Folklore
"Look, it's Robin Hood!"
Folklore encompasses the traditions common to a culture, subculture or group. This includes tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes and other oral traditions. It also includes customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, and the forms and rituals of a culture's celebrations. Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact or traditional cultural expression.
Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next. Folklore is not something one can typically gain in a formal school curriculum or study in the fine arts. Instead, these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another, either through verbal instruction or demonstration.
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Additionally, many myths explain how a society's customs, institutions, and taboos were established and sanctified.
This closely links them to any religious/spiritual beliefs a society might have. In fact, many societies group their myths, legends, and history together, considering myths to be true accounts of their remote past. Disconnected from its religious system, a myth may lose its immediate relevance to the community and evolve, from sacred importance, into legend or folktale status.
(Edited from the original.)
Links
Encyclopedia Mythica
A Book of Creatures - "Our imagination has always been our greatest ally, and our worst enemy. In the face of the unknown, we populated it with creatures of all shapes and sizes, from minuscule spirits to gigantic cosmic monsters. These entities have shared our world ever since we earned the capacity to wonder. Their stories are told here."
Mythopedia
Realm of Myth and Fantasy - lowkey one of the hardest webpage designs there is
Theoi - A site for the gods, spirits, fabulous creatures, and heroes of Greek mythology.
Fairy Talez - online collection of fairy tales, fables and folk tales
Kamat's Potpourri - Hodge-podge of India's history, mystery, and diversity.
British Folklore
American Folklore
Ukranian Folklore
Estonian Folklore
D. L. Ashliman - Folklore researcher.
Sunken Castles, Evil Poodles - Ongoing project to translate old German folklore tales into English.
Nearly Knowledgeable - Writer and folklorist, researching Shropshire's rich folkloric tradition.
Sri Lankan Myths, Miracles, and Mysteries
Yokai - Online database of Japanese folklore.
Duchas - Digitizing Ireland's folklore.
Lexicon
angel hair: an ethereal fibrous substance most often reported in connection with UFO sightings, or manifestations of the Virgin Mary
chrysopoeia: the artificial production of gold, most commonly by the alleged transmutation of base metals
duende: a humanoid figure of folklore, with variations from Iberian, Ibero American, and Filipino cultures, comparable to dwarves, gnomes, or leprechauns
eldritch: unearthly, alien, supernatural, weird, spooky, eerie
ensorcelled: enchanted, bewitched
fey: strange, otherworldy, magical, appearing as if under a spell, full of the sense of approaching death, fairy
halcyon: kingfisher whose nesting by the sea was said, in classical mythology, to cause the Gods to restrain the wind and waves
homunculus: a tiny and artificially produced human being
ichor: ethereal fluid said to run in the veins of the gods, in place of blood
nymphean: of, pertaining to, inhabited by nymphs
whistler: mythical bird whose whistle is fatal to the listener
woodwose: wild man of the woods, motif that appears in medieval Europe's art; comparable to the satyr/faun
Art
Ludens
King's Quest by Sierra On-Line (DOS)
Audio
Albums
NEVERSLEEP by V▲LH▲LL (Bandcamp)
Songs
Ой як же було ізпрежди by U:LAV (Youtube)
Readings
East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Peter Asbjørnsen & Jørgen Moe (Gutenberg)
Philippine Folk Tales by Mabel Cook Cole (Gutenberg)
Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen & W. J. Alexander Worster (Gutenberg)
British Goblins by Wirt Sikes (Gutenberg)
Old French Fairy Tales by comtesse de Sophie Ségur (Gutenberg)
Speak Bird, Speak Again by Ibrahim Muhawi & Sharif Kanaana (UC Press)
Pow-wows; or Long Lost Friend by John George Hoffman (Sacred Texts)