Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 9, 1898.djvu/94

 70 Reviews.

customs. It is here that Mannhardt's researches are included ; and the whole division is of much value. The weakest part of the book is the chapter on Sagas and J/<!f>(r/^^«, which are very scantily dealt with, no tales being given textually, and hardly anything more being attempted than an enumeration of subjects and a rudimentary classification. The distinction between the saga and the mdrchen is well laid down ; but we regret to observe that the author is so far behind the times as to assert that " it is established that the majority of mdrchen have found their way [to Germany] by dififerent routes from India," if he mean by this that Germany is indebted for them to India.

Das Motiv von der unterschobenen Braut in der inter-

NATIONALEN ErZAHLUNGSLITTERATUR, MIT EiNEM AnHANG UEBER DEN UrSPRUNG UND DIE EnTWICKLUNG DER BeRTA-

SAGE. Inaugural Dissertation der hohen philosophischen Facultat der Universitat Rostock zur Erlangung der Doctor- wiirde vorgelegt von P. Arfert aus Schwerin. Schwerin, 1897. Druck der Barensprungschen Hofbuchdruckerei.

Dr. Arfert has here brought together a number of examples of the cycle of the Substituted Bride, and of the analogous type of the King's Godson. The tale proper of the Substituted Bride is grouped under four heads : (i) where the false bride is substituted on the way to the marriage ; (2) where the true bride is set aside on the occasion of childbirth ; (3) where the true bride left for a short time at a fountain is supplanted by a Moor or gipsy-woman, who transforms her by enchantment ; and (4) where the true bride has a task to perform in order to win her husband, and, being exhausted, commits the completion of it to a slave, who thus supplants her. In addition, examples are given of the Brangdfie- mdrcheu, where the bride, as in the romance of Tristan, has reasons of her own for inducing a slave-maiden to occupy her place at the wedding, intending to resume her rights afterwards. Convinced of the futility of seeking an origin for a tale so widespread, the author does not attempt it. This is perhaps a pity ; but he makes up for it to some extent by endeavouring, in a very interesting