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The Church Fathers · c. 730–740
The Life of Guthlac
Felix · 8th century
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What it is
A warrior of noble birth becomes a hermit on an island in the fens, where he is tormented by demons who speak British and drag him to the mouth of hell.
Why it lasted
The most vivid English hagiography of its century, and the source of two Old English poems.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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