Anglo-Saxon Texts 8 ANGLO-SAXON PROGNOSTICS AN EDITION AND TRANSLATION OF TEXTS FROM LONDON BRITISH LIBRARY, MS COTTON TIBERIUS A.III Medieval prognostic texts—a survival from the classical world—are the ances- tors of modern almanacs; a means of predicting future events, they offer guid- ance on matters of everyday life, such as illness, childbirth, weather, agriculture, and the interpretation of dreams. They give fascinating insights into monastic life, medicine, pastoral care, the transformations of classical learning in the mid- dle ages, and the complex interconnections between orthodox religion, popular belief, science, and magic. This volume provides the first full critical edition, with a facing-page transla- tion, of a diverse and peculiar group of prognostic guides and calendars, in Latin and Old English, found in an eleventh-century manuscript from Christ Church, Canterbury; they are collated with related versions in both Anglo-Saxon and con- tinental manuscripts. An introduction and commentary examine the transmission and translation of these texts, and shed light on their origins and uses in late Anglo-Saxon monastic culture. R. M. Liuzza is Professor of English at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. ASPrognostics-PRELIMS.indd 1 26/10/2010 20:55:39