Karl Reichl is Professor of English philology at the University of Bonn. He is the author of books on Middle English literature, English word-formation, and Turkic oral epic poetry, including Singing the Past (2000) and a German translation of the Uzbek heroic epic Alpamish (2001). He is at present preparing a performance-oriented edition of the repertoire of a Karakalpak oral epic singer from Uzbekistan.