Part I. Introduction: 1. The metaphysics of medieval English Tim William Machan; Part II. Organizing Ideas: 2. What was medieval English? Seth Lerer; 3. The evolution of Old and Middle English texts: linguistic form and practices of literacy Jeremy Smith; 4. Snakes, ladders, and standard language Tim William Machan; Part III. The Continuities of Language: 5. 'þæt is on englisc': performing multilingualism in Anglo-Saxon England Christopher M. Cain; 6. Regional language and culture: the geography of Middle English linguistic variation Merja Stenroos; 7. The linguistic repertoire of medieval England, 1100-1500 Ad Putter; Part IV. The Discontinuities of English: 8. The nature of material evidence Simon Horobin; 9. Sifting through the evidence: principles and pitfalls Cynthia L. Allen; 10. Everyday English in late medieval England Colette Moore; 11. Imagining the literary in medieval English Andrew Galloway; Part V. Retrospection: 12. 'The most excellent creatures are not ever born perfect': early modern attitudes to Middle English Helen Cooper; 13. Ideas of medieval English in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries David Matthews; Bibliography.