Everyday Saints and the Art of Narrative in the South English Legendary

Contents: Note on transcription and translation; Introduction: Tales of the saints: Beginnings; The legend of St Hilary; Hagiography and its discontents; The art of narrative and the influence of everyday life; Writing in English: The poetry of popular instruction; The Ormulum; Cursor Mundi; Handlyng Synnne; The South English Legendary; The Art of Narrative: Narrative Beginnings: Narrative and repetition in the Ormulum; Cursor Mundi's coherent biography; The South English Legendary and the perils of originality; The uses of Romance: Romance as a generic influence; Mary Magdalen and the prince of Marseille; Isumbras and Eustace; The Isumbras romance; The Eustace legend; The idea of a collection: Sources and authors; The idea of a collection; The triumph of narrative in All Souls; The story of the buried miner; The influence of everyday life: Escaping the Virgin martyr plot; Frideswide of Oxford; Ordinary wives; The legend of Julian the Hospitaller; The legend of Clement; Conclusion: Telling stories about the world; A world of people; The natural world; Letting the tale speak; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.