Straight the Byrnie's foe, ANGANTYR I have 'neath my shoulder In a sheet of flame. On the earth I know not Any maid so bold That shall dare the sword By the hand to take. HERWARD Gladly I will take it, That sharp-edged sword, If I have it may. Of the burning flame; ANGANTYR Foolish art thou, Hervor, If with open eyes In the fire you dart. Rather will I hand thee Out the cairn the sword. Thy request refuse. [The sword is cast out of the cairn.] HERWARD Well and bravely done, Say I, viking's son! Thou hast me the sword Handed out the tomb. Better far, methinks, King, this precious boon, Than the whole of Norway Were I to possess. ANGANTYR Ah! you do not know, HERWARD Off to my sea-horses, Now the prince's daughter Is all blithe of mood. Little do I fear, Sire of lordly strain, What my race hereafter Haply shall befall. ANGANTYR Long thou shalt possess it, And enjoy it long; Only keep it hidden, Young Hjalmar's bane. Touch not e'en its edges, They are poisoned both; Naught exists more baneful Than this sword to man. HERWARD Dwellers in the cairns! Dwell unscathed on. I'm longing to be gone, Fast I haste away. I myself, methought, Hung 'twixt life and death When the roaring flame Girt me all around. I may refer readers who would like to go more thoroughly into the subject of Icelandic literature to study the volumes of Dr. Gudbrand Vigfusson and Mr. York Powell,-in particular the 'Corpus Poeticum Boreale; or, the Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue from the Earliest Times to the Thirteenth Century,' edited, classified, and translated, with Introduction, Excursuses, and Notes. The first of these two volumes deals with the Eddic poems and with the early Western and early historic epics, with interesting excursuses on the beliefs and worships of the ancient Northmen, and on the Northern and old Teutonic metres. The second volume is less interesting perhaps to the ordinary reader, but should certainly also be read; and also its interesting excursus on the figures and metres of the old Northern poetry, with some reference to the ancient life, thought, and belief as embodied therein. Again, the student should turn to Vigfusson's three or four volumes of Icelandic sagas, to E. Mogk's 'Chapters on Northern Literature,' and to Hermann Paul's Grundriss der Germanischen Philologie.' Again, there is one invaluable work of its kind, Dr. Vigfusson's rendering of the Sturlunga Saga,' including the 'Islendiga Saga' (untranslated) and other works; though it is for the Prolegomena, Appendices, etc., that this recommendation is given. to the non-Icelandic student. The general reader should consult Dr. Metcalfe's 'The Scandinavian and the Englishman,' with its delightful chapters on Icelandic history and literature. Among the many important and interesting articles in periodicals, I may specify in particular Mr. York Powell's account of recent research on Teutonic Mythology in the journal Folk Lore, Mr. J. H. Wisley's paper on Saga Literature in Poet Lore, Mr. W. A. Craigie's important article in Folk Lore on the oldest Icelandic folk-lore (with translations of old sagas, etc.), and Mr. York Powell's interesting account in Folk Lore of 'Saga Growth.' Wemian Sharpe 7896 KARL LEBRECHT IMMERMANN (1796-1840) OETHE, as early as 1823, speaking of Immermann, praised his talents highly. "We shall see," he said, "how he develops: if he be willing to take the trouble to purify his taste and to follow as regards form those models which are recognized as the best. His originality has its value, but all too easily it may lead him. astray." When Goethe passed this cautious judgment, Immermann was in his twenty-seventh year; he had published only a few youthful dra IMMERMANN mas and a volume of poems, which had enrolled him among the Romanticists; many years of ideal striving still lay before him ere his versatile talents found their proper sphere. He spent his life in writing dramas, now for the most part forgotten; and at last won his permanent place in literature by two novels: Die Epigonen' (The Epigoni), and the more widely known Münchhausen.' The year following the publication of the latter, he died. Immermann was born at Magdeburg on April 24th, 1796. He took up the study of law at the University of Halle; but when all Germany rose in the wars for freedom he abandoned his books and enlisted in the army. Illness prevented him at first from taking an active part in the campaign; but after the return of Napoleon from Elba, Immermann fought at the battles of Ligny and Waterloo, and under the command of Blücher entered Paris with the allied troops. He left the army with an officer's rank, and for the next two years diligently pursued his law studies at Halle. In 1817 he entered the service of the Prussian State. It was during these two years that he attended the theatrical performances of the Weimar troupe, and received those impressions which shaped his career as dramatist and dramaturgist. In his profession he distinguished himself, and in a few years became a judge on the bench of the criminal court at Magdeburg. In 1826 he was transferred to Düsseldorf, where he brought a literary element into the circle of eminent artists already gathered there. Here for the first time his aspirations as a dramatist began to conflict with his professional duties. He obtained a release for one year, with permission to undertake the direction of the City Theatre. In spite of the enthusiasm with which he devoted himself to this task, and the excellent artistic results he secured, the enterprise failed through lack of public support; but as a theatre director he had proven himself a worthy follower in the footsteps of Goethe. Goethe's influence is frequently observable in Immermann's works. His 'Merlin,' which he has himself called "a tragedy of negation," has strong traces of the 'Faust' spirit; but it is more purely allegorical, treads the earth less firmly, and as Kuno Francke says, its keynote is one of "discord and destruction," whereas that of 'Faust' is one of "hope and endeavor." In Immermann's first romance, 'The Epigoni,' published in 1835, we have an echo of Goethe's Wilhelm Meister.' It portrays certain aspects of the age, with its vices and its aspirations. It is designed to show the disastrous effects of modern civilization, with its changes in the methods of industrial production. The author declares that "with storm-like rapidity the present age is moving on towards a dry mechanism." He calls the time «< an age of the afterborn" (hence the title), and adds: "Of misfortune there has been enough at all times. The curse of the present generation is to be miserable without any particular misfortune." There is a pessimistic coloring in his portrait of the time, and he never found the solution as Goethe did. Of Immermann's numerous dramas, the most important after 'Merlin' is 'Das Trauerspiel in Tyrol' (The Tragedy in the Tyrol), published in 1828. It is the story of the heroic patriot Andreas Hofer. But the work with which in the public mind Immermann's name is most intimately associated is his second and last romance, 'Münchhausen, eine Geschichte in Arabesken' (Münchhausen, a Story in Arabesques), published in 1839. It consists of two loosely connected stories, of which the love idyl of peasant life in Westphalia with its survivals of patriarchal traditions-sometimes separately published with the title of 'The Oberhof'-is full of genuine poetic feeling and fineness of character-drawing. Here, as in The Epigoni,' there are master strokes of satire, and a wealth of grotesque humor which sometimes suggests the incredible tales of the hero's grandfather. This book is the author's ripest work. Immermann married in 1839 the daughter of Chancellor Niemeyer, and it was under the inspiration of this new happiness that he undertook to give a form of his own to the love epic of Tristan and Isolde. At the same time he began writing his memorabilia. Both works remained unfinished. Immermann died on August 25th, 1840, at Düsseldorf. He was not a seer, and so fell short of being a great |