The Scottish Legendary (late fourteenth century) is the largest extant collection of saints’ legends in the vernacular from the later Middle Ages next to the South English Legendary. It survives in one manuscript, which is today located in Cambridge, and comprises more than 33,000 lines of octosyllabic couplets. As its modern name indicates, the compilation was produced in the Lowlands of Scotland. The Scottish Legendary begins with a prologue and contains the legends of fifty saints. Only two of them are Scottish saints: Machar and Ninian. In terms of its content, then, the Scottish Legendary bears little witness to its place of origin. Neither the author nor any details about the work’s e…
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Citation: von Contzen, Eva. "Scottish Legendary". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 November 2016 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35762, accessed 21 November 2024.]
