The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle : The 'Vernon'Text

This is the last of the Society's diplomatic editions of Ancrene Riwle (the series began in 1944). The Riwle (also known as Ancrene Wisse) is a thirteenth-century guide for anchoresses which reached a much wider public in the Middle Ages. The diplomatic editions allow readers convenient access to its textual history. The new edition follows the editorial methods established by the series: the text of the MS is reproduced as it stands, without emendations. Scribal `errors' and significant variant readings from two of the most important other MSS are given in the Apparatus.