Grant, Judith, ed., La Passiun de Seint Edmund (Anglo-Norman Text Society 36, London, 1978). ISBN: 90547404
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Text name(s): La Passiun de Seint Edmund; Passion of Saint Edmund

Number of pages of primary source text: 59

Medieval Author(s): Abbo of Fleury

Dates: 1190 - 1230

Archival Reference: Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS. 435

Original Language(s): Anglo-Norman;

Translation: Original language included.

Translation Comments:

Geopolitical Region(s): England; British Isles;

County/Region:

Apparatus: Index Glossary Introduction

Comments:

Edmund ruled the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia in the mid-ninth century and was killed by invading Danes who then proceeded to conquer most of England. Known for his piety, Edmund was venerated as a martyr and canonized after his death. Early sources such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Asser’s Life of Alfred attest to his reign and death, but the story of his martyrdom became particularly popular and was embellished in later accounts. The late tenth-century Passio Sancti Eadmundi by Abbo of Fleury is the main source for this Anglo-Norman account of Edmund, as it was for many other French versions. Although it has been previously published, this is the most recent edition, which replaces one of 1915 and is a more accurate transcription of the single manuscript in which the work survives. The edition also contains notes to the text (32 pp.), a selective glossary of Anglo-Norman words (17 pp.), and a brief index of proper names (1 p.).

Introduction Summary:

The extensive introduction (61 pp.) includes a helpful account of what is known of Edmund’s life and death and the development of his legend, through different versions of his life and the sources for the Anglo-Norman verse version. Although little is known of the work’s date or the translator’s identity, these are discussed. The introduction also examines the manuscript in which the work survives, treating its linguistic characteristics in detail.

Cataloger: EGK