A volume containing the collected papers of Henry Loyn was published in 1992, five years after his retirement in 1987.¹ A memoir of his academic career, written by Nicholas Brooks, was published by the British Academy in 2003.² When reminded in this way of a contribution to Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman studies sustained over a period of fifty years, and on learning at the same time of Henry’s outstanding service to the academic communities in Cardiff, London, and elsewhere, one can but stand back in awe. I was never taught by Henry, but encountered him at critical moments – first as...