ABSTRACT
The Ormulum1 is a poem which, if it had been preserved in its entirety, would have reached, the amazing length of 150,000 lines. We have, however, only about an eighth of it, some 20,000 short verses. As the author tells us in his preface,
Piss boc iss nemmnedd Orrmulum Forrþi þatt Orrm itt wrohhte,
& itt is wrohht off quaþþrigan, Off Goddspellbokess fowwre.2
