Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/134

 114 Reviews.

we should probably have had a MS. contemporary with the Welsh Black Book, i.e. written 1 150-1220, and, assuming all earlier MSS. had perished, we should feel not the slightest difficulty in recognising Anglo-Saxon as early English. Of the great literatures of modern Europe, English is by far the oldest recorded ; indeed it is surpassed in age by only one modern literature, that of Celtic Ireland.^

Alfred Nutt.

Ferguut. Uitgegeven door Dr. J. Verdam. Leiden : Bibliothek van Middelnederlandsche Letterkunde, 1908. Pp. xl-f-287.

A NEW edition of the Dutch Fergus is welcome, though the poem itself is but of secondary interest. It represents another version of that wide-spread story of which the most famous protagonist is Perceval, — the tale of a youth brought up in unchivalric surroundings, who, inspired by the sight of Arthur's knights, makes his way to court, is mocked for his uncouth appearance, receives knighthood, and, finally, surpasses in valour all the heroes of the court. Certain incidents, — the mocking by Kay, with the subsequent punishment, and the prophecy of the hero's future fame by the Court Fool, — are borrowed from the Perceval story, which, in the case of Kay, is specifically referred to. The most interesting feature is the geographical location ; the scene of the action passes, for the most part, in Scotland, and the places mentioned can without difficulty be identified. The question arises whether the poem can in any way represent a genuine Scotch variant of the story?

On the question of the text I can express no opinion, not being familiar with the MS., but the editor, in his glossary of proper

^ I am aware that, if a fuller record had been preserved, continental Germany might have challenged insular Germany in this respect. The existence of the Hildebrand fragments, and also of the Latin poems on native themes written in Germany, does, I think, show that very much must have been produced there in the 8th-ioth centuries which has perished. But, judging by what has survived, my statement is strictly true.