Faerie Lore and Legends

According to the American Folklore Society “Folklore” is “the traditional art, literature, knowledge, and practice that is disseminated largely through oral communication and behavioral example. Every group with a sense of its own identity shares, as a central part of that identity, folk traditions as the things that people traditionally believe (planting practices, family traditions, and other elements of worldview), do (dance, make music, sew clothing), know (how to build an irrigation dam, how to nurse an ailment, how to prepare barbecue), make (architecture, art, craft), and say (personal experience stories, riddles, song lyrics).” As these examples indicate, in most instances there is no hard-and-fast separation of these categories, whether in everyday life or in folklorists work. The word “folklore” names an enormous and deeply significant dimension of culture. Considering how large and complex this subject is, it is no wonder that folklorists define and describe folklore in so many different ways. Try asking dance historians for a definition of “dance,” for instance, or anthropologists for a definition of “culture.” No one definition will suffice, nor should it. In part, this is also because particular folklorists emphasize particular parts or characteristics of the world of folklore as a result of their own work, their own interests, or the particular audience they’re trying to reach. And for folklorists, as for the members of any group who share a strong interest, disagreeing with one another is part of the work–and the enjoyment–of the field, and is one of the best ways to learn.”

To us, Folklore is the art, lifeways, culture, stories, tales, legends, and lore of the common folk – or the country people. It usually designates commoners of the old ways and their beliefs, pathways, and mythos. It also suggests most of that communication to be oral or traditionally passed on.

Welcome to our collection of folklore, folktales, legends, and myths. Have a myth you want to share? Folk tale? Fairy tales? legends? or lore? Share them with us.

External Resources:
• The American Folklife Center
  American Folklife Center holds the Library of Congress’s Archive of Folk Culture, a repository for American folk music. The website includes full-text publications; digital presentations of collections; links to other resources in ethnographic studies; the Folkline information service, and Folklife Sourcebook:A Directory of Folklife Resources in the United States.
• American Folklore Society
  Not-for-profit organization providing folklore research information including membership info., publications, upcoming events, conferences, jobs, internships, graduate and other degree programs, and related site links.
• American Memory
  Governmental archives site from the Library of Congress Historical Collections for National Digital Libraries. A very large site including historical documents, motion pictures, photographs, and sound recordings concerning topics in the history of the United States. Part of the official Library of Congress website.
• Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
  Lists the collections of the American Folklife Center. Includes online documents from the collection and links to other sites.
• Folklore at the University of North Carolina
  
• Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
  A research and educational unit of the Smithsonian Institution promoting the understanding and continuity of diverse, contemporary grassroots cultures in the United States and around the world. The Center produces exhibitions, documentary films and videos, symposia, publications, and educational materials. The Center conducts ethnographic and cultural heritage policy oriented research.

About the Team:

We are a compilation of artists, writers, researchers, and muse that have created this blog of information about the Fae, the Sidhe, the Undead, and the other realms. Contributions are welcome!  If you are interested in contributing to this blog, please contact the administrator at technogypsie @ gmail . com.  [remove spaces from email address ]

Contributors:

Thomas Baurley: (1986 – Present)
Anthropologist Thomas Baurley has been studying faerie lore – ancient, historic, and modern since the early 1980s. In interviewing various practitioners, spiritualists, enthusiasts, and artists, he has begun an ethnological study of the modern faerie faith movement, which he defined as “Faeidism”.  You can contact him here: [email protected].

Oisin Rhymour (2020 – Present)
Folklorist, writer, researcher, and photographer. Has been studying cryptids, myths, legends, and faerie lore since childhood. Based in Washington State. [email protected]

Jenni Chaney: (2011 – Present)
Jenni is an active member and volunteer of the Faeid Fellowship. She enjoys assisting with web page design, maintenance, and updates. She is avidly interested in faerie lore and mythology. She is based in Los Angeles. [email protected]

Leaf McGowan: (1986 – Present)
Leaf currently resides in Ashland, Oregon, and is an avid member of the Faeid Fellowship. He is a writer, artist, researcher, and designer, very much inspired by the fae and the Mighty Sidhe. His matron is the Irish Goddess Brigid.  He is a diviner, palm reader, tarot reader, body painter, lecturer, artist, Druid, Witch, and Faeid. [email protected]