This collection of essays on a broad variety of issues from the fields of English and Germanic historical linguistics as well as medieval English culture and literature celebrates the distinguished career of Klaus Dietz. Despite pursuing different interests and employing different methodologies, the contributions all share a serious commitment to the fundamental importance of texts for the inquiry into the history of language, culture and literature. The topics include Germanic onomastics, Old, Middle and Early Modern English phonology, morphology and syntax, historical pragmatics, the status of the vernacular in late medieval England and concepts of fiction in Old English poetry.