Bět’áková Marta Eva, Blažek Václav. Lexicon of Baltic Mythology. Series Empirie und Theorie der Sprachwissenschaft 7

HARALD BICH LMEIER Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg ORCID id: orcid.org/0000-0003-0001-1677 Research fields: onomastics (toponymy), historical phonology of the Germanic languages, Indo-European linguistics, Aljamiado-texts. DOI: doi.org/10.35321/all88-14 Bět’áková Marta Eva, Blažek Václav LEXICON OF BALTIC MYTHOLOGY Series Empiricism and Theory of Linguistics 7 Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2021, 290 pp. ISBN: 978-3-8253-4866-3 While articles and books devoted to Baltic mythology, or to the mythologies of the Baltic region, are continually being published in the Baltic languages, such works are rarely encountered in Western European languages. This has surely also been due to the fact that, after a heyday in the second half of the 20th century, research into the comparative mythology of peoples speaking Indo-European languages now seems to have largely ground to a halt—at least within Indo-European studies, which the reviewer has a reasonably broad overview of. It is therefore all the more welcome that an English translation of an originally Czech book has now been published, approaching the subject encyclopedically in the form of a dictionary. The present book is the English translation and (especially bibliographically) updated new edition of Bět’áková, Blažek 2012. Apart from this, however, there are also several editorial and structural changes distinguishing the two versions. Thus, the new edition (sensibly) omits the list of recommendations for further reading in Czech (2012: 284–286). Since the Czech Reviews / Reviews 299 HARALD BICHLMEIER original was evidently intended for a broader audience, it also contained a one-page glossary of less common terms (2012: 286f.), a list of notes on the pronunciation and meaning of Lithuanian/Latvian graphemes (2012: 24f.) and—representing a genuine loss—a register of the primary sources in chronological order according to the time of their creation (not publication), a compilation scarcely found elsewhere (2012: 232–248), which is also distinctive in normally giving the authors’ dates of life and usually their occupation. The data are, of course, mostly repeated in the Alphabetical Overview of the Primary Sources (2012: 248–269; 2021: 271–290), but the chronological list nevertheless offers an additional view of the material. The list of the most frequent abbreviations included in the first version (2012: 269–271) is no longer present; these are now found exclusively in the (extensive) bibliography (2021: 255–271) and source list (2021: 271–290). Numerous additions of literature from the last decade have been made here (note, for example, the titles by Václav Blažek that have been added (2021: 257), and even more by the currently most important and productive researcher of Baltic mythology and mythological figures, Rolandas Kregždys (2021: 261f.)). Although included in the bibliography, two etymological dictionaries are (practically) never cited: LEV (1992, the 2001 new edition was not bibliographed) and ALEW. In information on etymology, LitEW (1962–1965) and the newly added LithED are, by contrast, cited consistently. The new edition of the Etymological Dictionary of Old Prussian (Mažiulis 2013) is likewise listed but generally not cited. The existing bibliographical apparatus has evidently not always been corrected or updated, as in the case of the aforementioned LEV or ESJS, which still extends only to Fasz. 15, although Fasz. 19 had already appeared in 2018 (2012: 269; 2021: 258), and the distinguished Indo-Europeanist Manfred Mayrhofer continues to be called Mannfred (2012: 7, 278; 2021: 21, 263f.). The English of the translation is consistently satisfactory; typographical errors are rare (and mostly not found in the English itself; e.g. “liber vetum” instead of liberum veto [2021: 15; already so in 2012: 15], “finacial” [21], “Littauisch–Deutschen und Deutsch-Litauischen” [37; correctly 285]), but it displays clear weaknesses in article usage (the definite article the is certainly missing dozens of times, and more rarely the indefinite article a as well), as can occur with authors whose native language has no articles. Also unusual is the use, encountered especially in the first quarter of the book, of resources instead of sources ‘sources’. 300 Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXXVIII Bět’áková Marta Eva, Blažek Václav. Lexicon of Baltic Mythology. Series Empirie und Theorie der Sprachwissenschaft 7 After this critical introduction, devoted primarily to formal matters and the nature of the translation, let us now briefly turn to the work itself: The lexicon section contains entries of very different lengths, from a few lines to several pages (e.g. *Dėīvas [2021: 57–66; 2012: 57–64), werewolf [2021: 221–226; 2012: 209–213]); thematically, it covers theonyms, mythonyms, mythological figures, and living beings that play a role in mythology or in fairy tales/folk narratives, etc. Particularly noteworthy are the numerous quotations from dainas cited especially in longer entries, which illustrate the actions of the mythological figures and thus give the reader an impression of this genre of text. In terms of content, the entries are consistently reliable and informative, but not entirely uniform: thus, in most entries the etymology of the names/designations is discussed in detail, while in some cases nothing at all is mentioned about it (Bėlis [42]). If there is no (reliable) etymology for a term/name, that too is worth mentioning, as it would immediately show where further research is still needed. Overall, one can conclude that a fundamental work has been made available here in a language more accessible to most readers (than Czech or Lithuanian), which, especially owing to the secondary literature and primary texts collected and evaluated, will provide valuable assistance for further research in the coming years, both as a reference work and as a starting point for additional research. Perhaps it will also help revive research into Baltic mythology outside the Baltic region. LITERATURE ALEW – Old Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, vol. 1 (A–M), vol. 2 (N–Ž), under the direction of W. Hock and with the collaboration of E. J. Bukevičiūtė, Ch. Schiller, edited by R. Fecht, A. H. Feulner, E. Hill, D. S. Wodtko, vol. 3 (Lists and Indices), under the direction of W. Hock and with the collaboration of many others, edited by R. Fecht, Ser. Studies in Historical-Comparative Linguistics 7, Hamburg: Baar 2015. Bět’áková Marta Eva, Blažek Václav 2012: Encyclopedia of Baltic Mythology, Prague: Nakladatelství Libri. ESJS – Havlová Eva et al. Etymological Dictionary of Old Church Slavonic, Fasz. 1–14, Prague: Academia 1989–2008; Fasz. 15–21, Brno: Tribun EU 2010–2022. LithED – Smoczyński Wojciech 2018: Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, 6 Bd.e, ed. by A. Holvoet, S. Young with the assistance of W. Browne, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien: Peter Lang. Reviews / Reviews 301 HARALD BICHLMEIER LEV – Karulis Konstantīns 1992: Latvian Etymological Dictionary, 2 vols., Riga: Avots. [²001: Reprint in one volume with continuous pagination] LitEW – Fraenkel Ernst 1962–1965: Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, 2 vols., (Indo-European Library: 2nd series, Dictionaries), Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Mažiulis Vytautas 1988–1997: Etymological Dictionary of the Prussian Language, 4 vols., Vilnius: Mokslas. Mažiulis Vytautas 2013: Etymological Dictionary of the Prussian Language, 2nd revised and supplemented edition, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras. Access: http://www.prusistika.lfl.vu.lt (without the pagination of the printed edition). Received 2 February 2023. HARALD BICHLMEIER Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig, Jena Office: Etymological Dictionary of Old High German Zwätzengasse 12a D–07743 Jena [email protected] Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg Institute of Oriental Studies Department of Indo-European and General Linguistics Ludwig-Wucherer-Str. 2 D–06108 Halle (Saale) [email protected] 302 Acta Linguistica Lithuanica LXXXVIII