Literary language is the register of a language used when writing in a formal, academic, or particularly polite tone; when speaking or writing in such a tone, it can also be known as formal language.
Coronation of Alexander III of Scotland at Scone in 1249. He is greeted by the ollamh rígh, the royal poet, who is addressing him with the proclamation Benach De Re Albanne ("God Bless the King of Scotland"); the poet goes on to recite Alexander's genealogy. Poets of this kind composed in Classical Gaelic, a literary form separate from the Scottish Gaelic or Irish vernaculars.