Seven Manuscripts
The Middle English "Debate between the Body and the Soul" exists in seven manuscripts:
Bodleian Library, Laud Misc. 108
Auchinleck Manuscript (Advocates
19.2.1)
Vernon Manuscript (Bodleian Library, MS.
Eng. Poet. a. 1)
Simeon (British Library, Additional 22283)
British Library, Additional 37787
Bodleian Library, Digby 102
and British Library, Royal 18.A.x
The Auchinleck and Laud Misc. 108 are generally considered to be the most reliable versions of the poem and are also the oldest.
Reading Middle English
Reading the three versions of the "Debate between the Body and the Soul" might intimidate those who have never attempted to read Middle English. Here are a few hints to ease the process as you explore the versions on this site:
• The thorn, "þ," sounds like the "th"
sound in modern English. The yogh, "3," can represent
both the "gh" and the "y" of modern English.
For example: line 71 from the Auchinleck version reads "Þer
y sei3e boþe clerk & kni3t." This line can be modernized
to read: "There I saw both clerk and knight."
• The "v" and "u" can be interchangeable;
therefore "vp" should be read "up" and "euen"
as "even."
• Though the words might look extremely different from
modern English, try reading the text aloud to yourself. The words
often sound more similar to today's English than they look.
• Read the version from the Vernon first. Glosses have
been included to help you understand the more difficult words
and phrases.