What is a folk story?

• A folk story is a narrative usually created anonymously and told and retold orally from one group to another across generations and centuries
• a form of education, entertainment, and history
• a lesson in morality, cultural values, and social requirements
• a renewed story as each teller and audience help make the story relevant to the local time and place

A folk story encourages

• imagination, fantasy, and even humor
• frank and open discussion without intimate revelations
• examination and reframing of human problems
• analysis and understanding of domestic violence

There are many different types of folk stories:

Folktales - fictional stories dealing with human relationships, morality, conflicts, human problems and solutions
Fairytales - stories of fantasy adapted from folktales, some (but not all) of which are designed to amuse children
Myths - stories explaining the origin of the world and dealing with cosmic issues, such as earth and sky, heaven and hell, gods, goddesses, and human beings; myths are often regarded as true by members of the group whose origin is being described
Legends - stories relating incidents often thought to be true, including tales of historical figures, heroic exploits, supernatural beings, and "urban legends" about presumed current happenings
Fables - stories in which animals take on human roles and illustrate moral teachings The folk stories that we use tend to be folktales and fairytales