European folklore
Encyclopedia
European folklore or Western folklore refers to the folklore
of the western world
, especially when discussed comparatively.
There is, of course, no single European culture, but nevertheless the common history of Christendom
during the Middle Ages
and the Early Modern period
has resulted in a number of traditions that are shared in many ethnic or regional cultures of Europe.
This concerns notably common traditions based on Christian mythology
, i.e. certain commonalities in celebrating Christmas
, such as the various Christmas gift-bringer
s, or customs associated with All Souls' Day.
In addition, there are certain apotropaic gestures or practices found in large parts of Europe, such as the knocking on wood
or the fingers crossed
gesture.
, including mythology
, Hellenistic religion
and magical or cultic practice
was very influential on the formative stage of Christianity
, and can be found as a substrate in the traditions of all territories formerly colonized by the Roman Empire
, and by extension in those territories reached by Christianization
during the Middle Ages
. This includes all of Europe
, and much of the Middle East
and North Africa
. These traditions inherited from folk beliefs in the Roman era were syncretized with local traditions, notably Germanic
, Celtic and Slavic.
Many folk traditions also originated by contact with the Islamic world, especially in the Balkans
and in the Iberian peninsula
, which were ruled by Islamic empires before being re-conquered (in the case of the Balkans, partially) by Christian forces. The result of such cultural contact is visible e.g. in the tradition of the Morris Dance
in England, an adaptation of the "moorish" dances of the late medieval period.
The result were the related, but regionally distinct, folk traditions as they existed in Europe on the eve of the Early Modern period
.
In modern times, and especially since the 19th century, there has been a lot of cross-pollination between these traditions, often by the detour of American folklore.
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
of the western world
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, especially when discussed comparatively.
There is, of course, no single European culture, but nevertheless the common history of Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and the Early Modern period
Early modern period
In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...
has resulted in a number of traditions that are shared in many ethnic or regional cultures of Europe.
This concerns notably common traditions based on Christian mythology
Christian mythology
Christian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. In the study of mythology, the term "myth" refers to a traditional story, often one which is regarded as sacred and which explains how the world and its inhabitants came to have their present form.Classicist G.S. Kirk defines a...
, i.e. certain commonalities in celebrating Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, such as the various Christmas gift-bringer
Christmas gift-bringer
on that page, and A number of Midwinter or Christmas traditions in European folklore involve gift-bringers. Mostly involving the figure of a bearded old man, the traditions have mutually influenced one another, and have adopted aspects from Christian hagiography, even before the modern period.In...
s, or customs associated with All Souls' Day.
In addition, there are certain apotropaic gestures or practices found in large parts of Europe, such as the knocking on wood
Knocking on wood
Knocking on wood, or to touch wood refers to the apotropaic tradition in western folklore of literally touching/knocking on wood, or merely stating that you are, in order to avoid "tempting fate" after making a favourable observation, a boast, or speaking of one's own death.*In some countries,...
or the fingers crossed
Fingers Crossed
-Track listing:...
gesture.
History
The culture of Classical AntiquityClassical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
, including mythology
Classical mythology
Classical mythology or Greco-Roman mythology is the cultural reception of myths from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Along with philosophy and political thought, mythology represents one of the major survivals of classical antiquity throughout later Western culture.Classical mythology has provided...
, Hellenistic religion
Hellenistic religion
Hellenistic religion is any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of the people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire . There was much continuity in Hellenistic religion: the Greek gods continued to be worshiped, and the...
and magical or cultic practice
Magic in the Greco-Roman world
The study of magic in the Greco-Roman world is a branch of the disciplines of classics, ancient history and religious studies. In the ancient post-hellenistic world of the Greeks and Romans , the public and private rituals associated with religion are accepted by historians and archaeologists to...
was very influential on the formative stage of Christianity
Origins of Christianity
For centuries, the traditional understanding has been that Judaism came before Christianity and that Christianity separated from Judaism some time after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE....
, and can be found as a substrate in the traditions of all territories formerly colonized by the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, and by extension in those territories reached by Christianization
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. This includes all of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and much of the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. These traditions inherited from folk beliefs in the Roman era were syncretized with local traditions, notably Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
, Celtic and Slavic.
Many folk traditions also originated by contact with the Islamic world, especially in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and in the Iberian peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, which were ruled by Islamic empires before being re-conquered (in the case of the Balkans, partially) by Christian forces. The result of such cultural contact is visible e.g. in the tradition of the Morris Dance
Morris dance
Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells may also be wielded by the dancers...
in England, an adaptation of the "moorish" dances of the late medieval period.
The result were the related, but regionally distinct, folk traditions as they existed in Europe on the eve of the Early Modern period
Early modern period
In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...
.
In modern times, and especially since the 19th century, there has been a lot of cross-pollination between these traditions, often by the detour of American folklore.
Regional traditions
- Northern Europe
- Estonian folkloreEstonian folkloreThe earliest mentioning of Estonian singing dates back to Saxo Grammaticus Gesta Danorum . Saxo speaks of Estonian warriors who sang at night while waiting for a battle. Henry of Livonia in the beginning of the 13th. century describes Estonian sacrificial customs, gods and spirits. In 1578...
- Finnish folkloreFinnish mythologyFinnish mythology is the mythology that went with Finnish paganism which was practised by the Finnish people prior to Christianisation. It has many features shared with fellow Finnic Estonian mythology and its non-Finnic neighbours, the Balts and the Scandinavians...
- Lithuanian folkloreLithuanian mythologyLithuanian mythology is an example of Baltic mythology, developed by Lithuanians throughout the centuries.-History of scholarship:Surviving information about Baltic paganism in general is very sketchy and incomplete. As with most ancient Indo-European cultures Lithuanian mythology is an example of...
- Scandinavian folkloreScandinavian folkloreScandinavian folklore is the folklore of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Swedish speaking parts of Finland.Collecting folklore began when Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden sent out instructions to all of the priests in all of the parishes to collect the folklore of their area...
- Estonian folklore
- Western and Southern Europe
- Alpine folklorePaganism in the Eastern AlpsThe central and eastern Alps of Europe are rich in folklore traditions dating back to pre-Christian times, with surviving elements amalgamated from Germanic, Gaulish , Slavic and Raetian culture....
- Dutch folklore
- French folkloreFrench folkloreFrench folklore encompasses the fables, folklore and fairy tales and legends of the Gauls, Franks, Normans, Bretons, Occitans, and other peoples living in France.-Folklore from the Middle Ages:...
- German folkloreGerman folkloreGerman folklore shares many characteristics with Scandinavian folklore and English folklore due to their origins in a common Germanic mythology. It reflects a similar mix of influences: a pre-Christian pantheon and other beings equivalent to those of Norse mythology; magical characters associated...
- Italian folklore
- Swiss folklore
- Folk CatholicismFolk CatholicismFolk Catholicism is any of various varieties of Catholicism as actually practiced in Catholic communities around the world. Practices that are identified by outside observers as "folk Catholicism" vary from place to place, and often vary as well from official Roman Catholic Church doctrine.Some...
- British Isles
- English folkloreEnglish folkloreEnglish folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed...
- Irish folkloreIrish mythologyThe mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
- Hebridean mythology and folkloreHebridean mythology and folkloreThe Inner and Outer Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland are made up of a great number of large and small islands. These isolated and mostly uninhabited islands are the source of a number of Hebridean myths and legends...
- Scottish folkloreScottish mythologyScottish mythology may refer to any of the mythologies of Scotland.Myths have emerged for various purposes throughout the history of Scotland, sometimes being elaborated upon by successive generations, and at other times being completely rejected and replaced by other explanatory narratives.-...
- Welsh folklore
- English folklore
- Alpine folklore
- Eastern Europe
- Albanian folkloreAlbanian folkloreAlbanian mythology comprises myths and legends of the Albanians. The elements of Albanian mythology are of Paleo-Balkanic origin and almost all of them are pagan....
- Hungarian folkloreHungarian mythologyHungarian mythology includes the myths, legends, folk tales, fairy tales and gods of the Hungarians. Many parts of it are thought to be lost, i.e. only some texts remained which can be classified as a myth. However, a significant amount of Hungarian mythology was successfully recovered in the last...
- Montenegrin folkloreMontenegrin folkloreMontenegrin folklore shares many characteristics with Albanian folklore and Serbian folklore, which it has cultural and historical ties with.-Dances:...
- Romanian folklore
- Slavic folklore
- Polish folklore
- Russian folklore
- Albanian folklore
See also
- Western FolkloreWestern FolkloreWestern Folklore is a quarterly academic journal for the study of folklore published by the Western States Folklore Society. It was established in 1942 as the California Folklore Quarterly and obtained its current name in 1947...
- American folklore
- Ethnic groups of Europe
- Folk CatholicismFolk CatholicismFolk Catholicism is any of various varieties of Catholicism as actually practiced in Catholic communities around the world. Practices that are identified by outside observers as "folk Catholicism" vary from place to place, and often vary as well from official Roman Catholic Church doctrine.Some...
- European culture
External links
- "folklore europaea", Festivals-Customs-Traditions in Europe (at Freiburg University)