LibGuides: Folklore: Background information

Encyclopedias, dictionaries

A to Z World Superstitions and Folklore by Sibylla Putzi
ISBN: 9781607801191
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
A to Z World Superstitions & Folklore is an encyclopedia featuring myths, legends and irrational beliefs passed down through generations in 175 countries worldwide. Detailed entries on spirit worship, curses, mystical characters, folk tales, burial and... Sources not provided.
American Folklore by Jan Harold Brunvand
ISBN: 9780203306222
Publication Date: 2006
Difficult to use, but containing over 500 articles spotlighting folk literature, music, and crafts; sports and holidays; tall tales and legendary figures; genres and forms; scholarly approaches and theories; regions and ethnic groups; performers and collectors; writers and scholars; religious beliefs and practices. Each article accompanied by a brief, up-to-date bibliography.

Gale eBooks
100s of encyclopedias, dictionaries on many different topics, including Folklore. Word counts showing in search results convey length and depth of articles. Includes Creation Myths of the World,

Motif-index of folk-literature; a classification of narrative elements in folktales, ballads, myths, fables, mediaeval romances, exempla, fabliaux, jest-books, and local legends by Thompson, Stith, 1885-1976
Call Number: GR 67 T52
Publication Date: 1955-58; Rev. and enl. ed.
Links to the Hathi Trust online version of Stith Thompson's 6-volume classic work. Complex structure begins with vol. 6, the index.
The types of the folk-tale; a classification and bibliography. Antti Aarne's Verzeichnis der Märchentypen (FF communications no.3) translated and enlarged by Stith Thompson by Aarne, Antti, updated and translated by Thompson
Publication Date: 1973
Aarne's work was limited to European folk tales, laying the foundation for Stith Thompson's contribution to the indexing effort. In 1961, Thompson revised and expanded the text he had translated in 1928, creating the Aarne-Thompson (AT or AaTh) tale type system.

ThEMA (Thesaurus Exemplorum Medii Aevi)
Searchable database of medieval stories originally from the Latin aimed at preaching, intended as instructional tools for the lay audience. The exempla summaries are provided in the language of the indexer, for the most part in French and Italian. The index keywords are created in five languages: French, German, English, Italian, and Spanish.
Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts
From D. L. Ashliman, University of Pittsburgh. Use [ctrl] f (find) for most complete search. Headings are not intuitive. English sources.