R. A. WILLIAMS and W. E.

COLLINSON 141
geschichtlich' articles of considerable acumen. Sperber has also
treated comprehensively the language of Baroque1 and ofEnlighten-
ment.z Burdach3 discussed the influences at work in the age of
Gottsched. L. Thon4 has an interesting article on the linguistic
forms favoured by recent Impressionist writers and a book on
the same subject.
The onward march of High German in a Low German region
is discussed by TeckeS in regard to Vineburg in earlier times.
The influence of the puristic Sprachverein of our day is treated by
Steuernagel. 6
In dialectology most important work has been done at Bonn by
a team of workers in linguistics, geography, history, and folk-lore.
Frings's7 careful work on the Rhenish dialects may well serve as a
model. The dialects of German colonists in Russia have been
treated by Schirmunski and his pupils with intresting results. 8

GERMAN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

By M.D. I. LLOYD

Eyears is the number of lexica, handbooks,A feature

NCYCLOPAEDIAS AND BOOKS OF REFERENCE. of recent
&c., that have
appeared on literature (not specifically medieval) and cognate
subjects. Much time formerly spent in reading lengthy disserta-
tions on individual topics can now be saved, thanks to brief
1 H. Sperber, 'Die Sprache der Barockzeit', Zs.f. Deutschkunde, 1929, 670-84.
2 H. Sperber, 'Die Sprache der Aufkliirung', Zs.f. Deutschkunde, 1929,777-94.
3 K. Burdach, 'Universelle, nationale und landschaftliche Triebe der deutschen

Schriftsprache im Zeitalter Gottscheds', Festschrift A. Sauer, Stuttgart, 1925.

4 Luise Thon, 'Zur Sprache des deutschen lmpressionismus', Zs. f. Deutsch-

kunde (1929); Die Sprache des deutschen Impressionismus, Mi.inchen, Hueber,

1928.
5 H. Tecke, Das Eindringen der hochdeutschen Schriftsprache in Liineburg,

Halle, Niemeyer, 1927.

6 0. Steuernagel, Die Einwirkung des deutschen Sprachvereins auf die deutsche
Sprache, Berlin, Der Sprachverein, 1926.
7 T. Frings, Sprache in Aubin-Frings-Mi.iller, Kulturstriimungen in den
Rheinlanden, Bonn, Rohrscheid, 1926; and Rheinische Sprachgeschichte (Essen,
1924).
8 V. Schirmunski, 'Sprachgeschichte und Siedelungsmundarten', Germa-
nisch-Romanische Monatsschrift, xviii, 113 ff., 171 ff.
142 German Medieval Literature
summanes m these works of reference. The Reallexikon 1 is
valuable chiefly for its articles on general subjects, movements,
tendencies, &c. (e.g., Dorperliche Dichtung, Kunst und Literatur,
Literarischer Geschmack) and for the bibliography at the end of
each article. Wilhelm Kosch2 provides a useful supplement by
dealing with individual authors. The Sachworterbuch3 is a store-
house of information on all aspects of German life and culture
(history, language, literature, architecture, &c.). The Kulturatlas4
attempts to do the same thing by means of maps, but many of the
subjects, such as literature or philosophy hardly lend themselves
to this form of treatment.
EARLIEST PERIOD. Much attention has recently been paid to the
early history of the Germanen. T. E. Karstens discusses it in the
light of Finno-German contacts, assigning a high antiquity to the
Germanic settlements in Scandinavia; Germanic culture reached
its height among the Goths in the third century. Gudmund
Schi.itte's6 comprehensive study, which appeared in the original
in 1926, must on certain points be supplemented by later works.
Gustav Neckel,7 following up Feist's8 attempt to differentiate be-
tween Germanen and Kelten, concludes that there is no definite
evidence that one nation was superior to the other in culture.
References to the Germanen in Greek and Roman writers have
been collected by W. Capelle9 and Clemen, 10 whilst E. Fehrle 11 has
produced an up-to-date annotated edition of Tacitus's famous
work.
1 Reallexikon der deutschen Literaturgeschichte, herausgegeben von Paul
Merker und Wolfgang Stammler, Berlin, de Gruyter, 19z6-3o, 3 Bde.
2 Deutsches Literatur-Lexikon, Halle, Niemeyer, 19z8-3o, z Bde.

3 Sachworterbuch der Deutschkunde, hrsgbn. von Walther Hofstaetter und

Ulrich Peters, Leipzig, Teubner, 1930, z Bde.

4 Deutscher Kulturatlas, hrsgbn. von Gerhard Ludtke und Lutz Mackensen,
Berlin, de Gruyter, 19Z9 ff.
s Die Germanen, Berlin, de Gruyter, 1928.
6 Our Forefathers. The Gothonic Nations. A Manual of the Ethnography of
the Gothic, German, Dutch, Anglo-Saxon, Frisian, and Scandinavian Peoples,
vol. i, Cambridge University Press, 1929.
7 Germanen und Kelten, Heidelberg, Winter, 19z9.
8 Germanen und Kelten in der antiken Uberlieferung, Halle, Niemeyer, 1927.
9 Das alte Germanien, Jena, Diederichs, 1929.
1 ° Fontes historiae religionis germanicae, colligit Carolus Clemen, Berlin, de

Gruyter, 1928.
I I Pub!. Corn. Tacitus, Germania, Miinchen, Lehmann, 19z9.