I've hesitated for a long while over whether I should share this Preface. It is the only twelve original pages by Tolkien in the Ancrene Wisse and Hali Madhed, first published in 1929 (that 'd' in Madhed should be a 'thorn', the Middle English figure for the 'th' sound). Then I decided that a) I had bought a copy of the book, b) I had cadged the pages off a site that had already published them, c) I am not monetized, d) they are of an abstract and scholarly nature, though the fact that Tolkien wrote them makes them of a broader interest, and e) I am tired of storing them on my computer. If the Tolkien Estate objects (a formerly august body that I have no wish to antagonize), I will gladly and eagerly remove them from my obscure little blog. In the meantime, take what dry and attenuated satisfaction from them that you may. Embiggen them for easier reading.
