<!DOCTYPE html> <head> <script> function doTest() { var l = document.createElement("legend"); l.textContent = "This is a test"; l.style.border = "2px solid green"; l.style.display = "block" document.getElementById("f1").appendChild(l); l = document.createElement("legend"); var d = document.createElement("div"); d.textContent = "This is a test"; l.style.border = "2px solid green"; l.style.display = "inline" l.textContent = "before"; l.appendChild(d); l.appendChild(document.createTextNode("after")); document.getElementById("f2").appendChild(l); } </script> </head> <body onload="doTest()"> <fieldset id="f1"> First fieldset </fieldset> <fieldset id="f2"> First fieldset </fieldset> </body>