Ava's New Testament Narratives. "When the Old Law Passed Away. " Introduction, Translation, and Notes by James A. Rushing, Jr. Medieval German Texts in Bilingual Editions, II. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute Publications, 2003. Pp. 235. $12.

The second volume in a new series of medieval German texts in bilingual editions, the general editor of which is Michael Curschmann, makes available to a broader public the work of an author thought to be the first woman writing in the German language. Early in the twelfth century a certain Ava composed four narrative poems, on the lives of John the Baptist and Christ, on the coming of the Antichrist, and on the Last Judgment. In the last narrative, she identifies herself as the mother of two children (35.1–2), and she asks her readers to implore God to have mercy on the soul of the woman "daz ist AVA " (35. 10–14).

Marianne E. Kalinke
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign