Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Myles Dillon. "The Archaism of Irish Tradition" (The Sir John Rhys Memorial Lecture). Proceedings of the British Academy, 3 3:245-64. Also published as a separate volume under the same title. London: Geoffrey Cumberlege.

Contends that the Irish tradition preserves IE characteristics that have been lost elsewhere in the West. Finds links between Irish and Hindu tradit ions in the importance of the act of truth, the use of prose narrative and verse dialogue, common motifs, similar bardic conventions, and linguistic affinities. Includes a comparative description of Indic and Turkish bardic historians, with comments on th e traditional language of the OI fili's praise-poetry.
Area: OI, SK, TK, CP