10 SEPTEMBER 1898, Page 25

The Fall of the Nibelungs. Translated by Margaret Armour. (Dent

and Co.)—This is a rendering of the great epic of the North in its mediteval German dress. Though much more elaborate, it cannot be said to be as poetical as earlier Volsung Saga. Brunhild no longer sleeps on Hindfell girt about with fire, but lives in a castle. The great elemental poetry of the Saga and Edda has become tamed and overlaid with fantastic mediceval conceits.

The Alpine Club have recently issued a new edition of the late John Ball's Guide to the Western Alps, reconstructed and revised by W. Coolidge (Longmans and Co., 12s.) The Maritime, Cottian, and Ps... .1 Alps form part of this book, as well as the Monte ashamed. t Blanc groups. The country included in this gat that this P ,sla southern shore of the Lake of Geneva and the coix...i4ry?"6,7:1 4 the Rhone Valley. The information given is of the most detailed description. The names of the author and editor are guarantees of the thoroughness of the work.