Jim,

I agree with you about Harker re: having an axe to grind. I don't think he is dishonest though, because he is quite explicit in the book about having that axe to grind, what his biases are, etc. That's what scholars do; he leaves himself open as part of an on-going discourse. When we read the book, it is framed so we know that we are getting an interpretation that is working according to certain familiar principles of academic work.

As such, I don't think (?) Harker's work has (as a sort of dramatically characterized Lloyd's) engendered a widespread/pervasive way of envisioning traditional song or English folklorists or whatever.

Sorry to go off topic; my intention is not to revive debates on Harker, rather only to distinguish how framing of one's interpretation/opinion varies.