_____________________________________________________________ Volume 7 March 1992 Number 1 _____________________________________________________________ Editor Editorial Assistants John Miles Foley David Henderson J. Chris Womack Whitney A. Womack 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) 1992 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 appears twice per year, in March and October. Annual subscription charges are $18 for individuals and $35 for libraries and other institutions . All manuscripts, books for review, items for the bibliography updates, and editorial correspondence, as well as subscriptions and related inquiries should be addressed to the editor, John Miles Foley, Center for Studies in Oral Tradition, 301 Read Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. Printed in the United States of America. EDITORIAL BOARD Patricia Arant Joseph J. Duggan Brown University Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Russian French, Spanish, comparative Samuel Armistead Alan Dundes University of California/Davis Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Hispanic, comparative Folklore Ilhan Bașgöz Mark W. Edwards Indiana University Stanford University Turkish Ancient Greek Richard Bauman Ruth Finnegan Indiana University Open University Folklore African, South Pacific Franz H. Bäuml Donald K. Fry Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles Poynter Institute Middle High German Old English Roderick Beaton Joseph Harris King’s College, London Harvard University Modern Greek Old Norse Dan Ben-Amos Melissa Heckler University of Pennsylvania New York Storytelling Center Folklore Storytelling Daniel Biebuyck Dell Hymes University of Delaware University of Virginia African Native American, Linguistics Issa J. Boullata Elizabeth Jeffreys McGill University University of Sydney Arabic Byzantine Greek David E. Bynum Michael Jeffreys Cleveland State University University of Sydney East European, comparative Byzantine Greek Robert P. Creed Minna Skafte Jensen Univ. of Mass./Amherst University of Copenhagen Old English, comparative Ancient Greek, Latin Robert Culley Werner Kelber McGill University Rice University Biblical Studies Biblical Studies EDITORIAL BOARD Robert Kellogg Felix J. Oinas University of Virginia Indiana University Old Germanic, comparative Finnish, Russian Victor Mair Isidore Okpewho University of Pennsylvania University of Ibadan Chinese African, Ancient Greek John S. Miletich Walter J. Ong Las Vegas, Nevada St. Louis University (Emeritus) Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, Hermeneutics of orality and comparative literacy D. Gary Miller Jeff Opland University of Florida Vassar College Linguistics, Ancient Greek African, Old English Nada Milošević-Djordjević Svetozar Petrović University of Belgrade University of Novi Sad Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian, Critical theory Stephen Mitchell Burton Raffel Harvard University Univ. of Southwestern Scandinavian Louisiana Translation Michael Nagler Alain Renoir Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, (Emeritus) comparative Old Germanic, Old French, comparative Gregory Nagy Bruce A. Rosenberg Harvard University Brown University Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Folk narrative, Medieval comparative literature Joseph Falaky Nagy Joel Sherzer Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles University of Texas/Austin Old Irish Native American, Anthropology Jacob Neusner Dennis Tedlock Brown University SUNY/Buffalo Hebrew, Biblical StudiesFelix Native American EDITORIAL BOARD Jeff Todd Titon Ronald J. Turner Brown University Univ. of Missouri/Columbia Music Storytelling J. Barre Toelken Ruth Webber Utah State University University of Chicago Folklore, Native American (Emerita) Spanish, comparative Leo Treitler Michael Zwettler SUNY/Stony Brook Ohio State University Music Arabic This issue of Oral Tradition, Volume 7, number 1 (1992), is dedicated to the memory of ALBERT BATES LORD in grateful acknowledgment of his unparalleled contribution to the field of studies in oral tradition. Contents Editor’s Column ...............................................................................................1 Thomas McKean A Gaelic Songmaker’s Response to an English-speaking Nation .........3 Paul Sorrell Oral Poetry and the World of Beowulf ...............................................28 Joseph D. Sobol Innervision and Innertext: Oral and Interpretive Modes of Storytelling Performance ....................................................................66 Lauri Harvilahti The Production of Finnish Epic Poetry—Fixed Wholes or Creative Compositions? ......................................................................87 Ward Parks Song, Text, and Cassette: Why We Need Authoritative Audio Editions of Medieval Literary Works ................................................102 Lea Olsan Latin Charms of Medieval England: Verbal Healing in a Christian Oral Tradition ...................................................................116 Joan N. Radner The Combat of Lug and Balor: Discourses of Power in Irish Myth and Folktale .....................................................................143 Willi Erzgräber The Narrative Presentation of Orality in James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake ä (The Milman Parry Lecture on Oral Tradition for 1990-91) ............150 Symposium (Warren S. Walker) ...................................................................171 Book Reviews ...............................................................................................176 About the Authors ........................................................................................193 Editor’s Column With the present issue Oral Tradition embarks upon its new editorial program of two per volume and year, each to be approximately fi fty percent larger than the standard triquarterly number. This format is intended to make possible certain changes in the journal: in addition to bringing costs more under control and providing the same annual page allotment, it is designed to make for greater heterogeneity in each issue. The increased space will of course mean that more different traditions can be examined in a given number, and it will also make room for “clusters” of essays on a particular subject or in a particular fi eld, groups of articles that will constitute a focus amid the natural diversity of OT’s responsibilities. We will also maintain the possibility of devoting an entire number to a single area, so special issues such as those that have appeared in the past will remain part of the editorial program. Since the journal was established in order to facilitate communication among scholars sharing an interest in oral tradition but segregated by the disciplinary structure of modern academia, this enhancement of diversity in OT’s contents seems appropriate. The fi rst “augmented” number exemplifi es the new format. Eight essays, two review articles, and a symposium contribution range over a wide selection of areas: Scottish songs, ancient Greek orality and literacy, the Finnish Kalevala, Latin charms, Irish myth, Old English narrative, an archive of Turkish oral traditions, the modern American storytelling movement, the use of acoustic media for medieval works with roots in oral tradition, and James Joyce studies. Future issues will feature scholarship on Russian charms, Arab women’s songs, Serbo-Croatian women’s songs, the Old English Beowulf, the ancient Greek Iliad and Odyssey, Hispanic balladry, Japanese folklore, Old French epic, and African American rap music, as well as the third and fi nal section of Mark Edwards’ bibliographical survey of oral traditional studies on Homeric epic and an update of my omnibus annotated bibliography on the Parry-Lord