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I.TheMethodologicalBackground
ofanyoralcreation,aswellasanchorthetopicinamoredefinitephilo-
sophicalcontextthanwasthecasepreviously.
Inthiscontextitwouldbeequallyimportanttostressthedebtwhich
oral-formulaicstudiesoweascholarlikeMirceaEliade,whose1960swork
ontheculturalandsocialaspectofthedevelopmentofmythandthe
mythicalnarrativeinearlysocietiesaddedsomecrucialcontexttothe
understandingofthepsychologytypicaloforalculture,whichhassince
constitutedavitalnewcontextforscholarsdealingwithoralliterature.
Theothertrendinoral-formulaicresearchoftheperiodwouldconsist
intaking,inasense,theoppositeapproachandconcentratingonadetailed
analysisofthewaytheoralmodesofcompositionanddeliverycondition
thepoeticsofaspecificliterarygenre.Definiteresultsoftakingthis
approachmaywellbeseeninthecaseofromancestudiesanditisfrom
thistraditionthatthepresentstudyderivesmuchofitsmethodological
assumptions.
InthiscontextmostimportantwouldbethepublicationsbyWittig
(1978)aswellasQuinnandHall(1982).SusanWittig,inherbookon
StylisticandNarrativeStructuresintheMiddleEnglishRomances(1978),
discussestheMiddleEnglishromancescomposedintail-rhymeandrhymed
couplets,andseekstodefineallthelevelsatwhichonemayspotformu-
laicstructuresinthepoems’languageandnarrationoftheparticularmotifs.
TheanalysispursuedstemsfromtheclassicLordandParrymethodology
butlooksbackalsotoNorthropFryeinthecontextofthediscussionof
thedevelopmentofmotifsandtodeSaussureandBarthesforthedistinc-
tionbetweenlangueandparole,whichbecomesthevehiclefordeveloping
theanalysisoftheunderlyingsystematicelementinthegenerationofthe
particularformulae.
TheimportanceofWittig’sstudyseemstolieinthefactthatitunder-
takesaconsiderablydetailedanalysisinordertocreateamodelcomprising
variousformswhichformulaicstructuresmayassumeinthecourseof
aparticularpoem.ThusWittigdividestheformulaeintothosewhichshe
callspredicateformulaeandwhicharedirectlyconnectedwiththenarra-
tiveactionandarethusonlyapplicabletocertainmotifsorthemes(in
LordandParryterminology)andthosewhichareindependentofthe
immediatenarrativecontext,whichshecallsdescriptiveformulae(cf.Wittig
1978:19-29).InthiscontextWittigisabletospotthesignificantdiffer-
enceintheformulaicqualityofthevarioustypesoflineswithintail-rhyme,
theobservationofwhichhasbecomethestapleissueforstudiesofthe
rhymedromance,includingthepresentone.Theauthorsubsequently
