History as Literature: German World Chronicles of the Thirteenth Century in Verse. Excerpts from: Rudolf von Ems, Weltchronik, The Christherre-Chronik, Jens Enikel, Weltchronik. Introduction, Translation, and Notes by R. Graeme Dunphy. Medieval German Texts in Bilingual Editions, 3. Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2003. Pp. 186 + 4 pl. $11.

History as Literature is a bilingual edition of selections from three South German verse chronicles composed at roughly the same time but representing three distinct voices, those of courtly, urban, and monastic society. Excerpts from the chronicles by Rudolf von Ems (fl. 1230–50) and Jens Enikel (ca. 1272) as well as the anonymous Christherre-Chronik (late 1250s or 1260s), originally in rhyming couplets, are translated into prose. The three chronicles are extraordinarily long, and the translator has chosen excerpts that permit comparisons of style and milieu, from the beginning of Rudolf's chronicle, the middle of the Christherre-Chronik, and the end of Enikel's work, thus providing a continuum of history.

Marianne E. Kalinke
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign