Palaeogermanica et Onomastica: Festschrift für J. A. Huisman zum 70. Geburtstag (review)

156 Reviews worried the godly. Goldie's uncovering of the anti-clerical fear of priestcraft in the development of Whiggism helps locate Britain's political discourse within a European context Lois Schwoerer's analysis of Whig resistance theory clarifies a specific instance of a classic debate. As a monument to the work of a close knit, mutually admiring group, one may however have some general concerns and suggest that it may be time they took stock of their own methods, objectives, and prejudices. The use of a particular style of analysis based on literary form should presumably be justified in the production of a new insight but the insights produced seem unrelated to the terminology of language, dialect register, and voice. Indeed, the use of these identifiers seems misleadingly decorative. The form distracts from the substance, itself a metaphor which serves to conceal as much as reveal, as Jonathan Scott indeed admits. While such terms are treated as intrinsically valid, individual contributors dismiss as intrinsically invalid without discussion other general terms such as 'conservative' or 'liberal' which might be the basis for an alternative analysis. Surely, if language is to be a critical issue, they should engage in a more systematic study of a wider range of contemporary usage in order to establish contemporary form and usage? Only then could what created a distinct ideological tradition, as opposed to a ragbag of received ideas which could be mixed and matched to suit individual requirements, be established. A closer definition is required of what the contributors perceive as the relationship between text and context. D o the major works appear like a diamond, distinct from the material in which it is set, or like opal, where the colour gradually appears along a vein of potch. Why, despite references to Bodin and Grotius is their approach so Anglocentric? Tully alone writes of the wider world, and that the dependent world of colonialism. W h y is their voice so predominantly male and major female scholars such as Corinne Weston marginalised? In highlighting marginal differences at the expense of major similarities in some of their authors are they advancing useful distinctions or merely artificial ones which serve their personal argumentative purposes? Should they not perhaps consider the possibly distorting effect that the subterranean detritus of their individual political ideology has on their interpretation; Klein's use of 'false consciousness', for example. If the authors do not tackle these problems, amongst others, this tribute may turn out to be a funeral monument. Sybil M . Jack Department of History University of Sydney Quak, Arend and Florus van der Rhee, eds, Palaeogermanica et Onomastica: Festschrift fUr J. A. Huisman zum 70. Geburtstag (Amsterdamer Beitrage Reviews 157 zur Alteren German!stik, Band 29), Amsterdam and Atlanta, Rodopi, 1989; paper, pp. 278; R.R.P.? This particular volume has been compiled in honour of Johannes A. Huisman's 70th birthday and the variety of contributions written in English, German, and Dutch amply reflects Huisman's diverse interests within the area of early Germanic studies. Particularly strongly represented amongst the offerings here is work on medieval literature and on one of Huisman's major loves, onomastics. Articles on Germanic phonology are also prominent. Other articles span the fields of etymology, Teutonic religion, grammar, Scandinavian studies, editing techniques, and early Germanic studies in general. Although many of these articles deserve praise, with contributions by such notables as Jan Goossens, what follows is a cross-section of the most noteworthy. Pleasingly, scholars concerned with ancient texts are not afraid to use modern technology to establish clearer results in editing, decision-making, or unearthing hitherto concealed patterns in a more systematic fashion, as Andrea de Leeuw van Weenen ('Decision making and discovery. Computer-aided editing in practice') and A. H. Touber ('Minnesdnger, Troubadours und Trouveres im Computer') indicate. This is especially clear in de Leeuw van Weenen's work. Using examples from the Old Icelandic epic, the MO ruvallabdk, she discusses the advantages of computer-aided editing not only in such obvious areas as proofreading, where any ordering of material will enable the elimination of mistakes that normal proofreading does not usually detect but also in allowing the editor to postpone choices...