Oral-Formulaic Diction in the Middle English Verse Romance

Chapter I – The Methodological Background 7 1. Introduction 7 2. The formative period of oral-formulaic studies 9 3. The classical oral-formulaic theory between 1928 and 1960 11 4. The impact of the classic oral-formulaic theory on medieval studies until the 1960s 12 5. The development of oral-formulaic studies from the 1970s 18 6. The basic methodological assumptions for analysis 34 Chapter II – Tail-rhyme – the Classic Template: Sir Launfal, Erl of Tolous and Sir Tryamour 55 1. Introduction 55 2. Sir Launfal 61 3. Erl of Tolous 106 4. Sir Tryamour 142 5. General conclusions 170 Chapter III – Amis and Amiloun – the Sophisticated Form of the Formulaic Tail-rhyme Romance 174 Chapter IV – The Formulaic Tradition in a Predominantly Literate Romance – The Case of the Stanzaic Morte Arthur 213 Chapter V – The Formulaic Aspect of Poetic Composition in the Alliterative Morte Arthure 254 Conclusion 296 Bibliography 301 Index of Proper Names 310