Hunting the letter

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The author reviews the theory and history of 'Oral-Formulaic' criticism and its application to Middle English Alliterative Verse. He conducts a full and detailed analysis of the formulaic character of the diction of four widely divergent alliterative poems: Joseph of Arimathie, Death and Liffe, Saint Erkenwald and Scotish Feilde , placing each within the larger alliterative tradition. Major scholarly appendices provide the evidence for the arguments advanced as to the particular nature of each poem.