“But the development of human society does not go straight forward and the epic process will therefore be a recurring process, the series a recurring series - though not in exact repetition.”
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Epic poetry exhibits life in some great symbolic attitude. It cannot strictly be said to symbolize life itself, but always some manner of life.
The Border Ballads, for instance, and the Robin Hood Ballads, clearly suppose a state of society which is nothing but a very circumscribed and not very important heroic age.
If epic poetry is a definite species, the sagas do not fall within it.
By the general process of epic poetry, I mean the way this form of art has constantly responded to the profound needs of the society in which it was made.