Ulrich von Zatzikhoven: Lanzelet. Volume I: Text und übersetzung; Volume II: Forschungsbericht und Kommentar. Edited by Florian Kragl. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2006. Pp. xv + 793; 595 (794–1389); CD-ROM in PDF format. $402.30.

As the earliest known romance recounting the early exploits of Lancelot, Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's Lanzelet, itself a medieval German translation of a lost "French book," is an extremely important text. It is no exaggeration to say that medievalists in general, and "Arthurians" in particular, have been waiting for this edition for more than 150 years, ever since the first critical edition of Lanzelet appeared in 1845, edited by Karl August Hahn. Following the accepted editorial practice of his day, Hahn attempted to reconstruct the archetype, which involved considerable emendation in those very many lines where the text transmitted by the manuscripts seemed to him to be in need of editorial improvement. Hahn's mentor, the eminent philologist Karl Lachmann, contributed further emendations of his own.

Thomas Kerth
Stony Brook University