Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

James Ross. "Formulaic Composition in Gaelic Oral Literature." Modern Philology, 57:1-12.

Explores the formulaic and thematic quality of Gaelic oral poetry collected in recent times in the Western Isles of Scotland, adapting Parry's ideas and definitions to the prosody of the Irish material and suggesting the existence of "conceptual formulas" which vary more widely within the Gaelic verse forms. Notes possible connections with traditional prose tales.
Area: MI