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The volume is a prudent selection because it combines prose, verse, and epistolary sources. The verse texts directly reflect how the nontheological and nonhistorical literature deals with the life of Muhammad. It is particularly commendable that the editors included the Book of Nicholas and the Qualiter in the volume because these texts have received very little scholarly attention. In general, Yolles and Weiss have published a consistent range of texts that give a holistic impression of the medieval literature about

Ælfric, the tenth-century monk and author, wrote in the Old English preface to his Lives of Saints, “we say nothing new in this work, because it was written down long ago in Latin books, although lay people did not know that.” Created for the benefit of two powerful aristocratic patrons related to the English royal family, his project provided versions of the stories of saints’ lives, along with some sermons, that could be read, listened to, and meditated on even by

Interest in “alterity” is ubiquitous in medieval studies. It undergirds Paul Binski’s and Mary Carruthers’ important research into medieval varietas; it has stimulated an interest in the “grotesque” and the “monstrous”; and it has even invited re-readings of iconic authors, such as Thomas Aquinas. In a way, it has also given rise to the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, which, in addition to containing the Vulgate and Beowulf, includes school texts (The Well-Laden Ship), Byzantine texts, Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammed,

Venantius Fortunatus, a sixth-century poet writing in Merovingian Gaul, has received increasing attention as more scholars have realised the inventiveness of late antique poetry. In his new edition and translation for the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, Michael Roberts provides for the first time an English translation of the entire corpus of Fortunatus’ poetry (minus the Vita Sancti Martini, already available elsewhere). In sum, Roberts’ edition and translation is an impressive achievement, and a very welcome volume for specialists and general

The new edition by Roberts of the poems of the 6th century Latin poet Venantius Fortunatus is doubly welcome: firstly, as representing the first complete translation into English of the latter’s occasional poetry; secondly, as forming an invaluable companion-piece to Roberts’ earlier The Humblest Sparrow. While it has become a commonplace to view Fortunatus as the link between late antique and medieval poetics, the recognition of his importance continues to grow in tandem with the critical re-evaluation of late antique

Wit, irony, drama, lament, devotion, and hope are all to be found in this sleek and elegant volume with poetry from a Byzantium ready for one more social and cultural change. In the decades to follow the composition of the texts translated in this book, appreciation for rhetoric—and especially poetry—became an essential characteristic of a close-knit group, manning church and state administration. The playful rhythm of poetry carried truth and criticism, but also Christian piety and personal emotions. John Mauropous