Last week I was invited to Oxford by the Early English Text Society (EETS) for a book launch event for the Ormulum edition. EETS has been publishing editions of Old, Middle and Early Modern English manuscripts since 1864 (the Ormulum is number 360 & 361 in the original series), and this is the first time they have run a launch event, so it feels pretty special.
The event was held in the rooftop suite in St Hilda's college which must have the best view of any seminar room in the university. When I arrived, there were people cheerily punting on the Cherwell, burly chaps practicing rugger on the sports ground on the island next to Christ Chirch Meadow, with the rain glinting off the domes and spires of the university beyond.
Although there was a rather whimsical title, "An Afternoon with Orm", the event itself was an academic workshop with an introduction to the edition from the perspective of the society by the outgoing editorial secretary, Helen Spencer, who has seen the edition through its complex and involved production process. I talked introducting the manuscripts and previous editions, and emphasising all of the major differences between them and the new edition. Richard Dance (Cambridge) and Sara Pons-Sanz (Cardiff) gave talks about aspects of Orrm's vocabulary, Kees Dekker (Groningen) spoke about how the early philologists described the language of the Ormulum, Laura Ashe (Oxford) spoke on Orrm's value as an original thinker, arguing that his theology is much more liberal and generous than other contemporary writers.
Since this event coincided with a batch of editions for all the contributors in Sweden, I think we can say that the edition is open for business.
It was such a great event and so rewarding to meet people who had known Nils-Lennart earlier in his career and had been waiting for the edition for years if not decades. I am extremely grateful to the EETS for organising this event and making me feel like a guest of honour.