Tuesday, November 3, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Folklore Theory
Studies of folklore, superstition, and belief — the scholarship of the uncanny.
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Texts
A Book of Folklore — Sabine Baring-GouldA Book of Folklore — Sabine Baring-Gould's study of the origins and layers of British folk belief, tracing the pagan substrata beneath Christian popular religion: spirits, sacrifice, death customs, pixies, skulls, and birth rites (1913).A Guide to Mythology — Helen A. ClarkeHelen A. Clarke's complete historical mythology reader, with seven chapters of comparative discussion, stories, hymns, and notes.A Handy Dictionary of Mythology for Everyday Readers — Thomas PrestonA small alphabetical dictionary of mythology published in London by Whittaker & Co. in its series of handy books: short entries, each name marked for its accent, on the gods, heroes, monsters and festivals of Greek and Roman myth, with some Egyptian, Scandinavian and Hindu names, many entries followed by quotations from English poets.A History of Nursery Rhymes — Percy B. GreenPercy B. Green’s 1899 study of English nursery rhymes, children’s games, lullabies, riddles and charms, which reads them as survivals of early sign-language, nature worship and ancestral belief, follows other rhymes into Tudor, Stuart and later history, and quotes the rhymes themselves throughout.A Study of Fairy Tales — Laura F. KreadyLaura F. Kready's 1916 pedagogical study of fairy tales for early education — their worth, selection, telling, history, classification, and sources — with an introduction by Henry Suzzallo.Bygone Beliefs — H. Stanley RedgroveH. Stanley Redgrove's complete 1920 collection of twelve historical essays on medieval thought, magic, talismans, symbolism, alchemy, and philosophy.Christmas in Ritual and Tradition — Clement A. MilesClement A. Miles's 1912 study tracing Christmas from its pre-Christian winter-festival roots through medieval liturgy, drama, and folk custom across Europe.Coffee in the Gourd — ed. J. Frank DobieThe Texas Folk-Lore Society's 1923 folklore miscellany: cowboy dance and courting customs, Big Bend pictographs, Gillespie County German and Rio Grande Mexican-border folkways, W. C. Handy on the blues, and more, reprinted from Texas Folk-Lore Society Publications No. II.Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes — Lina EckensteinLina Eckenstein’s 1906 comparative study of English nursery rhymes, following them from the eighteenth-century toy-books and collections through popular songs, ballads, singing games, riddle-rhymes, cumulative chants and the rhymes of the wren hunt, and setting them beside French, German, Scandinavian and Spanish parallels as survivals of older custom.Cultus Arborum — A Descriptive Account of Phallic Tree WorshipAn anonymous, privately printed 1890 survey of tree worship in seven chapters, from the sacred trees of India, Persia, Arabia, Ceylon and Egypt to the ash, oak and other trees of European and Norse belief, read as a branch of “phallic worship,” with a bibliography of works on the phallic cultus.Curiosities of Superstition — W. H. Davenport AdamsW. H. Davenport Adams's complete historical survey of religions, rituals, divination, and superstition across nineteen chapters.Current Superstitions — Fanny D. BergenFanny D. Bergen’s 1896 collection of 1,475 numbered superstitions taken down from English-speaking people born in America, with the place where each was heard, from Newfoundland and Labrador to Alabama: birth, childhood, love and marriage, dreams, luck, cures, warts, weather, moon and sun, death omens and mortuary customs, with an introduction and notes by William Wells Newell; published for the American Folk-Lore Society.Custom and Myth — Andrew LangAndrew Lang applies comparative folklore and anthropology to myth, ritual, tales, divination, family history, and visual art.Demonology and Devil-lore — Moncure Daniel Conway — Volumes I–IIMoncure Daniel Conway's complete two-volume historical study of demons, dragons, devils, witchcraft, and the cultural construction of evil.Dragons and Dragon Lore — Ernest IngersollErnest Ingersoll's 1928 survey of dragon myths from China, Korea, Japan, and India through to Western Europe, with an introduction by paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn.Fairies — Gertrude M. FauldingFairies — Gertrude M. Faulding's essay: a meditative survey of fairy belief in English and Celtic tradition, drawing on Shakespeare, Drayton, Herrick, and the folk tradition to characterize the nature and world of the fairy folk.Famous Men of the Middle Ages — John Henry Haaren and A. B. PolandJohn Henry Haaren and A. B. Poland's 1904 schoolbook of thirty-two biographical sketches of medieval figures from Alaric the Visigoth to Warwick the Kingmaker, opening with the Nibelung legend and the Teutonic gods.Fifty Christmas Poems for Children — Florence B. HyettA 1923 anthology of fifty Christmas poems for children, gathered by Florence B. Hyett from Herrick, Milton, Blake, Rossetti, Tennyson, folk carols, and contemporary verse.Fishes, Flowers, & Fire — AnonymousAn anonymous, privately printed 1890 compilation in seven chapters on the fish, the flower and fire as sacred symbols and objects of worship, from Dagon, Oannes and the Christian Ichthus to the lotus of Egypt and India and the fire rites of Persia, India, Greece, Rome, the Beltane fires of Scotland and Ireland and the cult of Moloch, read as forms of “phallic worship.”Folklore as an Historical Science — George Laurence GommeGeorge Laurence Gomme's complete 1908 historical argument for using folklore as evidence in social and cultural history.From Ritual to Romance — Jessie WestonFrom Ritual to Romance — Jessie Weston's 1920 study of the origins of the Grail legend in pre-Christian vegetation ritual: the Fisher King, the Waste Land, the Grail Castle, and the sacred drama of death and renewal underlying the Arthurian romance tradition.Funeral Customs — Their Origin and Development — Bertram S. PuckleBertram S. Puckle's 1926 survey of funeral and mourning customs — death warnings, coffins and grave-goods, wakes and mutes, mourning bells, burial places, cremation, and epitaphs — traced to their pagan and folk origins.Legends of Texas — ed. J. Frank DobieThe Texas Folk-Lore Society’s 1924 collection of Texas legends, edited by J. Frank Dobie from the work of nearly two score contributors: lost mines and buried treasure, ghosts and the supernatural, lovers’ leaps, Lafitte and the pirates, the legendary origins of flowers, names and streams, and the White Steed of the Prairies, with a bibliography of Texas legends.Manners, Customs, and Observances — Their Origin and Significance — Leopold WagnerLeopold Wagner's 1894 numbered-entry miscellany explaining the origins of British customs and etiquette — heraldry and royal symbols, courtship and marriage, mourning, patron saints, and church and civic festivals.Mazes and Labyrinths — W.H. MatthewsW. H. Matthews's 1922 history of mazes and labyrinths from Egypt and Crete through medieval church labyrinths, turf mazes, and hedge mazes, with a bibliography of the subject.Modern Mythology — Andrew LangAndrew Lang's complete 1897 defense of the anthropological study of myth in debate with philological mythology.Moon Lore — Timothy HarleyTimothy Harley's 1885 comparative-folklore study of the moon — its markings, worship, superstitions, and supposed inhabitants — documented with nearly five hundred scholarly notes.Myth, Ritual and Religion — Andrew Lang — Volumes I–IIAndrew Lang's complete two-volume comparative study of myth, ritual, religion, and folklore, preserved from the Project Gutenberg witnesses.Myths & Legends of Our New Possessions & Protectorate — Charles M. SkinnerCharles M. Skinner’s 1900 retelling of the legends of the islands that came under American rule or protection after 1898: Porto Rico and Cuba in the Caribbean, and Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines in the Pacific, from the floating islands, buccaneers and obeah women to Pele, the Hawaiian gods and chiefs, and the old beliefs of the Filipinos.Myths and Dreams — Edward CloddEdward Clodd’s evolutionist study of what myths and dreams show of early man’s explanations of nature and of himself: Part I on the birth and growth of myth (personification of sun, stars, sky, storm and darkness, the Devil, the solar theory, metamorphosis into animals, totemism, myth in history), Part II on dreams and the growth of belief in the soul and in spirits; second edition, revised, London, 1891.Myths and Legends of All Nations — Logan MarshallLogan Marshall’s 1914 collection of twenty-four myths and legends retold for children, from Prometheus, Hercules, Perseus, the Golden Fleece and the fall of Troy to Beowulf, King Arthur, Siegfried, Frithiof, Wayland, Twardowski, Ilia Muromec, Marko, Libuscha, Roland and the Cid, drawn largely from earlier German and English-language retellings and published in Philadelphia by the John C. Winston Company.Myths and Legends of Our Own Land — Charles M. SkinnerCharles M. Skinner's 1896 collection of American ghost stories, treasure legends, and regional folk tales gathered from every part of the United States, from the Hudson highlands to the Pacific coast.Myths and Myth-Makers — John FiskeJohn Fiske's complete 1872 collection of seven essays interpreting folklore, fire myths, werewolves, swan-maidens, and ghost belief through comparative mythology.OphiolatreiaAn anonymous 1889 survey of serpent-worship across world mythologies and cultures, from Egypt, Greece, and India to the Americas, presented as a facet of phallic and solar worship.Ritual and Belief — Edwin Sidney HartlandEdwin Sidney Hartland's complete 1914 comparative studies of ritual, belief, religion, and magic, with historical-method framing.Serpent-Worship, and Other Essays, with a Chapter on Totemism — C. Staniland WakeC. Staniland Wake’s 1888 collection of thirteen anthropological essays, on phallism in ancient religions, the origin of serpent-worship, the Adamites and the descendants of Cain, sacred prostitution, primitive marriage and the family, the position of woman, spiritism, totemism, and man and the ape.Signs, Omens and Superstitions — Astra CieloAstra Cielo's complete 1918 collection of signs, omens, charms, divination, household beliefs, seasonal customs, and occupational superstitions.Sun Lore of All Ages — William Tyler OlcottWilliam Tyler Olcott's 1914 comparative survey of sun myths, worship, festivals, omens, and burial orientation across world cultures.Tall Tales from Texas — Mody C. BoatrightMody C. Boatright’s 1934 collection of the cowboy’s “windies” from the cattle country of West Texas, told round a cow-camp fire to a greenhorn: poisonous rattlesnakes, imaginary beasts, northers and narrow escapes, and the life of Pecos Bill, with a preface by J. Frank Dobie.The Book of Nature Myths — Florence HolbrookFlorence Holbrook's 1902 collection of fifty-four short nature myths retold for young readers, mostly drawn from Native American and other folk traditions, explaining why animals, plants, and natural phenomena are as they are.The Book of Noodles — W.A. CloustonW. A. Clouston's 1888 comparative study of 'noodle' or simpleton tales — the Men of Gotham and their counterparts in Greek, Indian, and European folklore — tracing shared plots and jests across cultures.The Curious Lore of Precious Stones — George Frederick KunzGeorge Frederick Kunz’s 1913 study of the beliefs gathered around precious stones: superstitions and their sources, talismans and amulets, engraved gems, ominous and luminous stones, crystal gazing, the religious uses of gems and the high-priest’s breastplate, birth-stones, planetary and zodiacal stones, and the use of gems in medicine, with 510 notes and an index.The Evil Eye — Frederick Thomas ElworthyFrederick Thomas Elworthy's 1895 comparative study of evil-eye belief and its counter-magic — amulets, gestures, horns, and charms — across ancient and modern folklore from Italy, England, and beyond.The Evolution of the Dragon — G. Elliot SmithG. Elliot Smith’s 1919 book of three chapters, each elaborated from a lecture given at the John Rylands Library in Manchester, on incense and libations, on dragons and rain gods, and on the birth of Aphrodite, arguing that the dragon began as a personification of the life-giving and life-destroying powers of water and that the beliefs gathered around it spread from ancient Egypt.The Fairy Mythology — Thomas KeightleyThe Fairy Mythology — Thomas Keightley's 1850 comparative survey of fairy lore across European traditions: English, Irish, Scottish, Scandinavian, German, French, Italian, and Oriental fairy belief, their origins, types, and underlying unity.The Folk-lore of Plants — T. F. Thiselton-DyerT. F. Thiselton-Dyer’s 1889 handbook of plant folklore in twenty-three chapters, from plant life and plant worship through plants in witchcraft, demonology and fairy-lore, love-charms, weather lore, proverbs, names, the doctrine of signatures, children’s rhymes and folk-medicine to sacred, fabulous and mystic plants, with 289 notes to its sources.The Golden Bough — Sir James George FrazerA monumental study of comparative religion and mythology, tracing the universal pattern of the dying and resurrecting god through cultures worldwide.The Golden Bough, Vol. I — The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, Vol. I — James George FrazerThe first volume of the twelve-volume third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (Macmillan, 1911; this impression 1917), the first half of Part I, The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings: the priesthood of Diana at Nemi, priestly kings, sympathetic magic, magic and religion, the magical control of the weather, magicians as kings and incarnate human gods, with all 1,449 notes.The Golden Bough, Vol. II — The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, Vol. II — James George FrazerThe second volume of Part I, The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, in the third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (Macmillan, 1911; this reprint 1917): chapters VIII to XXI on departmental kings of nature, the worship of trees and its relics in modern Europe, the sacred marriage, the kings of Rome and Alba, the Vestal fire and the fire-drill, the succession to the Latin kingship, St. George and the Parilia, the worship of the oak, and Dianus and Diana, with the index to both volumes of Part I.The Golden Bough, Vol. III — Taboo and the Perils of the Soul — James George FrazerVolume III of the third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (MacMillan and Co., 1911), Part II, Taboo and the Perils of the Soul: the taboos laid on sacred kings and priests, the soul as mannikin, shadow and reflection, and tabooed acts, persons, things and words, with Frazer’s marginal summaries, 1,571 notes and index.The Golden Bough, Vol. IV — The Dying God — James George FrazerVolume IV of the third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (Macmillan, 1911), Part III, The Dying God: the mortality of the gods, the killing of divine kings when their strength fails or at the end of a fixed term, temporary kings, the sacrifice of the king’s son, succession to the soul and the European spring customs of killing the tree-spirit, with Frazer’s marginal summaries, 767 notes and index.The Golden Bough, Vol. IX — The Scapegoat — James George FrazerThe ninth of the twelve volumes of the third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (Macmillan, 1913), the whole of Part VI, The Scapegoat: eight chapters on the transference of evil to things, animals and men, the belief in ever-present demons, the public expulsion of evils, scapegoats animal and human, the killing of the god in Mexico, and the Saturnalia and kindred festivals, with an appended note on the Crucifixion of Christ and the index.The Golden Bough, Vol. V — Adonis Attis Osiris, Vol. I — James George FrazerThe fifth volume of the third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (Macmillan, 1914), the first of the two volumes of Part IV, Adonis Attis Osiris: Studies in the History of Oriental Religion, holding the books on Adonis and on Attis, from the cults of Byblus and Paphos, sacred men and women, and the burning of Melcarth and Sandan to the gardens of Adonis, the hanged god and Hyacinth.The Golden Bough, Vol. VI — Adonis Attis Osiris, Vol. II — James George FrazerThe sixth of the twelve volumes of the third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough, the second of the two volumes of Part IV, Adonis Attis Osiris: twelve chapters on the myth, calendar, festivals and nature of Osiris, on Isis, Osiris and the sun and moon, the king as Osiris, and mother-kin and mother goddesses, with four appended notes and the index to both volumes of the Part.The Golden Bough, Vol. VII — Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild, Vol. I — James George FrazerVolume VII of the third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (Macmillan, 1912), the first of the two volumes of Part V, Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild: Dionysus, Demeter and Persephone, games played to make the crops grow, women’s part in early agriculture, the Corn-mother and Corn-maiden of Europe and many lands, Lityerses and the reapers’ songs, the corn-spirit in animal form, and a note on the Pleiades in primitive calendars.The Golden Bough, Vol. VIII — Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild, Vol. II — James George FrazerThe eighth of the twelve volumes of the third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (1912), the second volume of Part V, Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild: chapters IX to XVII on gods of vegetation in animal form, the eating of the god and the sacrifice of first-fruits, the killing of sacred animals, the propitiation of game and of vermin, the passing of human souls into animals and the types of animal sacrament, with a note on a Garo harvest rite and the index to both volumes of Part V.The Golden Bough, Vol. X — Balder the Beautiful, Vol. I — James George FrazerThe tenth volume of the third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (Macmillan, title page dated 1919), the first of the two volumes of Part VII, Balder the Beautiful, holding the rules that sacred persons must not touch the earth or see the sun, the seclusion of girls at puberty, the myth of Balder, and the fire-festivals of Europe with their solar and purificatory interpretations.The Golden Bough, Vol. XI — Balder the Beautiful, Vol. II — James George FrazerThe eleventh volume of the third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (MacMillan and Co., 1913), the second of the two volumes of Part VII, Balder the Beautiful: fire-festivals beyond Europe and the fire-walk, the burning of effigies and human beings in the fires, the magic flowers of Midsummer Eve, Balder and the mistletoe, the external soul in folk-tale and custom, the Golden Bough itself and the farewell to Nemi, with Frazer’s marginal summaries, 799 notes and the index to Part VII.The Golden Bough, Vol. XII — Bibliography and General Index — James George FrazerThe twelfth and last volume of the third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (Macmillan; this copy 1920): the bibliography of the authorities cited in the work, with an asterisk against those Frazer knew only at second hand, and the general index to all eleven volumes of text, by volume and page.The Grateful Dead — The History of a Folk Story — Gordon Hall GerouldGordon Hall Gerould’s 1908 study for the Folk-Lore Society of the tale of the grateful dead, in which a man buries an unburied corpse and the dead man’s ghost helps him win a wife, with a review of earlier scholarship, a bibliography of the known variants from Tobit onward, chapters on the tale’s combinations with The Poison Maiden, The Ransomed Woman and The Water of Life, and a conclusion on its origin in beliefs about the duty of burial.The Legend of Perseus — Edwin Sidney Hartland — Volumes I-IIIEdwin Sidney Hartland compares the Perseus legend across supernatural birth, life-tokens, magic, rites, Andromeda, and Medusa in three volumes.The Magic of Jewels and Charms — George Frederick KunzGeorge Frederick Kunz’s 1915 companion to The Curious Lore of Precious Stones: magic and electric stones, meteorites as celestial stones, stones of healing, fabulous stones, concretions and fossils, snake-stones and bezoars, angels and saints and their stones, the religious use of stones, and the amulets of the ancient, medieval, Oriental and modern worlds, with 717 notes and an index.The Magic of the Horse-shoe — Robert Means LawrenceRobert Means Lawrence's complete 1898 collection of studies on horseshoes, luck, salt, sneezing, days, animals, and number lore.The Making of Religion — Andrew LangAndrew Lang's comparative study of religion, anthropology, folklore, and psychical research in the complete 1900 second edition.The Mysteries of All Nations — James GrantJames Grant's complete 1880 antiquarian compilation on superstition, witch trials, magic, divination, omens, charms, and folklore.The Myth of the Birth of the Hero — Otto RankThe Myth of the Birth of the Hero — Otto Rank's 1914 psychoanalytic study: the comparative analysis of hero-birth myths across twenty-three cultures, from Sargon and Moses to Perseus and Romulus, revealing the universal pattern of the exposed and recovered divine child.The New Word — Allen UpwardAllen Upward's 1910 philosophical essay on the Nobel Prize's call for an 'idealist' literature — a wide-ranging etymological and philosophical inquiry now chiefly noted for coining the word 'Scientology' decades before its later, unrelated use.The Origins of Popular Superstitions and Customs — T. Sharper KnowlsonThe Origins of Popular Superstitions and Customs by T. Sharper Knowlson — a systematic survey of the mythological and psychological roots of common English folk beliefs, customs, and superstitions, tracing their origins from pagan religion through medieval Christianity to Victorian survivals.The Sacred Tree, or The Tree in Religion and Myth — Mrs. J. H. PhilpotMrs. J. H. Philpot’s 1897 survey of the tree in religion and myth: tree-worship from Chaldaea, Egypt, India and Greece to the German grove and the Druids, the gods and their trees, wood-demons and tree-spirits, tree-oracles and the divining-rod, the universe-tree, paradise, and the May and Christmas customs, with 388 notes and 28 figures.The Science of Fairy Tales — Edwin Sidney HartlandThe Science of Fairy Tales — Edwin Sidney Hartland's 1891 systematic folklore study: the Supernatural Birth and the Swan-Maiden, Changelings, Visits to Fairyland, the Prohibition and the Chain of Events, and the comparative mythology of Celtic and Teutonic folk belief.The Stories of the Months and Days — Reginald C. CouzensCouzens's 1923 children's mythology primer explaining the pagan Roman and Norse gods and stories behind the English names of the months and days of the week.The Student's Mythology — C. A. WhiteC. A. White’s schoolbook of mythology in question and answer, in the revised New York edition of 1889: the gods, heroes, poets, oracles, games, theatre and statues of Greece and Rome in forty-two chapters, then ten chapters on Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Hindoo, Chinese, Tibetan, Scandinavian, Celtic, Aztec and Peruvian belief, with a supplement on ancient authors and an index.The Unicorn — A Mythological Investigation — Robert Brown, JrRobert Brown, Jr.'s 1881 comparative-mythology study arguing the unicorn originated as a lunar symbol, tracing it through heraldry, ancient art, and Near Eastern, Vedic, and Zoroastrian myth.The Wandering Host — David Starr JordanDavid Starr Jordan's 1904 allegory of the spiritual life as a journey over a mountain toward a river, tracing how organized bands, dogma, ritual, and reform rise and fall away among the pilgrims.The Wandering Jew — Moncure Daniel ConwayMoncure Daniel Conway’s 1881 study of the legend of the Wandering Jew, from the Cartaphilus story recorded at St. Albans in 1228 and the German Ahasuerus pamphlets, through the undying ones of other traditions, the mark of Cain, Shylock and the persecution of the Jews, to the poems and romances on Ahasuerus in Germany, France and England.The Worship of the Serpent — John Bathurst DeaneJohn Bathurst Deane's 1833 comparative study arguing that serpent worship across the ancient world preserves a scattered folk-memory of the Fall of Man.Tom Tit Tot — Edward CloddTom Tit Tot — Edward Clodd's study of the Rumpelstiltskin story type (Guessing the Helper's Name) and its folklore significance: a classic of comparative folklore methodology (1898).Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-Lore — Charles HardwickCharles Hardwick's complete 1872 study of Lancashire and northern English folklore, seasonal customs, witchcraft, fairies, sacred places, and comparative mythology.Vampires and Vampirism — Dudley WrightDudley Wright’s 1914 collection and survey of vampire beliefs and stories, from Babylonian incantations and Greek and Slavic lore through the vampire cases of eighteenth-century Hungary and Serbia, British and Russian accounts, living vampires and the vampire in literature, to the psychical theories of his own day, with a bibliography of books and periodicals.
Animal Mythology3 pages
Historical studies of animal symbolism, legendary zoology, and the comparative mythologies attached to creatures of earth, air, and water.
Folk Song and Ballad Studies1 page
Folklore Journals2 pages
Complete volumes of the founding periodicals of folklore science — the journals where the discipline argued itself into existence, article by article, from the 1880s onward.
Ritual and Romance1 page
Historical ritualist studies of romance, sacred kingship, seasonal ceremony, myth, and literary transmission.
Ritual and Sacred Performance1 page
Historical comparative studies of ritual movement, sacred dance, ceremony, procession, and religious performance.
Shapeshifting and Lycanthropy3 pages
Historical studies of werewolves, shapeshifting, transformation lore, and the changing explanations attached to them.