1898.] SMYTH — PERICLES AND APOLLONIUS., 225 



From Godfrey the story entered England (Gower and Shake- 

 speare) and North and South Germany ; from the Gesta Romaiiorum 

 arose the popular versions among the romance peoples, and in Hol- 

 land, Hungary, Sweden and Russia. In my review of the various 

 national versions of the story I shall indicate whenever possible the 

 genesis and dependence of the texts. 



German Versions. 



The Alexanderlied of the early twelfth century closes its account 

 of the plundering of Tyre with the lines 



; " Zerstoeret lac do Tyrus 



die stifte sint der Kiinec Apollonius 



von dem di buoch sagent noch 



den der Kiinec Antioch 



iiber mer jagete 



wande er ime sagete 



ein retische mit vorhten 



daz was mit bedahten [bedecketen] worten 



geshriben in einem brief 



daz er sin selbes tohter beslief." 



Lamprecht who wrote these lines lived during the first half of the 

 twelfth century, and his source of information was an old romantic 

 poem of Alexander by Alberic de Besan^on,^ of which the begin- 

 ning only survives. Weismann, who edited Lamprecht in 1850, 

 was led by the line " Geshriben in einem brief," to believe that L. 

 knew the story inaccurately. Now in a Stuttgart MS. of the Latin 

 Apollonius certain German verses in the form of a narrative are 

 appended to the riddles, whence Massmann concluded, in connec- 

 tion with Lamprecht' s own words, that there must have been a 

 German version of the story before Lamprecht. But Weismann 

 and Penon after him have regarded these verses as a first attempt 

 and not as verses copied from a previously existing versification of 

 the story (see Massmann, Denkmdler, 1828, Vorrede, p. 10, and 

 L.a.mprechVs A /ex antfer, v, 1054)- The explanation of the " brief* 

 or 'Metter " as found in the Alexa7ider poem is not difficult. In 

 Shakespeare Antioch hands to Pericles a writing which contains 

 the riddle, saying : 



1 Cf. Koberstein Grundriss der Geschichte der deutschen Nationalliteratur 

 i, 161 ; Bartsch, Chrestomathie de V ancien frangais y 2me edition, 17-20. 



