Following the Formula in Beowulf, Örvar-Odds saga, and Tolkienproposes thatBeowulfwas composed according to a formula. Michael Fox imagines the process that generated the poem and provides a model for reading it, extending this model to investigate formula in a half-line, a fitt, a digression, and a story-pattern or folktale, including the Old-Norse Icelandic Örvar-Odds saga. Fox also explores how J. R. R. Tolkien used the same formula to writeSellic SpellandThe Hobbit. This investigation uncovers relationships between oral and literate composition, between mechanistic composition and author, and between listening and reading audiences, arguing for a contemporary relevance forBeowulfin thinking about the creative process. | Following The Formula In Beowulf Orvar-odds Saga And Tolkien by Michael Fox, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters