Fwd: Book Review - Heroic Legends of the North

[Nathan Jones]

Hello Friends,

Here's a book reveiw that I was sent, of intrest to those who research 
the Germanic traditions (Gunnora!!).  If anyone is intrested in joining 
this list, I think the info is at the end of the review.  Danny Yee
is a nifty guy, I think still persuing his PhD in anthropology at 
Sidney University.  He reads a wide variety of books, both 
anthropological and fiction and sends out reviews of what he's read.

Gio

*****

     title: Heroic Legends of the North
          : An Introduction to the Nibelung and Dietrich Cycles
        by: Edward R. Haymes + Susann T. Samples
 publisher: Garland 1996
  subjects: literary criticism, mythology
     other: 170 pages, index, US$38.00

_Heroic Legends of the North_ is a study of two of the central themes
of medieval German mythology, the Dietrich and Nibelung legends.  Part
one provides the necessary background.  It contains a skeleton outline
of the historical events and figures (the fourth to sixth century
Germanic migrations, Theoderic, Attila) to which the medieval stories
can be traced back, along with a description of the historical sources
for these and the written/historical tradition which ran parallel to
the oral/literary one.  There is also a brief account of the
historiographical debates over the forms of oral transmission in the
Germanic heroic tradition.

Part two is a systematic survey of the literary sources.  It covers all
the primary texts within the Dietrich and Nibelung cycles, as well as a
number of early works and related legends which contribute to our
knowledge of them.  For each source there is a summary, a brief
description of its connection with other works and, if important, an
account of the critical issues involved and a sentence or two about the
manuscript tradition.  This is followed immediately by a
mini-bibliography listing editions (and translations into English where
available), key critical studies and review articles, and further
bibliographic resources.

The extensive bibliographic information makes _Heroic Legends of the
North_ an excellent guide for anyone planning serious study of the
subject.  A chronology, a table of motifs, and a glossary of names make
it a handy reference for anyone trying to unravel artistic, literary,
or musical references.  And, since it assumes no background knowledge
(either of German literature, late Roman history, or the theory of oral
transmission), _Heroic Legends of the North_ is also a book for the
merely curious -- those who have, perhaps, read the _Nibelungenlied_ in
translation and want to understand its place in the broader scheme of
things.

--

Disclaimer: I requested and received a review copy of _Heroic Legends
of the North_ from Garland, but I have no stake, financial or 
otherwise,
in its success.

--

%T	Heroic Legends of the North
%S	An Introduction to the Nibelung and Dietrich Cycles
%A	Edward R. Haymes
%A	Susann T. Samples
%I	Garland
%C	New York
%D	1996
%O	hardcover, index, US$38.00
%G	ISBN 0-8153-0033-6
%P	xix,170pp
%K	literary criticism, mythology

30 November 1996

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        Copyright (c) 1996 Danny Yee (danny at cs.su.oz.au)
        http://www.anatomy.su.oz.au/danny/book-reviews/
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