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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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