He claimed he had collected and recorded orally transmitted verse, just like other folklorists did at the time. It is still unclear whether he made it all up or whether some of the material was indeed based on now lost oral sources.

An interesting comparison is Finnish folklorist Einar Lönnrot who collected the “national epic” Kalevala. We know Lönnrot largely used authentic oral sources, but he combined fragmented songs into a long narrative with his own edits and additions to make it more epic.