Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Phillip Webber. "Preliterate Formulaic Patterns Suggested by Old English Earfo[[pi]]e. Michigan Germanic Studies, 9:109-12

A study of several occurrences of old English word earfo[[pi]]e ("hardship") in the Anglo-Saxon poetic corpus, concluding that the word's usage, especially in E-type half-lines, may be a "fossil trace" from a "period antedating the production of written records" and that "it is also possible that we are dealing, in some instances, with non-formulaic half-lines, in which the poet senses and avails himself of the rhythmic valence' established for a word by previous_and perhaps indeed ancient_usage" (111).
Area: OE