Stefan Jurasinski is Associate Professor of English at the State University of New York at Brockport. His publishedwork has focused on aspects of Anglo-Saxon legal history and on the literature of the early and late Middle Ages.He is at work currently on a book-length study of the Old English penitentials and a collaborative edition (with LisiOliver) of the laws of Alfred and Ine for the Early English Laws Project.R.D. Fulk is Class of 1964 Chancellor's Professor of English at Indiana University. His research centres onGermanic and Celtic languages and literatures of the Middle Ages (with special emphasis on Old English and OldNorse studies), and on comparative Indo-European linguistics, with particular attention to the history of the Englishlanguage.

The scholarly value of this edition lies in the accompanying commentary, which brings the penitential practices of Anglo- Saxon England into a broader medieval European context. Scholars focusing on continental Europe who might otherwise overlook this volume will nevertheless find it a valuable resource. The subject matter of the text and extensive glossary also make the edition an excellent candidate for translation in the classroom.