Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Francis P. Magoun, Jr. "Béowulf and King Hygelác in the Netherlands: Lost Anglo-Saxon Verse-Stories about this Event." English Studies, 35:193-204.

Examines four versions of the story of Hygelac's and Beowulf's raid on the Rhine delta, three in Latin prose (Gregory of Tours' Historia Francorum, an anonymous Liber Historiae Francorum, and another anonymous Liber Monstrorum de Diversis Generibus) and one OE poetic text (Beowulf). By collating tale features, he concludes that the story must have circulated in oral tradition and posits that the Sutton Hoo ship-burial provides evidence of a "gateway between East Anglia and the Uppland district of Sweden" (203) that may well have served to promote circulation across tribal and national borders.
Area: OE