Tales, legends, or superstitions long current among the people; the unwritten literature of a culture, such as stories, proverbs, riddles and songs.
traditional culture comprised of stories, songs, skills, art, customs, beliefs and values, handed down from generation to generation (Many Pinelands customs, such as decorating family gravesites with grave blankets, are part of the folklore of Pinelands residents.)
(folk•lore) n. – the traditional stories, sayings and culture of a group of people.
A term for "popular antiquities," coined by W. J. Thomas in 1846; the traditional beliefs, legends, sayings, and customs of a people; the study and scientific investigation of such traditions.
Traditional sayings, cures, faerie tales, and folk wisdom of a particular locale which is separate from their mythology.
The study of traditional beliefs, customs, popular superstitions and legends of a people.
the unwritten literature (stories and proverbs and riddles and songs) of a culture
a story handed down from generation to generation among races or nations
traditions, which are not necessarily old, that are passed on informally (by word of mouth, observation, and imitation) over time and through space. Folklore is usually anonymous, has motifs or patterns that stay the same, yet also varies as it is passed on.
Inaccurate scenarios passed down through the generations to help explain natural phenomenon. For instance, it is pure myth and folklore that migrating martin flocks send "scouts" ahead to find suitable housing, who then return south (in some cases, clear back to Brazil) to guide their colonies back. The truth is that scouts are just the first martins to arrive back in spring to the colony site they bred the previous year. Once they arrive, they don't leave, they stay put to defend their territories against later-arriving martins. The myth got started, no doubt, because as martins work their way homeward, they will use housing along the way as overnight "motels." As soon as the weather facilitates migration, they continue northward. Soon, however, the main wave of martin migration arrives at the "motel" site, giving the illusion that the scout returned with a flock.
Body of preserved traditions, usually oral, consisting of beliefs, stories, and associated information of people.
Includes all myths, legends, folktales, ballads, riddles, proverbs, and superstitions of a cultural group.
Traditions, customs, and stories passes down within a culture
the traditions, beliefs, customs, etc. of a people. Folk tales, legends, and fairy tales are folklore.
The songs, stories, myths, and proverbs of a people or “folk” as handed down by word of mouth.
Oral traditions passed down informally over time within a group.
the traditions and beliefs of a people that have been passed down from generation to generation orally or as written tales. Note: To about 1850, folklore was called popular antiquities.
A body of popular but unsubstantiated or false beliefs.
Traditions and myth s preserved in a culture or group of people. Typically, these are passed on by word of mouth in various form s — such as legends, songs, and proverbs — or preserved in customs and ceremonies. This term was first used by W. J. Thoms in 1846. Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough is the record of English folklore; myths about the frontier and the Old South exemplify American folklore. (Compare with folktale, Proverb.)
Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, material culture, and so forth, common to a particular population, comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of that culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The academic and usually ethnographic study of folklore is sometimes called folkloristics.