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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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1992-09-01
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Stories that are or have been transmitted in
spoken form, such as public recitation,
rather than through writing or printing. Most
preliterate societies have had a tradition of
oral literature, including short folk tales,
legends, myths, proverbs, and riddles as well
as longer narrative works; and most of the
ancient epics - such as the Greek Odyssey and
the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh - seem to have
been composed and added to over many
centuries before they were committed to
writing. Some ancient stories from oral
traditions were not written down as literary
works until the 19th century, such as the
Finnish Kalevala (1822); many fairy tales,
such as those collected in Germany by the
Grimm brothers, also come into this category.
Much of this sort of folk literature may have
been consciously embellished and altered, for
example in 19th-century Europe for
nationalistic purposes.