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I.TheMethodologicalBackground
MiddleEnglishpublishedin1930and1935.AlthoughOakdendoesnot
utilizetheoral-formulaictheory,hisencyclopediccompendiumcomprising
mostoftheconventionalalliterativephrasesinthewholeofthelateOld
EnglishandMiddleEnglishperiodhasprovenagreatassetforscholars
dealingwiththisparticularaspectoforal-formulaicdictioninthemedieval
romance.Thesestrainsofromancecriticismarethuscontinued,for
instance,intheimpressivestudyofthepoeticvocabularyofSirGawain
andtheGreenKnightdonebyMarieBorroff(1962),whichincorporates
someoftheoral-formulaictheoryintotheresearchandthusproduces
acomprehensivestudyofthepoeticregisterinthealliterativepoetry,which
hasprovedveryvaluabletothepresentwork.
ThechiefvalueofBorroff’sresearchinthecontextofananalysisof
oral-formulaicstructuresisthatitdefinesthedifferingstatusofthehigh
registerpoeticalliterativevocabulary,whichdevelopedinthecontextof
atraditionofformulaiccomposition,andthemoremundanemetrical
flfiller”.
Inthe1950sthereappearedanumberofimportantpublications,of
whichthemostcrucialoneshaveprovedtobethoseofFrancisP
.Magoun
(titledflOral-FormulaicCharacterofAnglo-SaxonNarrativePoetry”and
flBede’sStoryofCeadman:TheCaseHistoryofanAnglo-SaxonOral
Singer”respectively,bothpublishedinSpeculumin1953/5).Magounwas
probablythefirstmedievalisttoapplytheLordandParrytheoryin
asustainedwayforatextualanalysisofamedievalpoem(inhiscaseitis
BeowulfandChristandSatan)andalsotolinktheissueoftheformulaic
stylewiththeideaoforalperformance.TheimportanceofMagoun’sstudy
liesalsointhedetailedcharacterofhisanalysisofthespecificinstances
ofreformulationwithingroupsofformulae(whicharefurthertheconsti-
tuentpartsofflformulaicsystems”asParryhadenvisagedthemforthe
Homericverse,cf.Magoun1953:189-221)inthecontextofoneconcrete
poem.Magoun’sargumentwasinfavouroftreatingthepoetryheanalysed
asspecimensoforallycomposedpoetryandhisworkhasprovedextremely
inspiringforsubsequentgenerationsofscholars.Anothervalueofthestudy
isthatMagounseekstoaccountforthedifferentformulaehedealswith
inthediachroniccontextoftheearlyinfluenceswhichhadshapedmature
OldEnglishpoetics.
Thusinthecourseofthe1950sthereappearedpublicationsbyRobert
P
.Creed(1955)andStanleyB.Greenfield(1955)whichcontinuedMagoun’s
workontheoral-formulaicaspectsofOldEnglishverse.Otherpublica-
tions,likethoseofRonaldA.Waldron(titledflOral-FormulaicTechnique
