Acknowledgements
Although writing a book and editing a text are solitary tasks, they are tasks rarely done alone. I am grateful to acknowledge the assistance from several institutions and scholars at various stages of this project.
First and foremost, I should like to thank the anonymous readers at Brill for their helpful suggestions for improvements. This project has benefitted greatly from their expertise. Any errors are, of course, my own. Particular thanks are owed to Neil McLeod, Paul Russell, and Joseph F. Eska who all have offered assistance at various points in the process of editing and translating the tract.
I should like to thank Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, for a Niles Research Grant during the summer of 2014, which enabled me to view many of the MSS for this project. I also gratefully acknowledge the assistance of an American Philosophical Society Franklin Research Grant during the summer of 2015, which enabled me to conduct research in the UK and view more of the relevant MSS. Particular thanks is owed to the Department of English for a Research Leave during the Fall 2017 semester to complete the final stages of the book. During my research leave, I was fortunate to be granted status as an Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at the University of Cambridge during Easter and Michaelmas terms in 2017. I am also grateful to Magdalen College, University of Oxford, for a Visiting Fellowship, October 1âDecember 31, 2017. Both institutions provided me with time, space, resources, and the opportunity to be part of warm and welcoming intellectual communities.
Parts of this book are based on papers given at: the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic, University of Cambridge; the forty-first, fortieth, and thirty-ninth annual meetings of the Celtic Studies Association of North America; the thirty-seventh, thirty-fifth, and thirty-fourth annual Harvard Celtic Colloquiums; and the fifteenth International Congress of Celtic Studies. The feedback and comments received from members of those audiences have been very helpful.
During the course of writing this book, I have had the pleasure of working in many libraries, and I should like to acknowledge the assistance I have received from the librarians at: Trinity College, Dublin; The British Library; the Royal Irish Academy; University Library, University of Cambridge; English Faculty Library, University of Cambridge; Weston Library, University of Oxford; Oxford Law Library, University of Oxford; Longwall Library, Magdalen College, Oxford (with special thanks to Daryl Green); and the Celtic Library, Jesus College, Oxford. In particular, I should like to thank the College Librarian at Jesus College, Owen McKnight, for his assistance and for making the Celtic Library such a comfortable space to work.
Debts of gratitude are owed to Dorothy Africa, Thomas Charles-Edwards, Sharon Paice MacLeod, Jeff Mann, Sarah McKibben, Giovanni Varelli, Ralph Walker, Malcolm Wallis (for sharing his knowledge of maritime law, especially as it pertains to shipwrecks), and M. Joseph Wolf. I should also like to thank the Porters Lodges at both Jesus College and Magdalen College, Oxford, for their assistance and many acts of kindness.
I should also like to thank the editorial and production teams at Brill for their professional assistance throughout the course of this project. In particular, I am grateful to John Hudson, Marcella Mulder, and Cas Van den Hof.
My mother, her husband, and my brother have offered encouragement throughout and have kept my spirits up at low points. My son, Nicholas Shipman, has kept me laughing the entire time, and to him this book is dedicated.
C.M.E.
Blacksburg, 2018