The Forgotten Bride. By Sigrid Schmidt. Afrika Erzahlt no. 10. Koln: Rudiger Koppe Verlag, 2009. 535 pp.

This volume begins with sixty-two folktale texts that the author collected in Namibia from Nama-speaking informants from the 1960s through the 1990s. The tale types they represent are all of international provenance; for example, there are representatives of the popular female-centered folktale cycles of the Forgotten Bride, Substituted Bride, and Cinderella, along with malecentered hero tales such as "The Three Stolen Princesses," "The Dragon Slayer," and "The Helpful Horse." For each text, the narrator and the tale type are identified in part 2, and analogs in other volumes of the series, Afrika Erzahlt (Africa Narrates), are listed. The volume includes indexes (tale type, motif, subjects) and a bibliography.

Part 3 establishes the international importance of Namibian tradition. First the history of European folktales in southern Africa is sketched. Beginning in the seventeenth century, immigrant settlers came to South Africa, bringing their folktales with them. The early settlers were largely Dutch (now Afrikaans) along with some Belgians and French and a smattering of other nationalities. This "ancient," predominantly oral, tale tradition largely predates the Grimms' tales. European tales were eventually adopted by the African Nama-speakers for family entertainment. Forty-eight of the most popular of the complex tale types (magic tales, religious tales, and novellas) are discussed individually on the basis of the author's lifetime collection and her research...