The First Epics Were Intended For Recitation;

With Several Different Kinds Of Poetry To Choose From, A Man Would Decide That He Would Like Best To Be An Epic Poet, And He Would Set Out, In Conscious Determination, On An Epic Poem.

The Epic Poet Has Behind Him A Tradition Of Matter And A Tradition Of Style; And That Is What Every Other Poet Has Behind Him Too; Only, For The Epic Poet, Tradition Is Rather Narrower, Rather More Strictly Compelling.

Epic Poetry Exhibits Life In Some Great Symbolic Attitude. It Cannot Strictly Be Said To Symbolize Life Itself, But Always Some Manner Of Life.

If Epic Poetry Is A Definite Species, The Sagas Do Not Fall Within It.

The Reason Can Only Be This: Heroic Poetry Depends On An Heroic Age, And An Age Is Heroic Because Of What It Is, Not Because Of What It Does.