Early Germanic Literature and Culture. Edited by Brian Murdoch and Malcolm Read. N.p.: Camden House, 2004. Pp. x + 334. $85.

This volume includes several masterful essays—by recognized scholars in various fields of early Germanic studies—which introduce the academic nonspecialist to those disciplines. Rudolf Simek's essay on Germanic religion is exemplary: He surveys both the field of knowledge in its various subfields (archeology, mythology, etc.) and also takes a stand on numerous major schools and tendencies in the scholarship, while also treating the various ideological skewings of pre-Christian Germanic religion (including that by the Nazis, p. 73), the cross-cultural influences of Germanic, Roman, and Celtic religion, and the later influence of Christianity on Viking practice (p. 74). He points out the greater significance of archeological research, as compared with the variable value of poetic texts, for the history of religion (p. 75). Most significantly for the broad audience of such an introductory volume, he makes quite clear that Germanic religion never developed into a codified whole, but remained a rather loose and adaptable set of traditional practices (p. 83). R. Graeme Dunphy expertly treats the immensely complex topic of orality in its historical dimensions while making effective reference to the essential research literature; he manages also to convey concretely the social and political significance of the truism that "literacy is power" (p. 111). Klaus Düwel's essay documents the history of runes and their study, the scholarly method of study and research, and the broad range of examples of the use and function of runes, while paying particular attention to the extra-scholarly influence on the direction of research. Theodore Andersson's essay on Old Norse-Icelandic is a brief and magisterial characterization of all genres and all major works in those genres. Along the way he provides perhaps the clearest explanation yet proposed of the concept and relatively simple use of kennings in Old English and their more layered complexities in Old Norse (p. 172); an exemplary treatment of skaldic poetry (pp. 172-76); and an insightful discussion of the broad scope of saga literature along with a very useful chart of saga periodization (p. 197). Fred C. Robinson's essay on Old English surveys the entire field and its many subdivisions from the perspective of his broad experience and command of the research literature, providing an excellent overview of a broad and complex corpus of materials.

Jerold C. Frakes
University of Southern California