Folklore

• Archetypes (Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained)
• Folklore (Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained)
• Mythology (Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained)
• Folk Literature (Britannica Academic)
• American Myth (Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth)
• Celtic Myth (Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth)
• Egyptian Myth (Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth)
• Germanic Religion and Mythology (Britannica Academic)
• Greek Mythology (Britannica Academic)
• Japanese Mythology (Britannica Academic)

 

• Cliff Notes on Mythology by James Weigel
• Complete Idiot's Guide to Classical Mythology by Kevin Osborn and Dana Burgess

Welcome to the Erickson Library's Folklore guide. You'll find tabs at the top that will lead you to additional information with print and online resources. 

The Erickson Library is here to help you find credible and reliable information. Please feel free to call or email with any of your research questions!

Finding background information on your subject is helpful before you dive into subject specific databases. Credo Reference (link below) is a great place to start to gather ideas for keywords.

A few keywords to try: folklore, mythology, myth, legends.

Visit the Articles tab to get more tips on using keywords in databases.

​Credo Reference

This list is not exhaustive. More eBooks can be found in the Ebsco eBook Collection search:
https://lsc.lib.minnstate.edu/subjects/guide.php?subject=azpage

African-American Folklore
Affrilachian Tales: Folktales From the African-American Appalachian Tradition by Lynette Ford
Beyond the Briar Patch: Affrilachian Folktales, Food, and Folklore by Lynette Ford

Africa
African Folklore: An Encyclopedia by Philip Peek and Kwesi Yankah
African Tales by Harold Scheub
Egg Polisher and Other Tales by Funwi F. Bamenda Ayuninjam
Folktales From the Moose of Burkina Faso by Alain-Joseph Sissao and Nina Tanti
Riddles, Folktales and Proverbs From Cameroon by Comfort Eneke Ashu
The Sacred Door and Other Stories: Cameroon Folktales of the Beba by Makuchi
Wisdom and Initiation in Gabon: A Philosophical Analysis of Fang Tales, Myths, and Legends by Bonaventure Mve Ondo

American Indian / Native American
Creation Myths and Legends of the Creek Indians by Bill Grantham
Dictionary of Native American Mythology by Sam Gill and Irene Sullivan
Havasupai Legends: Religion and Mythology of the Havasupai Indians of the Grand Canyon by Carma Lee Smithson
Inuit Stories of Being and Rebirth: Gender, Shamanism, and the Third Sex by Bernard Saladin d'Anglure
Kivas of Heaven: Ancient Hopi Starlore by Gary David
Koasati Traditional Narratives by Geoffrey Kimball
Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson
Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie McLaughlin
Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (Project Gutenberg)
Native American Legends of the Southeast: Tales from the Natchez, Caddo, Biloxi, Chickasaw, and Other Nations by George Lankford
The Pawnee Mythology by George Dorsey
Rainy River Lives: Stories Told by Maggie Wilson compiled by Sally Cole
Salish Myths and Legends: One People's Stories by Steven Egesdal and Terry Thompson
Sky Loom: Native American Myth, Story, and Song by Brian Swann
Stories of the Sioux by Luther Standing Bear and Herbert Morton Stoops
Traditions of the Arapaho by George Amos Dorsey and A.L. Kroeber
Traditions of the Osage: Stories Collected and Translated by Francis La Flesche by Garrick Alan Bailey
Voices From Four Directions: Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America by Brian Swann
Wigwam Evenings by Charles Alexander Eastman
Woods Cree Stories by Solomon Ratt

Asia
Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore by Michael Dylan Foster
Chinese Folklore Tales by J. Macgowan
An Illustrated Guide to Korean Mythology by Won-Oh Choi
Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Japanese Fairy Tales compled by Yei Theodora Ozaki (Project Gutenberg)
Myths & Legends of China by E.T.C. Werner (Project Gutenberg)
Thai Tales: Folktales of Thailand by Supaporn Vathanaprida, Margaret Read MacDonald, and Boonsong Rohitasuke

Europe
Anthology of English Folk Tales
Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Celtic Mythology by J. A. MacCulloch
Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Anderson
Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
Folktales of the Jews, Volume 1: Tales From the Sephardic Dispersion edited by Dan Ben-Amos
Folktales of the Jews, Volume 2: Tales From Eastern Europe edited by Dan Ben-Amos
Grimm's Fairy Tales, editor: Frances Jenkins Olcott; illustrator: Rie Cramer (Project Gutenberg)
Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens; illustrator: Arthur Rackham
Legends of Switzerland by H. A. Guerber (Project Gutenberg)
Limerick Folk Tales by Ruth Marshall
The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: The Complete First Edition translated and edited by Jack Zipes

Middle East
Arabian Nights
Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang
Folklore and Folklife in the United Arab Emirates by Sayyid Hamid Hurriez
Jealous Gods and Chosen People: The Mythology of the Middle East by David Leeming
Moroccan Folktales by Jilali Koudia
Nart Sagas From the Caucasus: Myths and Legends from the Circassians, Abazas, Abkhaz, and Ubykhs by John Colarusso
Speak Bird, Speak Again: Palestinian Arab Folktales by Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana

North America
The Corn Woman: Stories and Legends of the Hispanic Southwest retold by Angel Vigil
Folk Tales, Tall Tales, Trickster Tales, and Legends of the Supernatural From the Pinelands of New Jersey by Herbert Halpert and J.D.A. Widdowson
Folklore: In All of Us, In All We Do edited by Kenneth L. Untiedt
Myths, Legends, and Folktales of America: An Anthology by David Leeming and Jake Page
Nilh Iza Sptakwlhkalh: These Are Our Legends by Jan van Elijk
Our Voices: Native Stories of Alaska and the Yukon by James Ruppert and John Lincoln
Wisconsin Folklore by James Leary
Wyoming Folklore: Reminiscences, Folktales, Beliefs, Customs, and Folk Speech by Susan Dow, Roger Welsch, and James Dow

South America
Afro-Cuban Tales: Cuentos Negros de Cuba by Lydia Cabrera
Decoding Andean Mythology by Margarita Marin-Dale
Mayan Tales from Chiapas, Mexico by Robert Laughlin
When Night Falls, Kric! Krac! Haitian Folktales by Liliane Nerete Louis
Xurt'an: The End of the World and Other Myths, Songs, Charms, and Chants by the Northern Lacandones of Naha' by Suzanne Cook

Anthology / Compilations / More
Tatterhood: Feminist Folktales From Around the World (vol. 1) by Ethel Johnston Phelps
Kamala: Feminist Folktales From Around the World (vol. 2) by Ethel Johnston Phelps
Sea Girl: Feminist Folktales from Around the World (vol. 3) by Ethel Johnston Phelps
The Hunter Maiden: Feminist Folktales From Around the World (vol. 4) by Ethel Johnston Phelps
Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero by David Adams Leeming
Myths, Legends, and Folktales of America: An Anthology by David Adams Leeming
World of Myth: An Anthology by David Adams Leeming

Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours by Gregory Nagy (Ebsco eBook)
Archetypal Patterns in Fairy Tales by Marie-Luise von Franz (Ebsco eBook)
Archetypes and Motifs in Folklore and Literature: A Handbook by Jane Garry (Ebsco eBook Collection)
The Epic Hero by Dean A. Miller (Ebsco eBook)
The Mother: Archetyal Image in Fairy Tales by Sibylle Birkheauser-Oeri and Marie-Luise von Franz (Ebsco eBook)
The Myth of the Birth of the Hero: A Psychological Exploration of Myth by Otto Rank (Ebsco eBook)
The Myth of the Modern Hero: Changing Perceptions of Heroism by Jane Bownas (Ebsco eBook)
Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero by David Leeming (Ebsco eBook)
Trickster and Hero: Two Characters in the Oral and Written Traditions of the World by Harold Scheub (Ebsco eBook)

Digitizing and Virtualizing Folklore (book chapter) by Simon Bronner
Folk Culture in the Digital Age: The Emergent Dynamics of Human Interaction (eBook) by Trevor Blank
Folklore and the Internet: Vernacular Expression in a Digital World (eBook) by Trevor Blank
Toward a Conceptual Framework for the Study of Folklore and the Internet (eBook) by Trevor Blank

American Folklife Center (Library of Congress)
American Folklore.net includes some urban legends
American Folklore Society, Folklore and Education Resources
Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures (UW Madison)
Digital Folklore Project (Dept. of English, Utah State University)
Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts (D.L. Ashliman, U of Pitt)
Folkstreams
Open Folklore
Oral History Association
Oral History in the Digital Age
Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage

11 Terrifying Urban Legends That Turned Out to Be True (Mental Floss article)
The Creepiest Urgan Legend in Every State (Thrillist article)
Debunked!: Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, and Evil Plots of the 21st Century by Richard Roeper (eBook)
Enigma of Spontaneous Human Combustion by Richard Whittington-Egan (Contemporary Review article)
Legend of the Falling Beast: Cow Tipping's Surprising Origins by Pat Linse (Skeptic article)
Top 10 Urban Legends (The Guardian article)
Urban Folklore (Chicago Tribune article)
Urban Legends (Snopes.com)
What Makes an Urban Legend by David Robson (BBC.com article)
Why Some Urban Legends Go Viral (Washington Post article)

 

1. Useful keywords: folklore, myths, mythology, legends
2. Break down your topic into smaller concepts and identify synonyms.
3. Use and to combine keywords, i.e. "folklore and trickster"
4. Use or to expand your results, i.e. "folklore or mythology"
5. Use "quotation marks" to search keywords as a phrase, i.e. "celtic folklore"
6. Use an asterik* to search multiple endings, i.e. myth* will search mythology, myth, myths, mythological, etc.

#FolkloreThursday: Digital Folklore & Internet Folklore (blogpost)
How Internet Folklore Works (howstuffworks)



 

• Beware the Slender Man (2017)
• Classical Mythology: Its Origins and Impact (1999)
• Greek Myths - True Stories (2010)
• In the Paths of the Gods (1995)
• The Land and the Sacred: Nature's Role in Myth and Religion (2005)
• Legends and Folklore of the Old West (1996)
• Modern Myths (1999)
• Myth or Science (2011)

• Carl Jung - What are the Archetypes (Academy of Ideas)
• Folklore Doesn't Meme What You Think It Memes (TEDxUSU)
• How is Slender Man Internet Folklore? (Idea Channel, PBS Digital Studios)
• Siren Head - Explained (Infographics Show)
• Ep516: Slenderman, Urban Legends and Folklore - Dr. Andrea Kitta (Spooky Southcoast podcast)
• Urban Legends - The Complete Series (FilmRise, TLC)