All the Worlds Reward presents ninety-eight tales from Norway, Denmark,Sweden, Swedish-speaking Finland, and Iceland. Each area is represented bythe complete recorded repertoire of a single storyteller. Such a focushelps place the stories in the context of the communities in which theywere performed and also reveals how individual folk artists used themedium of oral literature to make statements about their lives and theirworld. Some preferred jocular stories and others wonder tales; someperformed mostly for adults, others for children; some used storytellingto criticize society, and others spun wish fulfillment tales to findrelief from a harsh reality. For the most part collected a century ago, the stories were gleaned fromarchives and printed sources; the Icelandic repertoire was collected onaudiotape in the 1960s. Each repertoire was selected by a notedfolklorist. Introductions to the storytellers and collectors andcommentaries and references for the tales are provided. A generalintroduction, a comprehensive bibliography, and an index of the talesaccording to Aarne-Thompsons typology are also included. Periodillustrations add charm to the stories.The works contribution is both timely and unique and will serve as avalued source for researchers wishing to explore issues of folk narrativein northern Europe. The inclusion of female, as well as male, narratorsassures the collection of usefulness in a variety of academic contexts,and the decision to include scatalogical and bawdy materialsnow tame bycontemporary standardsadds further interest to the collection.Thomas A.DuBois, University of WashingtonReimund Kvideland is professor of folklore at the University of Bergen,Norway. Henning K. Sehmsdorf, who formerly taught Scandinavian folklore atthe University of Washington, now lives and farms on Lopez Island,Washington. The other contributors are Hallfredur rn Eirksson, GunHerranen, Bengt Holbek, and Bengt af Klintberg.