The Old English Lives of St. Margaret

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.