Jørgen Moe implies that the the phrase, “I think this is how it goes,” is an important mechanism of folklore development.
Or perhaps it’s, “Let’s see if I can remember this one…”
From his Introduction to the second edition of Norske folkeeventyr, 1852:
Still two things remain, which confirm that the folktales have been at home in our country for a very long time, even from the age of paganism. The first is the faithfulness and conscientiousness with which the best storytellers always recount the traditions – the fear they have of taking away, adding to, or even just changing the individual motif a little. This carefulness goes so far that when the story is recounted, it is told predominantly in the same words and phrases that were used the first time, certainly in the most important points and the dialogue. We find this when two people tell the story, one of whom having received it from the mouth of the other. By this conscientious accuracy we may be assured against any deliberate distortion of the original content, and this likewise suggests an instinctive respect for the folk literature’s ancient and domestic origins.