Cligds: a Romance. Translated by L. J. Gardiner, M.A., from
the Old French of Chretien de Troyes. (Chatto and Windus. 5s. net.)—English readers who are discouraged by the difficulties of Old French have reason to be grateful for this translation of Chretien de Troyes' earliest work, which .forms the latest volume of the "New Mediaeval Library." The chief characteristic of this romance, which, by the way, is by no means designed for the nursery, is that its interest is so largely psychological. The elaborate attempts at analysing states of mind which one meets in its pages remind one that the " decadent" novel was not the invention of the writers of the late nineteenth century. It is sometimes argued that introspection is a symptom of modern thought. But nothing could be more morbidly introspective than the account towards the beginning of CliOs of the lovers' emotions. Whether the psychology is sound may be questioned, but it is at least of interest as being a very serious effort at describing what happens inside people's minds instead of being the mere narrative of objective events with which so much medieval literature is occupied.
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