Comparative folklore, ritual theory, fairy-tale science, myth criticism, and anthropology as modern reenchantment.
Pages
A Book of Folklore — Sabine Baring-Gould — A 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).
Fairies — Gertrude M. Faulding — Fairies — 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.
From Ritual to Romance — Jessie Weston — From 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.
The Fairy Mythology — Thomas Keightley — The 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 Golden Bough — Sir James George Frazer — A monumental study of comparative religion and mythology, tracing the universal pattern of the dying and resurrecting god through cultures worldwide.
The Myth of the Birth of the Hero — Otto Rank — The 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 Origins of Popular Superstitions and Customs — T. Sharper Knowlson — The 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 Science of Fairy Tales — Edwin Sidney Hartland — The 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.
Tom Tit Tot — Edward Clodd — Tom 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).