Yes. Also, I think, oral tradition which considered itself to be recounting true history. If all you know is that there was a Balrog and it fell off a bridge then that's all you put in a history. Dramatic narrative is a different genre altogether (and one which was way less developed three or four thousand years ago than it is now).
"There was a Balrog. It was ungodly. Therefore God smote it and it fell off a bridge, and Gandalf laughed. So perish all the rest of you unbelieving scum."
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Yes. Also, I think, oral tradition which considered itself to be recounting true history. If all you know is that there was a Balrog and it fell off a bridge then that's all you put in a history. Dramatic narrative is a different genre altogether (and one which was way less developed three or four thousand years ago than it is now).
"There was a Balrog. It was ungodly. Therefore God smote it and it fell off a bridge, and Gandalf laughed. So perish all the rest of you unbelieving scum."