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Introduction:
What is a Folktale
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To understand folk stories, we must start
with the word folk, which
comes from the German word volk,
meaning people. A folk story
is a tale that originated from a particular cultural group in
a distant time and place.
The word folk actually suggests plain or simple people who have
the best and worst traits of a culture but lack education or
sophistication. The knowledge and beliefs embedded in a folk
culture come intuitively from the heart and from the accumulated
experience of a group of people. The folklore
of all cultural groups deals with nature and natural remedies
for physical and psychological conditions and reveals practical
knowledge that is useful in daily life.
The identities of the authors have usually been lost through
time, but the stories live through repeated telling; they are
passed down from one generation to the next to illustrate a
lesson, moral value, belief or custom that is considered extremely
important by a particular folk culture. The stories teach by
example and have one or more of the following characteristic
features.
Simplicity: Folk stories
are simple tales about simple people. The language is easy to
understand. The ideas are clear and straightforward. The characters
are either good or bad, strong or weak, rich or poor, wise or
foolish. It is easy to love them or hate them, to respect or
abhor them. Folk characters are transparent and simple to understand.
Fantasy, magic and the supernatural:
Folk stories usually have one or more of these elements. In
almost every folktale, something very magical happens. Trees
and animals speak. Gods descend from the heavens and change
things in supernatural ways. Wizards, witches, fairies, or goblins
may cause mischief or perform wonders. Fantasy, magic, and supernatural
intervention in the course of ordinary events make a good story
and appeal to the reader’s imagination
Customs,
traditions and beliefs: Folk stories remind people
of their cultural origins. The customs, traditions and beliefs
expressed in folktales link people to their history and
root them in their past. And, thus, these cultural components
are passed on through the generations in the retelling of
the tales.
A Moral: Folk stories
always contain a moral. In other words, they teach an important
lesson about human nature that is clear and convincing.
It is the moral lessons they teach that make them live through
the centuries. Parents use them to teach their children
important lessons that will prepare them to live well with
a deeper understanding of their fellow human beings.
Now that you are more familiar with the features of folktales,
you can read them for their deeper meaning and focus on
the simple but vivid stories that depict the moral struggle
of the human mind and spirit as magically as they narrate
fanciful events.
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