Vitae duorum Offarum

The Vitae duorum Offarum "The lives of the two Offas" is a literary history written in the mid-thirteenth century, apparently by the St Albans monk Matthew Paris;[1] however, the most recent editor and translator of the work rejects this attribution and argues for an earlier date, in the late twelfth century.

[2] The earliest editor, William Wats, argues that the texts are older than Matthew's day but were revised by him; he bases this view on stylistic elements, such as the inclusion in the first Vita of a quotation from Lucan (Pharsalia I.

Although some historical elements are interwoven into the story, Matthew had little reliable information to go on and much of the narrative is therefore fictitious.

[7] The story contains many fairy tale motifs: the heroine forced to flee an incestuous marriage,[8] such as The She-Bear, Allerleirauh, Donkeyskin, and The King who Wished to Marry His Daughter (tale type ATU 510B, "Peau d'Asne");[9] a strange woman found by the king, who marries her, but who is then forced into exile with her children owing to substituted letters,[10] such as The Girl Without Hands and The Armless Maiden; or a fairy tale featuring both elements, as in Penta of the Chopped-off Hands (tale type ATU 706, "The Maiden Without Hands").

[11] The text is preserved in two manuscripts: Previously, Matthew Paris had written another, brief account of Offa of Mercia in his Latin copy of Vie de Saint Auban "The Life of St Alban" (verse), preserved in Trinity College Dublin, MS 177, which is also embellished with miniatures portraying selected episodes.