Mediaevistik 31 . 2018 367 how to date these early medieval texts. As ful if a complete list of all Eddic poems in the case of other early medieval liter- could have been provided, with some ature, Eddic poetry primarily served for background information, as we can find oral performance, and was recorded only it online at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ much later, as Terry Gunnel outlines. The Poetic_Edda (last accessed on Nov. 1, extent to which mythological element en- 2017), which also lists the Helgi lays, the tered Eddic poetry is the topic pursued by Niflung Cycle, and the Jörmunrekkr Lays. John Lindow, while, almost overlapping The list of translations and abbreviations with him, Jens Peter Schjødt analyzes at the front helps already, of course, but the dimension of pre-Christian religion a more systematic and comprehensive in those poems. Carolyne Larrington in- compilation of titles and basic facts would vestigates the connection between Eddic have been recommendable. Altogether, poetry and heroic legend, while Stefan this Handbook represents solid philolog- Brink and John Lindow examine the place ical research and establishes a wonderful names mentioned in these texts. Subse- foundation for future research by the up- quently Lilla Kopár traces the representa- coming generation, which is directly ad- tion of narrative elements in the Eddic dressed here and encouraged to pick up poetry on stone sculptures, such as rune the baton. stones. Albrecht Classen Although there is no specific distinction made here, the following contributions fo- cus more on formal, stylistic, and historical aspects in Eddic poetry. The importance of Die Geschichte vom Leben des Johan- Eddic poetry in archeology is the topic of nes von Gorze. Ed. and trans. by Peter John Hines’s study, while Brittany Schorn Christian Jacobsen. Monumenta Ger- surveys genres used in this poetry and maniae Historica: Scriptores rerum also, in a separate piece, the various styles. Germanicarum in usum scholarum se- R. D. Fulk reviews Eddic meters. Judy paratim editi 81. Wiesbaden: Harrasso- Quinn investigates kennings in Eddic po- witz Verlag, 2015, vii, 629 pp. etry, whereas Maria Elena Ruggerini aims The History of the Life of John, of at alliterative lexical collocations. Many the of Gorze (Hystoria de vita scholars will also welcome David Clark’s domni Iohannis Gorzie coenobii abba- and Johanna Katrin Friðriksdóttir’s effort tis) is one of the most important and yet to reveal how the poets represented gen- enigmatic saints’ lives from the tenth cen- der issues. Finally, Heather O’Donoghue tury. Written in the decades around 1000 outlines the literary reception history of by a monk named John of St. Arnulf, this Eddic poetry in the nineteenth and twen- unusual work of hagiography was by no tieth centuries. means a best-seller. It survives in a sing- Overall, the editors can be compli- le manuscript (, Bibliothèque natio- mented for their solid, exemplary work, nale de France, Latin 13766) and seems and the authors also deserve our gratitude to be incomplete, as the text breaks off for providing highly useful, lucid, easy rather abruptly and includes no account to understand studies that will certainly of John’s abbacy or his death. Even so, it foster the field of studies of Eddic poet- has attracted considerable interest from ry even further. It would have been help- monastic historians. Jean Mabillon first 368 Mediaevistik 31 . 2018 edited the History in 1685; Georg Hein- The History stands out among other rich Pertz created the first modern edition hagiographical texts produced in this pe- for the Monumenta Germaniae Historia riod for several reasons. John was not a series in 1841; and Michel Parisse made typical saint. As a young man, he did not the text even more accessible in 1999 distinguish himself either in learning or by publishing a slightly improved Latin holiness. His strength seems to have lain text and rendering it into French, the first with his shrewd managerial skills and his of the History into any modern vigor in maintaining and defending the language. landed interests of his abbey. As a result, Given this attention to the History, it the History is replete with fascinating is worth asking what this new edition by details about the day-to-day workings Peter Christian Jacobsen adds to scholars- of a tenth-century monastery, including hip. First and foremost, expertise. Jacob- John’s method of book-keeping (c. 73), sen is a leading expert on hagiographical his maintenance of fishponds and dome- production at Gorze in the tenth century. stic flocks (c. 89), and his expansion of In 2010, he published critical editions of a the abbey’s salt works at Vic-sur-Seil- cluster of texts related to the cult of Saint le (Dép. Moselle) (c. 89). By far the Gorgonius, a martyr of ’s perse- most striking aspect of the History is its cution, whose remains trans- lengthy account of John’s activity as a lated to Gorze from when he foun- diplomat in Muslim Spain (cc. 115–136). ded the abbey in the eighth century. The What emerges is an unparalleled depic- generous amount of space allotted for the tion of delicate court intrigue, as John introduction, notes, and appendices in this enters into protracted negotiations with volume allows Jacobsen to indulge his a Jewish intermediary named Hasdeu readers with a lengthy, up-to-date account (Hisdai Ibn Shaprut), spars with the local of the most significant aspects of John of Christian bishop named John about the Saint Arnulf’s work. Over the course of merits of presenting a potentially offen- one hundred pages, Jacobsen recapitulates sive imperial letter to the caliph, and for the reader all of the information that eventually has a series of audiences with we have about the upbringing and career Abd-al-Rahman. of John of Gorze (pp. 8–39), from his ear- Jacobsen’s volume generally con- ly education at to his arrival at Gor- forms with the high standards of critical ze in 933 and his subsequent advancement editing that one expects of a volume in through the monastic offices (portarius, the Monumenta Germaniae Historica se- cellarius, decanus, and praepositus), cul- ries. In addition to the long introduction, minating in his election as abbot in 967. Jakobsen has appended to his edition and Jacobsen’s introduction also treats John’s translation several useful appendices, in- mission to Córdoba from 953–956 as an cluding indices of authors cited by John ambassador of Emperor Otto I at the court of Saint Arnulf as well as lists of proper of the Caliph Abd-al-Rahman III (pp. 39– names and Latin words appearing in the 72); the History as evidence for the educa- vita. Parisse’s La vie de Jean, abbé de tion of monks at Gorze in the tenth cen- Gorze will probably remain the edition tury (pp. 72–81); and what we can discern of choice for students, because it is inex- about John of Saint Arnulf on the basis of pensive and lightweight, but Jacobsen’s his writing (pp. 81–105). book promises to attract new attention Mediaevistik 31 . 2018 369 to the abbey of Gorze in particular and gical investigation, e.g., the application tenth-century monasticism more gene- of dendrochronology in determining the rally because of the accessibility pro- provenance and dating of ships’ timbers. vided by his German translation of the This extends to experimental archaeo- text. An English translation remains an logy in museum shipyards’ historically important desideratum. faithful constructions and the sailing Scott G. Bruce, Department of History, of replicas. Given the perishable nature 234 UCB, University of Colorado, Boul- of much early ships’ gear, much less is der, CO 80309-0234; bruces@colorado. known from the archaeological record of edu rigging and sails than of hull constructi- on. Such texts as the sagas of Icelanders and histories of the kings of Norway are important complements to this work, but Sunhild Kleingärtner, Die Wikinger und since ships and sailing were so central to ihre Schiffe. Darmstadt: Theiss Verlag, early life in the North, they, paradoxical- 2017, 110 pp. ly, seldom enter the narrative unless rele- This is a work for the general public, au- vant to plot or history. thored by an archaeologist and director The author is firmly in command of of a nautical museum. The potential ten- her subject matter and little of vital im- sion this might entail is paralleled by the portance is missed. We learn, for examp- book’s shifting focus, between popular le, that forks in trees were selected for the conceptions of the Vikings as evident in future hull timbers into which they would the commercial and cultural spheres, and be fashioned; timber was worked green; historical ship-building and sea-faring. steaming permitted the bending of planks; After the introduction that situates the iron rivets and nails were needed in vast Vikings in time and space, the first third quantities; walrus hide provided the most of the book is devoted to current percep- durable lines. Yet the reader has the per- tions of these early medieval Scandina- sistent sense of a superficial treatment and vian seamen, which are judged general- the medievalist will find distracting the ly positive, albeit more emotional than frequent shifts from the Middle Ages to reasoned. Fanciful and historically more medievalism. accurate replications and re-enactments While Kleingärtner gives an adequate are illustrated, as well as the Vikings’ pe- description of standing and running rig- netration into the world of popular enter- ging (but misses the all-important halyard tainment and digital technology. The in the schematic drawing on p. 102), in- second major section of the book deals sufficient attention is given to these ships’ with historical and scientific knowled- and sailors’ ability to run close to the wind ge of early Scandinavian sea-faring and (sail to windward, luff, tack), an advanta- with how we have come to know what ge won from a complex interplay of lines we do. Here the recovery of ships from permitting an angled sail and yard, such burials and of ship-wrecks, planned or devices as the side rudder and tacking fortuitous, is well reviewed. Warships, spar, and the sleek hull construction. The cargo ships, and smaller craft are all result was that Vikings and other Scandi- described. The reader gains a sense of navians could venture onto the open seas the accelerating progress of archaeolo- in ways far beyond the possibilities of