Description

The Old English Life of Saint Pantaleon survives in one eleventh century manuscript: it appears here for the first time in an easily available edition. This edition is based both on independent research and on the work of previous scholars. It is a challenging text, from a much-damaged manuscript, but well worth reading: it is interesting both from a linguistic point of view, as a testimony of late Anglo-Saxon language, and also as a sign of continental influence on Anglo-Saxon culture and of a change in literary taste in England on the eve of the Norman Conquest. It is preceded by a full introduction dealing with the history of the text, from Greece to Western Europe and the context of its translation into Old English. The text is accompanied by copious notes dealing with difficult passages and it is made more accessible by a Modern English translation. The edition is completed by a 12th century Latin version which seems to be the closer to its Old English counterpart. The edition is completed by an Anglo-Saxon glossary.