Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 22, 1911.djvu/306

 270 Reviews.

had not the principal merchant of the party been too stingy to pay for another day's hire, they would have halted for twenty- four hours. Further on, a hare crossed their path to the left. They all expected the disaster that followed, yet, with true fatal- istic indifference, took little or no precautions to avoid it. The doctrine of fatalism has much to answer for, and yet it was the Prophet himself who said, — " Tie up the knee of thy camel, with thy trust in Allah." Trust is light, but a hobbled camel cannot stray so easily as one free. The doctrine of a sanctuary, again, is one that lasts long, however repugnant to reason it may be to hear of a villain of the worst kind escaping the proper punishment for his misdeeds, merely because he has taken refuge in a holy place. There are few, however, who adhere more strongly to this custom than the Persians.

The actual rites and ceremonies performed at the Holy of Holies require consideration, but, after all, the inventive genius of mankind in the matter of religious observances is not very great. The genuflexions, prostrations, and kissings of holy articles that are in common practice in the Milan Cathedral, for instance, differ but slightly in kind from those at the tomb of the Eighth Imam, the Glory of the Shia World. Major Sykes has brought out to the full the affection Persians have for quoting poetry on all occasions, and the instances given are extremely apposite. It is customary to find some ground for criticism ; but, except that to say that a map is always a welcome addition to a book describing regions somewhat off the beaten track, one can only congratulate the authors on a work of great interest alike to folk-

lorists and the general reader.

Aubrey O'Brien.

Short Notices.

Islandica, Vol. III. Bibliography of the Sagas of the Kings of Norway^ and related Sagas and Tales. By Halld6r Her- MANNSSON. Cornell University Library, 19 10. 8vo, pp. viii+ 175.

This is a useful and comprehensive bibliography of all tales with any bearing on the history of the kings of Norway from