Module 1: Folk Literature: Mythology and Folklore- An Overview

Folk literature as a Relevant Historical Artifact

What is Folklore?

The term folklore encompasses the traditional beliefs, stories, customs, and legends, transmitted orally, from
generation to generation. This page will introduce you to the most common folklore genres: fairy tales,
legends, myths, tall tales, and fables.

What is a Legend?

A legend is an unverifiable or non-historical story that has been handed down by tradition, and is popularly
accepted as true and/or historical.

From Folkloristics via Wikipedia: “Legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human
actions perceived or believed both by teller and listeners to have taken place within human history. Narratives
in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude.
Legend, for its active and passive participants, includes no happenings that are outside the realm of
‘possibility,’ but may include miracles. Legends may be transformed over time, in order to keep them fresh,
vital, and realistic. Many legends operate within the realm of uncertainty, never being entirely believed by the
participants, but also never being resolutely doubted.”

Examples: Tikbalang,

FOLK LITERATURE
 Stories passed down from generation to generation
 Most of the time, authors are unknown
 Include: Myths, Tall Tales, Folk Tales, and Epics

1. Myth
 A fictional tale that explains the actions of gods or the causes of natural phenomena
(like lightning, or the seasons)
 No real historical truth
 Involved supernatural elements

 Purposes:
 Cultural history and reinforce values
 Explain “how” or “why” certain things happened
 Entertainment

2. Folk Tales
* Originally oral tradition
 Often contain: heroes, adventure, magic, and romance
 Includes fairy tales and legends
* Purpose:
 Explain the natural world
 Reinforce values; teach lessons
  Entertain

3. Folk “Tall” Tales

 Humorous story in which:
 character possess superhuman abilities
 Impossible happenings occur
 Told in common, everyday language
 Usually have some realistic detail

4. Epic
 A long narrative poem about the deeds of gods or heroes in war or travel
 Written in ornate, poetic language

 incorporates myth, legend, history, and often intervention of the gods.

 the poet begins by announcing the subject and asking a Muse (one of the nine
goddesses of the arts, lit, or science), to help

Famous Epics:
 The Odyssey
 The Iliad
 Beowulf
 Paradise Lost

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDYING FOLK LITERATURE

- With all the technology we have access to at our fingertips, do we really still need folklore in our
everyday lives?

In a world filled with advancements in science, technology, education, and medicine, you may wonder
why people still subscribe to the idea of folklore. We live in a time where we can order food from our
smartphones without having to leave the comforts of home, and getting updates on world news and
events takes a matter of seconds. We even have weather apps on our phones that tell us the forecast,
so why is there a need to know folklores?

FOLKLORE CONNECT US
 Folklore gives us the wisdom to understand these moments from different points of view. It
showcases that all of our problems and successes happen in every culture and throughout
different periods of history. We are unique as individuals, but we are all connected through
these moral truths.

A UNIQUE PERCEPTION
 We often associate folklore with stories or sayings we’ve heard as children. Perhaps from a
relative, a book a teacher read to the class, or perhaps through the many weather lore sayings
shared by the Farmer’s Almanac. While a lot of these tales are easy enough for children to
understand, the same story can resonate with us in different ways throughout our lives, offering
different meanings at different ages and levels of development.

FOLKLORE SAYINGS RING TRUE

  It’s also worth mentioning that the power of observation is an element that makes folklore
thrive. For example, an ancient mariner initially might have noticed that when clouds look like
scales of a fish, precipitation is on its way but will be gone quickly, hence the folklore saying:

If mariners spotted this cloud pattern, they began to notice they could expect rain, but it
wouldn’t last long (Mackerel sky, mackerel sky, never long wet and never long dry“never long
wet”). Over time, word of this observation spread. The result is a folklore rhyme we are familiar
with, one that’s easy to remember. A rhyme helps it travel better without getting
misinterpreted.

Science now tells us that when puffy cirrocumulus and altocumulus clouds appear in the sky,
they usually accompany high pressure, which indicates rain is coming, but the weather system
will be moving along quickly.

Folklore, tales, and sayings have been around long before science could articulate it further, so
listening to the tales told from family member to family member might prove valuable, even in
today’s world, if you take the time to listen.

THEORIES RELATED TO THE STUDY OF MYTHOLOGY

4. Evolutionism
Myth making occurs at a
certain stage in the evolution
of the human mind.
Myths, are therefore, an
essential part of all
developing societies and the
similarities from one culture
to the next can be explained
by the relatively
limited number of
experiences open to such
communities when myths
arise.
5. Freudianism
When Sigmund Freud, the
founder of modern
psychology, interpreted the
dreams of his patients, he
found great similarities
between them and the
ancient myths. Freud
believes that certain infantile
are repressed, i.e. they
are eliminated from the
conscious mind but continues
to exist within the
individual in some other
form. Sometimes these
feelings emerge into
consciousness under various
disguises, one of which is
the myth.
6. Jungian archetypes
Carl Jung was a prominent
psychologist who, while he
accepted Freud’s
theory about the origin of
myths, did not believe that it
went far in explaining
the striking similarities
between the motifs found in
ancient stories and those
of his patients. He postulated
that each of us possesses a
“collective
unconscious” which we
inherit genetically. It contains
very general ideas,
themes, or motifs which are
passed along from one
generation to another
and are retained as part of
our human inheritance.
7. Structuralism
This theory is a fairly recent
development and is closely
allied with the
research of linguists.
According to this theory, all
human behaviour, the way
we eat, dress, speak, is
patterned into codes which
have the characteristics
of language. To understand
the real meaning of myth,
therefore, we must
analyze it linguistically.
8. Historical-critical theory
This theory maintains that
there are a multitude of
factors which influence
the origin and development
of myths and that no single
explanation will
suffice. We must examine
each story individually to see
how it began and
evolved
Ancient Theories
1. Rationalism
According to this theory,
myths represent an early
form of logical thinking:
they all, have a logical base.
For example, the myth of
Pegasus, the flying
horse can best be explained
by imagining the reaction of
the first Greek to
see a horse. Compared to
other animals they know; the
horse must have
seemed to fly as it gallops
fast and leap over
high obstacles
Ancient Theories
1. Rationalism
According to this theory,
myths represent an early
form of logical thinking:
they all, have a logical base.
For example, the myth of
Pegasus, the flying
horse can best be explained
by imagining the reaction of
the first Greek to
see a horse. Compared to
other animals they know; the
horse must have
seemed to fly as it gallops
fast and leap over
high obstacles
Ancient Theories
1. Rationalism
According to this theory,
myths represent an early
form of logical thinking:
they all, have a logical base.
For example, the myth of
Pegasus, the flying
horse can best be explained
by imagining the reaction of
the first Greek to
see a horse. Compared to
other animals they know; the
horse must have
seemed to fly as it gallops
fast and leap over
high obstacles
Ancient Theories
1. Rationalism
According to this theory,
myths represent an early
form of logical thinking:
they all, have a logical base.
For example, the myth of
Pegasus, the flying
horse can best be explained
by imagining the reaction of
the first Greek to
see a horse. Compared to
other animals they know; the
horse must have
seemed to fly as it gallops
fast and leap over
high obstacles
Ancient Theories
1. Rationalism
According to this theory,
myths represent an early
form of logical thinking:
they all, have a logical base.
For example, the myth of
Pegasus, the flying
horse can best be explained
by imagining the reaction of
the first Greek to
see a horse. Compared to
other animals they know; the
horse must have
seemed to fly as it gallops
fast and leap over
high obstacles
Ancient Theories
1. Rationalism
According to this theory,
myths represent an early
form of logical thinking:
they all, have a logical base.
For example, the myth of
Pegasus, the flying
horse can best be explained
by imagining the reaction of
the first Greek to
see a horse. Compared to
other animals they know; the
horse must have
seemed to fly as it gallops
fast and leap over
high obstacles
ANCIENT THEORIES
1. Rationalism – According to this theory, myths represent an early form of logical thinking: they all, have a
logical base. For example, the myth of Pegasus, the flying horse can best be explained by imagining the
reaction of the first Greek to see a horse. Compared to other animals they now; the horse must have seemed
to fly as it gallops fast and leap over high obstacles.

2. Etymological Theory- This theory states that all myths derive from and can be traced back to certain words
in the language. Sources of most mythological characters have their origins from the languages of the world.
Hades, for example, originally meant “unseen” but came eventually to be the name for the god of the dead.

3. Allegorical Theory- In the allegorical explanation, all myths contain hidden meanings which the narrative
deliberately conceals or encodes. Example: story of King Midas and his golden touch

Allegorists offered this simple reason why stories were used in the first place rather than a simple statement
of the ideas they represented: they interested people who might not listen to emotionless concepts but who
could be attracted by imaginative narratives.

4. Euhemerism- Euhemerus, a Greek who lived from 325ff275 BC, maintained that all myths arise from
historical events which were narratives.

MODERN THEORIES
1. Naturalism- In this hypothesis, all myths are thought to arise from an attempt to explain natural
phenomena. People who believe in this theory narrow the source of myths by tracing their origins from the
worship of the sun or the moon.

2.Ritualism- According to this theory, all myths are invented to accompany and explain religious ritual; they
describe the significant events which have resulted in a particular ceremony.

3. Diffusionism- The diffusionists maintain that all myths arose from a few major cultural centers and spread
throughout the world.
4. Evolutionism- Myth making occurs at a certain stage in the evolution of the human mind. Myths, are
therefore, an essential part of all developing societies and the similarities from one culture to the next can be
explained by the relatively limited number of experiences open to such communities when myths arise.

5. Freudianism- When Sigmund Freud, the founder of modern psychology, interpreted the dreams of his
patients, he found great similarities between them and the ancient myths. Freud believes that certain infantile
are repressed, i.e. they are eliminated from the conscious mind but continues to exist within the individual in
some other form. Sometimes these feelings emerge into consciousness under various disguises, one of which
is the myth.

6. Jungian archetypes- Carl Jung was a prominent psychologist who, while he accepted Freud’s theory about
the origin of myths, did not believe that it went far in explaining the striking similarities between the motifs
found in ancient stories and those of his patients. He postulated that each of us possesses a “collective
unconscious” which we inherit genetically. It contains very general ideas, themes, or motifs which are passed
along from one generation to another and are retained as part of our human inheritance.

7. Structuralism- This theory is a fairly recent development and is closely allied with the research of linguists.
According to this theory, all human behavior, the way we eat, dress, speak, is patterned into codes which have
the characteristics of language. To understand the real meaning of myth, therefore, we must analyze it
linguistically.

8. Historical-critical theory- This theory maintains that there are a multitude of factors which influence the
origin and development of myths and that no single explanation will suffice. We must examine each story
individually to see how it began and evolved.

4. Evolutionism
Myth making occurs at a
certain stage in the evolution
of the human mind.
Myths, are therefore, an
essential part of all
developing societies and the
similarities from one culture
to the next can be explained
by the relatively
limited number of
experiences open to such
communities when myths
arise.
5. Freudianism
When Sigmund Freud, the
founder of modern
psychology, interpreted the
dreams of his patients, he
found great similarities
between them and the
ancient myths. Freud
believes that certain infantile
are repressed, i.e. they
are eliminated from the
conscious mind but continues
to exist within the
individual in some other
form. Sometimes these
feelings emerge into
consciousness under various
disguises, one of which is
the myth.
6. Jungian archetypes
Carl Jung was a prominent
psychologist who, while he
accepted Freud’s
theory about the origin of
myths, did not believe that it
went far in explaining
the striking similarities
between the motifs found in
ancient stories and those
of his patients. He postulated
that each of us possesses a
“collective
unconscious” which we
inherit genetically. It contains
very general ideas,
themes, or motifs which are
passed along from one
generation to another
and are retained as part of
our human inheritance.
7. Structuralism
This theory is a fairly recent
development and is closely
allied with the
research of linguists.
According to this theory, all
human behaviour, the way
we eat, dress, speak, is
patterned into codes which
have the characteristics
of language. To understand
the real meaning of myth,
therefore, we must
analyze it linguistically.
8. Historical-critical theory
This theory maintains that
there are a multitude of
factors which influence
the origin and development
of myths and that no single
explanation will
suffice. We must examine
each story individually to see
how it began and
evolved