Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Richard Allen. Fire and Iron: Critical Approaches to Njáls Saga. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Argues that the sagas (including Njáls Saga) were literary imitations of primary oral narratives (pp. 11-28). This resemblance appears in the paratactic saga style as well as in the encyclopedic memorial function. Scholes and Kellogg's (1966) discussion of topoi is central to Allen's analysis of the "elements" of the saga. Other scattered references to oral tradition throughout.
Area: ON