Ancrene Wisse - Roger Dahood (essay date 1984)

Roger Dahood (essay date 1984)

SOURCE: Dahood, Roger. “Ancrene Wisse, the Katherine Group, and the Wohunge Group.” In Middle English Prose: A Critical Guide to Major Authors and Genres, edited by A. S. G. Edwards, pp. 1-33. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1984.

[In the following essay, Dahood presents an overview of Ancrene Wisse, including its origin, manuscripts, editions, languages, sources, and style.]

This chapter deals with several related early Middle English works associated with the West Midlands. The longest and best known is Ancrene Wisse (AW), a rule of living written for anchoresses, female religious of more or less solitary life. The Katherine Group (KG) consists of five works in alliterative prose, of which one is a treatise in praise of virginity, Hali Meiðhad (HM); another is an allegorical homily of body and soul, Sawles Warde (SW); and...

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