UNIT 3 | LESSON 1
FOLKLORE AND FOLKTALES
The term "folklore" was invented by an English scholar by the name of William John
Thomas in 1846. He used the word to denote the traditions, customs and superstitions of the
uncultured people in a civilized country. Folklore is a science that embraces observances and
customs, notions, beliefs, traditions, superstitions and prejudices of the common people.
IMPORTANCE OF FOLKLORE
1. Folklore is important in explaining social history of man- kind.
2. Folklore is helpful in the study of comparative mythology and science of religion.
3. Folklore helps in the under- standing of the relationship between races and on the development of
religion, beliefs and ceremonies.
4. Folklore is of great assistance to the ethnologists, sociologists, historians and students of
comparative mythology and science of religion.
KINDS OF FOLKLORE
1. Traditional literature in narrative form
a. folk tales
b. hero tales
c. ballads and song
d. legends of places
2. Traditional customs
a. local customs
b. astrology
c. festival customs
3. Superstitions and beliefs
a. Witchcraft
b. astrology
b. Superstitious practices
c. proverbs d. jingles, rhymes, riddles
4. Folks Speech
a. popular sayings
b. popular nomenclature
c. proverbs
d. jingles, rhymes, riddles
STORIES FOR CHILDREN
The term folktale refers to a traditional narrative of unknown authorship that has been handed
down from generation to generation regardless of its content. These old stories are often called fairy
tales because many of them deal with fairies or magic or any supernatural element.. Some of the
contents or characters were animals, mysterious and powerful influences like gods, giants, heroes
who overcome incredible obstacles and win awards and other supernatural beings. There are
hundreds of such stories known in every country and most of these stories were known long before
books were made.
Origin of FolkTales
There are two theories concerning the origin and transmission of Folktales:
1. That all folk tales originated in India in the Sacred Books of Buddhism and were transmitted by
migrations of peoples, by crusaders and Hebrew gypsies.
2. That many of the tales arose independently among people widely separated geographically and
historically. Studies have shown the similarity in the plots of the stories that were handed down from
generation to generation in different countries. This proves that human experience, human nature and
human emotions are universal.
History of FolkTales
The history of folktales begins at the point at which a storyteller, folklorist or anthropologist
set it down in writing. It has been the convention to credit the origin of a folk story to the country in
which it was published. Most often a story which has been thought of as having originated in the
country in which it was first published had been known in other countries for a long time. In 1697, a
collection of tales Comtes de Ma Mere L'Oye or Tales of My Mother Goose appeared bearing the
name of a Frenchman, Charles Perrault. However, Perrault claimed that the stories were written by
his little son who learned from his peasant nurse. The frontispiece of the book showed three children
listening to a story told by an old woman named Mother Goose while she was spinning. The name
Mother Goose was later associated more with nursery rhymes than with tales. A translation of
Perrault's tales was published in England in 1719. The eight tales became very popular to Englishspeaking children.
The stories were: "Little Red Riding Hood" "Sleeping Beauty" "Cinderella" "Blue Bird"
"Hop O My Thumb" "Puss in Boots" "Riquet and the Tuft" ""Toads and Diamonds". The first real
collection of old tales was made by two German brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. They
gathered the tales they heard from the old folks throughout their travels in Ger- many and published
them later, between 1812 to 1815. Their purpose was to preserve the folk literature that they heard
orally. The first English translation of the Grimm's Hausmarchen was made by Edgar Taylor. It was
called Grimm's Fairy Tales. It became so popular that other scholars began collecting tales too. Peter
Absjornsen and Jorgen Moe gathered tales throughout their travel in Norway by talking to old people
just as the Grimm Brothers have done. Abjornsen and Moe published their first collection of
Norwegian tales in 1842-1843. Their collection was translated into English by George Webber
Dasent and issued under the title Popular Tales from the Norse in 1859. A systematic collection of
folktales appeared in England in 1849. James Orchard Halliwell called his work Nursery Rhymes
and Nursery Tales.. One of the best known nursery tales was the "The Three Bears" by Robert
Southey, 1774. 1843, the poet laureate of England and the author of many books, both poetry and
prose. In the middle of the nineteenth century, a large body of folk materials became available in
English. Dr. E. W. Lane trans- lated the Arabian Nights, a collection of Arabian tales. The most
popular of these tales were "Aladdin" and "Sinbad".
Versions of Folktales
There are different versions of the same story and they may vary greatly in their
attractiveness. Making one's version of a story is to tell children of finding retold version that one
considers accept- able for reading aloud or for telling and is not violating the tradition of the
folktale.Throughout the ages, the tribal storyteller, the minstrel and the others were the agents
through whom the stories were handed down from generation to generation orally. Each teller of the
tale added something from his own imagination specially designed to appeal to his particular
audience.
PRIMARY CHARACTERISTIC FO FOLKTALES
1. Has no known individual author
2. Has no fixed or original form
3. Has a brief introduction
4. Adapted to any age
5. Has simple plot that is easy to remember
6. Characters appeal to both children and adults
7. Has elements of magic that appeals to children
VALUES OF FOLKTALES
1.Gives pleasure and enjoyment to children
2. Stirs the imagination
3. Gives insight into life
4. Used for dramatization
5. Used for illustration
6. Develops ear training
7. Plays a role in the emotional development of children
8. Develops confidence and courage in children against fear of the unknown.
TYPES OF FOLKTALES
1. Accumulative or repetitional tale is the simplest type of tale. It has a simple plot and rhythmical
pattern. Its episodes follow each other neatly and logically in a pattern of cadenced repetition.
Examples of this type are: American "Gingerbread Boy", English -"Johnny Cake", Norse "Pancake", Russian- "The Bun".
2. Talking Beast stories are stories in which the animals talk. The animals not only talk with other
animals but with human beings. Often the animals are exaggerated characterizations of human beings.
The animal tales generally teach a lesson of courage, ingenuity and self-reliance. Re- wards are
stressed in the outcome of the tales, but they are never moralistic.
Examples of this type of stories are: "Puss in Boots", "The Three Little Pigs", "The Three Billy
Goats Gruff", "The Tale of Peter Rabbit".
3. Drolls or Humorous Stories are stories about sillies and numb- skulls. They are meant for fun and
nonsense. Example of these stories are: "Lazy Jack" and "Epaminon- das".
4. Myths A myth is a story that ex- plains primitive man's idea of the origin of the universe, the
mysteries of natural phenomena, the life of gods, goddesses, and other pagan divinities, their contacts
with each other and their relation to man. It is especially associated with religious rites and beliefs.
There are three types of these stories the Greek, Roman and Norse myths. Examples of myths-"King Midas", "Jason and the Golden Fleece", "Baucis and Philemon".
5. Epics and Hero Tales An epic is a story that is sometimes written in verse, some- times in prose,
and others are in ballads. The story may be the exploits of a hero, and his heroic acts embody the
moral code of a country or of a nation. Examples of epics are: El Cid of Spain, Odysseus of the
Greeks, Lam-ang of the Philippines.
6. Legends A legend is an old story containing wonders and miracles that was handed down without
any foundation in history but popularly believed to be true. Every country country has its own legend
which was patterned in their own custom and tradition. It could be a story that tells the origin of a
place, thing or person. Examples of legends are: "The Legend of Manila", "The Legend of the
Pineapple", "The Legend of Lanzones".
7. A fable is a fictitious story about an animal or an inanimate object which behaves like a human
being and has one dominant trait. It is meant to teach a lesson or moral. The most popular fables are
those of Aesop, the Jatakas or Indian fables, the fables of Jean de la Fontagne. Examples of fables
are: "The Fox and the Grapes", "The Crow and the Pitcher", "The Monkey and the Turtle".
8. Fairy Tales (Old) The term fairy tales include a wide variety of folktales. A large proportion of
these stories are based on the element of magic or the supernatural. Something extraordinary happens
in the story. The setting of a fairy tale is a visionary or unreal world. The set- ting is usually idealized
or roman- tic setting. The characters are fairies, water pixies, dwarfs, giants, speaking animals, and
beautiful creatures. Examples are: "Cinderella", "The Three Bears", "Briar Rose" and many others.
9. Religious Tales Folktales using religious elements or beliefs are rarely found in children's
collection. The religious folktales are either comical or didactic. They were patterned after the
morality plays of the Middle Ages. The devil and St. Peter usually appeared in comic roles. They are
not well adopted to children.
10. Romance Tales Romance in the folktales is remote and impersonal. The characters are
stereotypes. Enchantments and impossible tasks separate folktale lovers and magic brings them
together as in "Beauty and the Beast", "The Goose Girl and the King", "East of the Sun and West of
the Moon". These types of stories are for older children and not for the younger ones.
11. Realistic Stories are those stories that are improbable but possible. Examples of this type of
stories are "Mr. Vinegar" and "Blue Bird".
FOLKTALES BY COUNTRY OR NATIONALITY
A. American "The Dun Horse" "Gingerbread Boy"
B. Arabian " Aladdin and the Wonderful Land"
C. East Indian "The Tiger, The Brahman and the Jackal"
D. English "Jack and the Beanstalk"
"Lazy Jack"
"Mr. Vinegar"
"The Old Woman and Her Pig
"The Three Bears"
" The three little Pigs"
E. French "Little Red Riding Hood"
"Cinderella"
"Puss in Boots"
"Sleeping Beauty"
"Toads and Diamonds"
F. German "Briar Rose"
"Elves and the Shoemaker"
"Hansel and Gretel"
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"
"The Traveling Musicians"
G. Greek "Fables of Aesop"
H. Norse "Boots and His Brothers"
"The Princess on the Glass
"The Three Billy Goats Gruff"
"Why The Bear is Stumpy Tailed"
"The Wonderful Knap Sack"
I. Russian "The Straw Ox"
DESIRABLE USES OF FOLKTALES
1. For entertainment Old folktales should be read for fun. They are also good for storytelling
purposes.
2. For illustration Folktale characters are subjects for drawing, sketching, modelling, painting, etc.
3. For dramatization Even in the nursery schools,. children can play"The Three Little Pigs", "Three
Billy Goats Gruff" and other tales.
4. For puppets The characters in folktales are suitable for hand puppets, sock puppets, stick puppets.
5. For storytelling Storytelling is one activity that is best suited for young children and the folktales
are excellent types of stories for telling.