Welsh Journals

earlier editions, have been retained in the latest version. There might have been room for slightly more consideration of the significance of wool in the Cistercian economy and of the resulting implications for the granges. One of the interesting questions about the new guides is how the larger format will be received. Despite the fact that an appeal of the old guides was the ease with which they could be slipped into a jacket pocket, the answer is probably that the larger format will be welcomed. It allows larger site maps and artist impressions which, as they are presented in full colour, have considerable impact. There is one small complaint concerning the map of the Tintern Abbey estates. In the 1986 edition we had Trellech which, while not quite as correct as Trelech, is acceptable. Surely Trelleck is not! There is a related issue. The small format guides continued the long- standing tradition of a one-page Welsh language summary at the end. While the Cadw decision to produce guides in one language or the other is understandable, the Welsh summary did play a useful role in reminding visitors that they had come to a country with a bilingual tradition. That is still a point worth making! Such questions, however, are peripheral ones. These guides are excellent and will serve their purpose very well. David Robinson and his team of authors are to be congratulated. RAYMOND HOWELL Newport STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL LANGUAGE AND CULTURE. By Michael Richter. Blackrock, Four Courts Press, 1995. Pp. 227. IR £ 37.50. With characteristic forthrightness Michael Richter asserts in this volume that 'medievalists have hardly recognized and hence used language as a source of knowledge' (p.205). The articles it assembles (eight in English, five in German, and two in French) represent attempts to remedy this state of affairs. Written between 1974 and 1994, and originally published (with three exceptions) separately elsewhere, the articles seek to show how the study of language can deepen, and arguably transform, our understanding of medieval society. As is perhaps inevitable in such a collection, there is some overlap between contributions as well as a certain unevenness of treatment, ranging from the broad, comparative- survey to the detailed investigation of a particular problem or source. However, since many of the papers are not easily accessible in their original incarnations, it is useful to have them assembled in a single volume (notwithstanding a less than