The theme in oral poetry as exemplified by the Faroese Ragnars Táttur

Abstract

The theme as well as the formula is one of two basic elements of Parry and Lord’s theory. A. B. Lord defines the “themes” of oral poetry as “the groups of ideas regularly used in telling a tale in the formulaic style of traditional song”. The theme happens to be a bilateral unit having both the plane of content and the plane of expression. The presence of the plane of content is self-evident and axiomatic. The theme in oral Faroese poetry possesses also the plane of expression. The proof of this statement is the fact that the realization of the same theme or some similar themes in different ballads or within the same piece of oral poetry presupposes the use of the same units of the lower level i.e., formulas and repetitions. The theme is a bilateral unit having its proper position in the unit system of the poetic language. It boasts its own level status. From the point of view of the level structure, the theme occupies the medium place between the formulas and the whole text. The interaction of the theme and both neighboring levels may be described as whole-part relationship. To the means of formula technique, formulas and repetitions, the theme behaves as the whole; to the text it plays the role of a part. Such a hierarchical structure creates the effect that the features of some units within this system influence the features of other units.