus de Voragine's enormously influential collection of saints' lives, Legenda aurea (c. 1267). Legenda aurea, a source book for all the major Christian stories of holy men and women, was a standard work throughout the later Middle ages, read throughout Western Europe, and is essential reading for anyone interested in the ecclesiastical history, literature, and art history of the period. This Middle English translation is the first of two independent versions that were made in the fifteenth century, the second by Caxton. The editor proposes that the translator of this version may have been Dame Eleanor Hull, the first woman translator into English whose name is known, and whose Commentary on the Penitential Psalms was published by EETS as O.S. 307 (1995).The present volume, containing the Introduction, Explanatory Notes, Glossary and Index, completes the EETS's three-volume edition Gilte Legende, which begun with O.S. 327 and 328.

The Golden Legend is one of the central texts of the Middle Ages, a superb summary of saints’ lives and religious festivals which decisively influenced the imagery of poetry, painting and stained glass.

By creating a single-volume sourcebook of all the core Christian stories, Jacobus de Voragine (c.1229-98) attracted a huge audience right across Europe. Chaucer adapted the section on St Cecilia in his Canterbury Tales and Caxton published an expanded English version in 1483. This selection of over 70 biographies ranges from the first Apostles and Roman martyrs to near-contemporaries like St Dominic, Francis of Assisi and Princess Elizabeth of Hungary. Witnesses to the true faith withstand terrible tortures and reduce their persecutors to mockery. Reformed prostitutes win divine forgiveness, while other women live disguised as monks or nobly resist lustful tyrants. Jacobus’ book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand medieval imagery, art and thought; this fine new translation captures both its vigour and variety.

The Gilte Legende is, for the most part, a close translation "drawen out of Frensshe into Englisshe" in 1438, of Jean de Vignay's Legende doree of about 1333-40, itself a close translation of Jacobus de Voragine's Legenda aurea, completed c.1267. The importance of the Legenda aurea as one of the most widely copied and read books of the later Middle Ages can hardly be overestimated. This is the second of a projected set of three volumes: I and II contain the text, and III will contain the general introduction, notes and glossary. Richard Hamer is an Emeritus Student of Christ Church, Oxford, and former Tutor in English Literature; Vida Russell, the co-editor, was formerly a Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Adelaide.