“Folklore and Mythology”

“Folklore and Mythology”

By Juan Gerardo Chan Chan

Teacher Reyna Zagday Mendez

8° Semester

Date: 30-May-2014

INDEX

• Prologue………………………………………………………………………….1

• Introduction…………………………………………………………………….1

• Objectives………………………………………………………………………..1

• Meaning of Folklore…………………………………………………………2

• Study of the Folklore……………………………………………………….2

• Folkloristics Areas…………………………………………………………..2

• Use of the Folklore…………………………………………………………..3

• Popular Creatures in the Folklore…………………………………….3

• Dragons in the Folklore……………………………………………………3

• Symbolism of the Dragon…………………………………………………4

• Oriental Dragons……………………………………………………………..4

• Occidental Dragons………………………………………………………….4

• Dragons around the world……………………………………………….5

• Apep………………………………………………………………………………..5

• Gulpi………………………………………………………………………………..5

• Do Ani Do Nedo.………………………………………………………………5

• Quetzalcoatl.…..……………………………………………………………….6

• Ladon……………………………………………………………………………….6

• Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..6

• Sources…………………………………………………………………………….7

Prologue

Folklore is an important element that takes part in the concept of culture, it is a concept that explains and shows us how humans have lived alongside with the environment, with their society; and how the society has changed for good or for bad in a matter of time.

The folklore is not formed by an amount of rigid concepts or actions, the content of these could present changes along the difference of time and space. Therefore we can certainly say that folklore, as well everything that represents it, is present in every corner and place as well time in our globe.

Introduction

We can observe that around us and our community there is a vast flow of stories, myths and testimonies about how things, disasters, phenomenon or slightly changes are done by nature or any other force superior than nature. Those ideas or beliefs are the essence of folklore.

All these stories have been passed from generation to generation trough different methods, writing and speech, that’s how these stories from ancient time are still popular in our days.

Objectives.

The objective of this work is to release some information about how the Folklore, being an important element of every culture, is relevant on the determination of a structuralized society.

Also pinpoint some of the concepts on the world of Folklore along with the review of some elements that are peripheral on this topic.

Meaning of the word Folklore

The world Folklore comes from the English words: folk that means people, nation and the word lore that means knowledge, then in the most basic way it could be understood as the “knowledge shared by some people”; but being concrete the world folklore is the expression of the culture of an specific place trough aspects like furniture, architecture, clothes, food and so on; these could be identified among other because of their singularity.

Thomson, a British archeologist and famous writer, introduced the term “folklore” in August 22, 1846 in order to depict the “popular antique”.

Study of the Folklore.

The study of folklore is called “folkloristics”, and those who study it are referred as “folklorists”. In scholarly usage, folkloristics represents an emphasis on the contemporary, social aspects of expressive culture, in contrast to the more literary or historical study of cultural texts.

Other terms that may be confused with folkloristics include the adjective “folkloristic,” to mean an academically oriented study and the term “folkloric” to mean materials having the character of folklore or tradition. Also, scholars specializing in folkloristics are known as folklorists.

Folkloristics Areas

This subject has a vast field of study so in order to make it easier to study it is commonly divided into four principal areas of study.

• Artifacts (such as items used in rituals)

• Transmissible entity (oral tradition)

• Culture (ideas and concepts of the world)

• Behavior (rituals and ceremonies)

Propose and use of the folklore

Tough the folklore could contain religious and mythological elements, it actually studies the hidden aspects about daily events, it relates the practical things (for example a phenomenon as rain, a sunset or the change of season) with the esoterically ones, like a god, a deity or a spirit. The folklore can be used to describe a situation, where religious/holy aspects aren’t present. This knowledge is based on magical components

Creatures in the folklore

A mythological creature is an animal described in non-historical or yet to be verified stories that sometimes involve the supernatural. Other mythological animals, such as the unicorn, were

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