This paper retraces the compilation of the composite juridical tradition collectively known as the Leges Langobardorum, which makes up one of the major testimonies to Lombard culture as well a crucial witness to their otherwise sparsely attested language. The first section of the essay presents a comprehensive survey of the manuscript witnesses of the law collections, including the numerous and often elusive fragments and three later Latin-Lombard glossaries of Southern-Italian origin. The second part deals with existing editions and discusses the forthcoming new critical edition, which the two prospective editors have described as a ‘scholarly digital edition’.
