Paul S. Langeslag: Seasons in the Literatures of the Medieval North.

• Fritz Kemmler

This is a well-written and well-researched book – the title, however, is slightly misleading. What readers will find is not an account of all four seasons but a rather lengthy section on winter, followed by a much shorter section on summer. Langeslag argues convincingly that our modern concept of the four seasons, constituting both the astronomical and calendar year, is different from the medieval view; for many medieval writers, especially secular ones, winter and summer included spring and autumn. The book is largely cogent on account of its generally competent discussion of literary sources and the presentation and brief discussion of selected ‘hard facts’ of recent climatological studies.