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The author is unusual, in that he names himself in his manuscript. The name "Orm" is derived from Old Norse for "worm/dragon," with the suffix of "man," and was common throughout the Danelaw area of England. Orm tells us that he wrote his book at the behest of his brother, Walter (who was either a biological or spiritual brother). We know that both Orm and Walter were canons of the Augustinian order, and the dialect of the manuscript is undoubtedly east Midlands. This has led some scholars to claim that, because there are dedicatory prayers to Peter and Paul, Orm was associated with Bourne in Lincolnshire. Other scholars have suggested that he was at Elsham Priory in north Lincolnshire. Orm wrote his book over a period of decades, and the manuscript (Junius I in the Bodleian library) is an autograph that shows signs of multiple corrections through time. Orm not only composed his work over a period of years, but he also revised and corrected it for years afterward. Additionally, Orm had a collaborator ("Hand C") who added in the pericopts (passages of Gospel text added at the head of homilies).

The date of composition is impossible to pinpoint, but it is most likely that Orm began composing as early as 1150 and that he ended as late as 1180. It is possible that he was an eye witness to the AnarchyThe Anarchy in English history commonly names the period of civil war and unsettled government that occurred during the reign ( 1135 1154) of King Stephen of England. Stephen was a favourite nephew of King Henry I of England (reigned 1100 1135), whose onl of the reigns of StephenStephen ( 1096 October 25, 1154), the last Norman King of England, reigned from 1135 to 1154, when he was succeeded by his cousin (or, as the gossip of the time had it, his natural son) Henry II, the first of the Angevin or Plantagenet Kings. Stephen was and MatildaMatilda is a female name, of Teutonic derivation, meaning "mighty warrior. Its most common alternate forms are Maud and Mathilde . Among the notable women who have borne that name are: Matilda of Ringelheim (892-967/8), Holy Roman Empress Matilda of Fland and that this informs some of his admonitions to readers.

The work is 20,000 lines of metrical verse explicating ChristianChristian is: a follower of the faith of Christianity a popular first name and surname, especially in Northern Europe According to the New Testament, those who followed Jesus as his disciples were first called Christians by those who did not share their f teaching on each of the texts used in the massThis article discusses the Mass as part of Christian liturgy, in particular the form it has taken in the Roman Catholic Church ( Latin rite). For the Mass as a genre of classical music composition, see Mass (music). For mass as a concept in physics, see M throughout the church calendar. Inasmuch as Orm follows strict metrics, his work is unusual and is possibly meant for oral performance.

The chief value of the Ormulum for scholars is the fact that it is metrical and that Orm used an idiosyncratic orthographical system. Orm states that he dislikes the way that people are mispronouncing English, and so he will spell words exactly as they are pronounced. He therefore uses double vowels and consonants to indicate their length and value. When scholars add the values Orm gives with spelling to the stress patterns required by his verse structure, they can develop an exceptionally precise snapshot of exactly how Middle English was pronounced in the Midlands in the second half of the 12th century11th century 12th century 13th century other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. Events Song dynasty loses power over Northern China The Kamakura Shogunate deprives the. This allows linguists to construct accurate maps of language change in the development of Middle and early Modern EnglishModern English is the term used for the contemporary use of the English language. In terms of historical linguistics, it covers the English language after the Middle English period; that is, roughly, after the Great Vowel Shift, which was largely conclude.