²² James, Ronald M. “A Voracious Appetite; Interplay between the Storyteller and the Scribe.” Transformations of Oral and Written Narratives the Interdisciplinary Approach. Maciej Czeremski, Gregor Pobežin, Karol Zieliński (Eds.), Published by Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden, 2025, p. 273.

The author has additional insights on this topic:
"The tangle of the written and the oral is, then, a matter of sorting out influences even while understanding that there never was a definitive version of any story. Early folklorists sought the ur form of the various types of a folktale (extended, fictional narratives). These detectives of tradition hoped to find that primal moment when and where something was first told, but in its extended life, variation has always been key and origins were typically elusive."
"The way some movements integrated folk traditions and identity, including those that led to independence of Iceland, Ireland, Finland, Norway, and elsewhere, is often viewed as heroic."
"It is important to point out that a literary source for a folktale does not make it less a part of the Irish repertoire. The discovery merely removes it from being an old inheritance, something romantics often hope to find when searching for ancient, cherished remnants of Irish heritage."

A journal article in 1911 makes it clear that the "intimate dance" betwen text and the spoken word, at least for this author, was seen to occur on the stage of reality:

"No trace remains of the burial stone erected by Conall Cearnach over the grave of Cuchullain and Emer. I firmly believe that it is buried somewhere in the soil of the dun, and that a scientific excavation of the mound would not only disclose the stone but would also throw light on a great many points concerning which we are now in the dark. What a glorious possession the remains of Cuchullain would be, not only to Louth, but for Ireland and the whole Celtic race." (Murray, L., and Lorcan Ua Muireadhaigh. “Dundealgan and Its Pillar-Stone:The Lia Lingadan.” Journal of the County Louth Archaeological Society, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Nov., 1911), p. 397.)