This collection of specially commisioned studies by scholars from the University of Southern Denmark and distinguished guests from Europe and North America comprises six essays dealing directly with oral aspects of the verbal culture of classical and medieval Europe, from Homeric tradition (Jan Helldén and Gregory Nagy), trough Old English and Old Norse poetry (John Miles Foley and Lars Lönnroth), to late-medieval religious texts (Ninna Jørgensen and Ann Moss), together with two essays examining living oral traditions from more recent periods: Inuit storytelling in Greenland (Kirsten Thisted); Turkic epics (Karl Reichl), and one linking the two approaches by exploring the premodern antecedents of modern legends (Henrik Lassen). Introductory remarks on approaches to orality by Thomas Pettitt.
