The Werden A Glossary

This is an edition of a key eighth century glossary, traditionally called "Werden A" after the abbey in Germany where its unique manuscript was probably written about 810, incorporating English materials of earlier date, It is one of an important set of early English glossaries usually associated with the school of Canterbury under Archbishop Theodore in the last quarter of the seventh century; this was the first important center of learning in England after the conversion to Christianity from ca. 600 and its alumni and scholarship spread out not only over England in the subsequent century but to north-east France and Germany in the so-called "Anglo-Saxon Mission" with the aim of bringing  Christianity to semi-pagan lands. Such glossaries played a big part in these campaigns and strongly influenced Old High German glossaries and literature for several centuries more. Werden A shows ample signs of its career on the continent with many entries that must have originated in Frisia, France, Saxony and the Rhineland.  Moreover, Werden A presents many difficult editorial challenges: it is very fragmentary, preserved as several mutilated and dispersed parts, most of which were destroyed in World War II and are only preserved in poor nineteenth century transcripts, and beyond that the text is often obscure and corrupt. This edition undertakes to reconstruct the codicology and contents of the original book before its dispersal, retrieval of the remaining text as originally written, establishment of the sources of the various items, and the deciphering and interpretation of individual entries that are often highly original and unparalleled in other glossaries.