_____________________________________________________________ Volume 1 May 1986 Number 2 _____________________________________________________________ Editor Editorial Assistants John Miles Foley Lee Edgar Tyler Ann Bartling Slavica Publishers, Inc. For a complete catalog of books from Slavica, with prices and ordering information, write to: Slavica Publishers, Inc. P.O. Box 14388 Columbus, Ohio 43214 ISSN: 0883-5365 Each contribution copyright (c) 1986 by its author. All rights reserved. The editor and the publisher assume no responsibility for statements of fact or opinion by the authors. Oral Tradition seeks to provide a comparative and interdisciplinary focus for studies in oral literature and related fields by publishing research and scholarship on the creation, transmission, and interpretation of all forms of oral traditional expression. As well as essays treating certifiably oral traditions, OT presents investigations of the relationships between oral and written traditions, as well as brief accounts of important fieldwork, a Symposium section (in which scholars may reply at some length to prior essays), review articles, occasional transcriptions and translations of oral texts, a digest of work in progress, and a regular column for notices of conferences and other matters of interest. In addition, occasional issues will include an ongoing annotated bibliography of relevant research and the annual Albert Lord and Milman Parry Lectures on Oral Tradition. OT welcomes contributions on all oral literatures, on all literatures directly influenced by oral traditions, and on non-literary oral traditions. Submissions must follow the list-of reference format (style sheet available on request) and must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope for return or for mailing of proofs; all quotations of primary materials must be made in the original language(s) with following English translations. Authors should submit two copies of all manuscripts. Most contributions will be reviewed by at least one specialist reader and one member of the editorial board before a final decision is reached. Review essays, announcements, and contributions to the Symposium section will be evaluated by the editor in consultation with the board. Oral Tradition will appear three times per year, in January, May, and October. Annual subscription charges are $20 for individuals and $35 for libraries and other institutions. All manuscripts, books for review, items for the annual bibliography, and editorial correspondence should be directed to the editor, John Miles Foley, Department of English, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. Subscriptions and related inquiries should be sent to Slavica Publishers, P.O. Box 14388, Columbus, OH 43214. Printed in the United States of America. EDITORIAL BOARD Patricia Arant Mark W. Edwards Brown University Stanford University Russian Ancient Greek Samuel Armistead Ruth Finnegan University of California/Davis Open University Hispanic, comparative African, South Pacific Ilhan Bașgöz Donald K. Fry Indiana University Poynter Institute Turkish Old English Franz H. Bäuml Joseph Harris Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles Harvard University Middle High German Old Norse Roderick Beaton Eric A. Havelock King’s College, London Yale Univ. (Emeritus) Modern Greek Ancient Greek Dan Ben-Amos Elizabeth Jeffreys University of Pennsylvania University of Sydney Folklore Byzantine Greek Daniel Biebuyck Michael Jeffreys University of Delaware University of Sydney African Byzantine Greek Issa J. Boullata Minna Skafte Jensen McGill University University of Copenhagen Arabic Ancient Greek, Latin David E. Bynum Werner Kelber Cleveland State University Rice University East European, comparative Biblical Studies Robert P. Creed Robert Kellogg Univ. of Mass./Amherst University of Virginia Old English, comparative Old Germanic, comparative Robert Culley Eleanor Long McGill University Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles Biblical Studies Folk Ballad Joseph J. Duggan Albert B. Lord Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Harvard University (Emeritus) French, Spanish, comparative Slavic, comparative Alan Dundes Victor Mair Univ. of Cal./Berkeley University of Pennsylvania Folklore Chinese EDITORIAL BOARD John S. Miletich Alain Renoir Las Vegas, Nevada Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, Old Germanic, Old French, comparative comparative D. Gary Miller Bruce A. Rosenberg University of Florida Brown University Linguistics, Ancient Greek Folk narrative, Medieval literature Nada Milošević-Djordjević University of Belgrade Deborah Tannen Serbo-Croatian Georgetown University Linguistics, Discourse theory Michael Nagler Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Dennis Tedlock Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Boston University comparative Native American Gregory Nagy Jeff Todd Titon Harvard University Brown University Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Music comparative J. Barre Toelken Joseph Nagy Utah State University Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles Folklore, Native American Old Irish Leo Treitler Felix J. Oinas SUNY/Stony Brook Indiana University Music Finnish, Russian Ruth Webber Isidore Okpewho Univ. of Chicago (Emerita) University of Ibadan Spanish, comparative African, Ancient Greek D.K. Wilgus Walter J. Ong Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles St. Louis University (Emeritus) Folk Ballad Hermeneutics of orality and literacy Michael Zwettler Ohio State University Jeff Opland Arabic Vassar College African, Old English Burton Raffel Univ. of Denver Translation Contents Editorial Column ....................................................................................................... 167 Mark W. Edwards Homer and Oral Tradition: The Formula, Part I .......................................171 Margaret Clunies Ross Australian Aboriginal Oral Traditions ..........231 Joseph Falaky Nagy Orality in Medieval Irish Narrative: An Overview ...................................................272 David E. Bynum The Collection and Analysis of Oral Epic Tradition in South Slavic: An Instance .....................................................302 Ruth House Webber Hispanic Oral Literature: Accomplishments and Perspectives ...............344 Elizabeth A. Hoffman Exploring the Literate Blindspot: Alexander Pope’s Homer in Light of Milman Parry ...................................381 Franz H. Bäuml The Oral Tradition and Middle High German Literature ....................398 Two Aboriginal Oral Texts .........................................................................................446 About the Authors....................................................................................................... 457 Meetings and Professional Notes............................................................................... 458 Editor’s Column In this second issue of Oral Tradition we have some happy news to convey. As of July 1 of the present year, the University of Missouri at Columbia will be the home of a Center for Studies in Oral Tradition, a place and a modest facility which we hope will serve as a focus for studies in this emerging fi eld. The Center will, of course, assume responsibility for the editing of Oral Tradition, and in addition will serve as the editorial base for two other publishing ventures. One of these will be a monograph series on oral traditions, to be issued by Peter Lang of Berne and New York City; the series will include between one and four volumes each year and has been named in honor of Albert Bates Lord. The Center will also assume the editorship of Southeastern Europe, the only English-language periodical devoted exclusively to the Balkans. It is published by Charles Schlacks of Irvine, California and will appear twice annually. The readership of Oral Tradition is cordially invited to submit manuscripts to all three serial publications. For further information, please write to John Foley at the editorial address given at the front of this issue. In addition, the Center for Studies in Oral Tradition is in the process of creating an archive of primary and secondary materials, with special emphasis on fi eldwork collections. We shall be pleased to serve as a deposit facility, so that scholars with taped and manuscript records can store a safety copy in our library. All such materials will be fully protected on an individual basis, with right of consultation given only by the owner(s). We shall be happy to discuss deposit arrangements at any time. We continue to urge you to send OT, and now the Center, copies of publications for review and annotation in the Year’s Work bibliography for the October issue. Since the bibliography will cover as many aspects of studies in oral tradition as possible (and since its compilers are only quite human), its inclusiveness is in 168 EDITOR’S COLUMN part dependent on your cooperation in making us aware of your own and others’ contributions. The fi rst annual bibliography will appear in the next issue of OT, along with a wide selection of survey and analytical essays. Fittingly, Albert Lord has provided the lead article, a sequel to his “Comparative Perspectives” essay of 1974 that comments on recent work on oral traditions, for the very issue that houses the fi rst annual Milman Parry Lectures on Oral Tradition, delivered in April 1985 by Joseph J. Duggan. In this same number Alexandra Olsen offers the fi rst of two installments on oral studies and Anglo-Saxon poetry, Elizabeth and Michael Jeffreys give a summary of relevant research in Byzantine Greek, Bruce Rosenberg continues his discussion of the American folk preacher and oral tradition, Ward Parks surveys scholarship