180 Fun Facts About Folklore

The word 'folklore' was coined in 1846 by which Englishman?

He proposed it as a good Saxon compound to replace 'popular antiquities'.

Who expanded Antti Aarne's 1910 folktale classification into the standard European system?

The Aarne-Thompson index gives every tale type a number, so Cinderella is ATU 510A wherever it is told.

Besides verbal, material and customary traditions, folklorists recognise a fourth genre devoted to what?

Childlore includes playground rhymes, counting-out games and the rules of tag, passed from child to child rather than from adults.

The Brothers Grimm first published their Children's and Household Tales in which year?

Jacob and Wilhelm, born in Hanau, also began the definitive German dictionary in 1838.

Which of these tales was NOT popularised by the Grimms' collection?

That one is a literary tale by Hans Christian Andersen; the Grimms gave us Cinderella, Snow White and Hansel and Gretel among others.

Paul Bunyan is customarily accompanied by which animal?

The pair stand as oversized statues in Bemidji, Minnesota, and many other towns.

Paul Bunyan was popularised by a 1916 promotional pamphlet for which kind of business?

Writer William Laughead did it for the Red River Lumber Company, which is why scholars such as Richard Dorson call Bunyan 'fakelore'.

Which term did folklorist Dorson apply to invented traditions like Paul Bunyan?

The character did begin in loggers' oral tales, but the version everyone knows was written to sell timber.

In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga's forest hut stands on what?

She travels in a wooden mortar, steering with a pestle, and can be villain or helper depending on the tale.

Baba Yaga flies through the air in what?

She wields the pestle as she goes; Alexander Afanasyev's collections include her in 'Vasilisa the Beautiful' and 'Marya Morevna'.

What is the leprechaun's principal occupation in Irish folklore?

The solitary fairy is said to grant three wishes in exchange for release if you can catch him.

Before the 20th century, what colour was the leprechaun generally said to wear?

The green outfit is a modern makeover; the earliest reference to the creature is in the medieval tale Echtra Fergus mac Leti.

John Henry, the American folk hero, is said to have raced and beaten what?

The 'steel-driving man' won but died with his hammer in his hand; the ballad exists in dozens of versions.

The Big Bend Tunnel traditionally linked to John Henry's contest is near Talcott in which state?

The town holds a yearly John Henry festival, though one historian's records place the race 40 miles away at the Lewis Tunnel in Virginia.

What was Johnny Appleseed's real name?

Born in Leominster, Massachusetts, in 1774, he was a devoted follower of Emanuel Swedenborg and handed out religious books along with seeds.

Apples grown from Johnny Appleseed's seeds were mostly good for making what?

Seed-grown apples are unpredictable to eat but fine to press, and the frontier was thirsty.

According to period accounts, what did Johnny Appleseed wear on his head?

The utensil doubled as his mush pot, and he planted nurseries from Pennsylvania to Ontario.

The Pied Piper legend is set in Hamelin, a town in which country?

The traditional date is 26 June 1284, when 130 children followed him out of town.

How many children is the Pied Piper said to have led away from Hamelin?

The Grimms compiled the tale from 11 sources for Deutsche Sagen in 1816, and Robert Browning wrote his poem from a 1605 version.

What is banned on Hamelin's Bungelosenstrasse, said to be the last place the children were seen?

The name means 'street without drums'.

The first clear reference to 'rhymes of Robin Hood' appears in which 1370s poem?

By then the outlaw was already familiar enough that a lazy priest in the poem knows his rhymes better than his prayers.

Robin Hood is traditionally dressed in what colour?

The cloth took its name from the dyers of Lincoln; his band lives in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire.

In the Robin Hood legend, which absent king does Prince John try to usurp?

The Lionheart was away on crusade and then in captivity, which is why later tellings set Robin in the 1190s.

Anansi, the trickster of Akan folklore in Ghana, is most commonly depicted as what animal?

The name literally means spider, and the tales crossed to the Caribbean with the Atlantic slave trade.

In the famous tale, Anansi sets out to buy all the stories in the world from which sky god?

Ghanaian children still grow up on 'anansesem', spider tales named after him.

In Japanese folklore, a kitsune is a spirit taking the form of which animal?

They grow extra tails after living 100 years, up to nine, and are especially fond of impersonating beautiful women.

In Japan, rain falling from a clear sky is called 'kitsune no yomeiri', meaning what?

The kitsune were originally messengers of the rice deity Inari.

In Irish folklore, what does a banshee's wail foretell?

Her name means 'woman of the fairy mound', and some legends say she can only keen while combing her long hair.

In Jewish folklore, a golem is a being fashioned from what?

The most famous, the Golem of Prague, is credited to the 16th-century Rabbi Judah Loew, who used clay from the banks of the Vltava.

In some golem tales, erasing one letter turns the word 'emet' (truth) into what?

Removing the initial aleph does it; the word golem itself appears once in the Bible, in Psalm 139.

La Llorona, whose name means 'the Weeping Woman', is said to roam near what?

The story is told to keep children away from dangerous rivers, and some scholars link her to the Aztec goddess Cihuacoatl.

The bunyip, said to lurk in swamps and billabongs, comes from the folklore of which country?

The word comes from the Wemba-Wemba language of Victoria; European settlers of the 1840s assumed it was an undiscovered animal.

Aesop, credited with the famous fables, is described as a storyteller of what status in Greece?

He is said to have lived between 620 and 564 BCE; Ben Perry's 1952 index numbers the fables by type.

In Alpine folklore, which horned figure accompanies Saint Nicholas on the night of 5 December?

He carries chains and a bundle of birch branches, and young men dressed as him chase crowds in the Krampuslauf.

What are the horned Alpine figure's chains said to symbolise?

The evening of 5 December is Krampusnacht.

Swiss folk hero William Tell is famous for shooting what off his son's head?

The legend is set in Altdorf in the canton of Uri, traditionally in 1307.

Which composer's 1829 opera about William Tell was based on Friedrich Schiller's play?

Schiller's Wilhelm Tell premiered in 1804; the opera's overture later became the Lone Ranger theme.

In Spanish-speaking countries, the tooth fairy's role is played by Ratoncito Perez, which is what kind of animal?

He was introduced in an 1894 tale by Luis Coloma; French children get 'La Petite Souris'.

The earliest documented mention of the American tooth fairy appeared in 1908 in which newspaper?

A 'Household Hints' columnist suggested it as a nice plan for mothers of reluctant children.

Nasreddin Hodja, the wise fool of folklore, is traditionally buried in Aksehir, in which modern country?

Tradition places his birth in the 13th century near Sivrihisar before he settled in Aksehir.

Japanese folk hero Momotaro was born from what?

An old childless woman found it floating down a river; he later set off for Onigashima with a dog, a monkey and a pheasant.

Which food did Momotaro share with his animal companions to win their help?

The kibi dango gave Okayama its claim on the hero, though that link was only made in modern times.

The Menehune of Hawaiian tradition build temples, fishponds and roads under what constraint?

The Alekoko fishpond on Kauai is the best-known structure credited to the dwarf-like people of the forests.

In which state did taxidermist Douglas Herrick invent the jackalope in the 1930s?

The town of Douglas sells novelty hunting licences; the legend may owe something to rabbits with horn-like growths from the Shope papilloma virus.

In Washington Irving's 1820 tale, the Headless Horseman is the ghost of what kind of soldier?

The German mercenary lost his head to a cannonball; the Irish dullahan, who carries his head under his arm, is an older headless rider.

The word 'Sasquatch' is an anglicised form of a Halkomelem word meaning what?

The name 'Bigfoot' came later, coined by loggers after 16-inch prints turned up in Humboldt County in 1958.

In 2002 the family of Ray Wallace revealed that he had faked the 1958 Bigfoot tracks using what?

The Patterson-Gimlin film was shot in the same Bluff Creek area nine years later.

The name chupacabra literally means what in Spanish?

The first widely publicised sightings came from Puerto Rico in 1995.

In which year did the Loch Ness Monster first come to worldwide attention?

The earliest report of a monster near the loch is in Adomnán's 7th-century Life of St. Columba.

The word Yeti derives from Tibetan words meaning 'rocky place' and what animal?

Folklorists trace the legend to Sherpa lore and misidentified bears or yaks.

Near which town were Mothman sightings reported from 1966 to 1967?

John Keel's 1975 book linked the sightings to the Silver Bridge collapse.

Which birds are believed to be the likely source of the Mothman legend?

The first newspaper report was headlined 'Couples See Man-Sized Bird'.

According to legend, the Jersey Devil was the cursed thirteenth child of a woman known as what?

The creature is said to haunt the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

The wendigo comes from the folklore of which language family of peoples?

'Wendigo psychosis' is a culture-bound syndrome marked by a craving for human flesh.

The term for a skin-walker, yee naaldlooshii, translates as what?

The term is never applied to healers.

Which Danish bishop is usually credited with the first full description of the kraken, in 1753?

He described it as a giant octopus with a reputation for pulling down ships.

How does a selkie change from animal to human form?

Stealing and hiding the skin traps a selkie in human form.

The Kelpies, two 30-metre steel horse-head sculptures, stand in which Scottish town?

Kelpies are shape-shifting water horses said to haunt Scottish lochs.

What is the Latin name for the will-o'-the-wisp?

It means 'foolish flame'; the lights are explained by oxidising marsh gases.

What did folklore call a piece of wood magically made to resemble a kidnapped human?

More often the changeling was a supernatural being in disguise.

A fairy ring is actually a naturally occurring ring of what?

Rings can grow to over 10 metres across as fungal mycelium spreads outward.

In English folklore, what must you leave by the hearth to keep a brownie doing chores?

Offer a brownie clothing and it will leave forever.

According to Lancashire lore, what happens if you give a boggart a name?

A house boggart may follow a family wherever they flee.

The redcap goblin of the Anglo-Scottish border soaks its cap in what?

It can be driven off with Scripture or a crucifix, leaving behind a large tooth.

Black Shuck, the ghostly black dog, roams which English region?

A famous 1577 account describes the beast appearing at Bungay, Suffolk.

Who proposed in 1939 that the Green Man carving was a pagan mythological figure?

The popular idea is not supported by evidence; art historians call the carvings foliate heads.

Herne the Hunter, the antlered ghost of a royal forest, was first mentioned in which play?

Shakespeare's 1597 play calls him a former forest keeper who haunts an oak.

Which scholar developed the concept of the Wild Hunt in his 1835 Deutsche Mythologie?

Seeing the hunt was thought to foretell war, plague or one's own death.

Before pumpkins, jack-o'-lanterns were carved from which root vegetables?

Irish and Celtic-influenced immigrants brought the carving tradition to America.

In the Irish legend, Stingy Jack is doomed to roam the Earth lighting his way with what?

His trickery of the Devil left him barred from both heaven and hell.

Historically, young women performing the Bloody Mary ritual hoped to glimpse what in the mirror?

Seeing a skull instead meant they would die before marrying.

Whose 1981 book popularised the vanishing hitchhiker urban legend?

He traced the story back to the 1870s.

The 'Hook' urban legend gained wide attention when reprinted in 1960 in which advice column?

The tale of a hook-handed killer and a parked couple dates from at least the mid-1950s.

Sewer-alligator legends are most associated with New York and which other city?

New York really does rescue a few small alligators each year, mostly above ground.

What was the British name for the wall-peeking doodle that merged with 'Kilroy was here'?

American GIs spread the graffiti worldwide during World War II.

Cornish miners tossed the last bite of what into the mine to appease the knockers?

The knockers' taps were said to warn of impending collapse.

Which writer invented Pecos Bill in a 1923 Century Magazine story?

Folklorists later showed his 'oral tradition' was invented.

According to legend, Pecos Bill was raised as a feral child by which animals?

His love interest was Slue-Foot Sue.

Casey Jones died in 1900 when his train hit a stalled freight train at which Mississippi town?

His engine No. 382 was known as the 'Cannonball'.

Mike Fink, 'king of the keelboaters', earned which nickname as a teenage marksman at Fort Pitt?

He later picked up the name 'the snapping turtle' on the rivers.

Who first recorded the Br'er Rabbit tales in the 19th century?

His Uncle Remus stories drew on African trickster traditions.

In the Uncle Remus tale, who builds the Tar-Baby to trap Br'er Rabbit?

The more the rabbit fights the tar doll, the more stuck he becomes.

Which US president recalled hearing Br'er Rabbit tales from his Southern aunt as a child?

His uncle Robert Roosevelt transcribed some of her stories.

Coyote is the tutelary spirit of 'Coyoteway', a curing ceremony of which people?

He plays a role similar to Raven in other cultures.

In some Indigenous tellings, the thunderbird creates thunder how?

Lightning flashes from its eyes in both Algonquian and Iroquois tellings.

El Silbón, the whistling lost soul of Venezuelan folklore, murdered which relative?

He killed him for failing to bring home deer offal for dinner.

The Curupira, Brazilian guardian of the forests, is famous for what unusual feature?

The Jesuit Joseph of Anchieta first recorded it in 1560.

How many legs does the Brazilian trickster Saci have?

He wears a magic red cap and can be trapped in a bottle while in the form of a dust devil.

Which writer's 1917–1921 collections shaped most modern Saci folklore in Brazil?

The Saci blends Tupi lore with African-Brazilian and European elements.

The Slavic household spirit Domovoy takes its name from an Indo-European root meaning what?

The root also gives Latin domus.

Leshy, the Slavic forest lord, is said to whisk away children who were what?

His name means 'the woodland one'.

In Ukraine, the water spirit rusalka was known by what name?

Northern Russian names included 'loskotukha', the tickler.

When angered, what does the Slavic vodyanoy do to water mills and dams?

Fishermen, millers and even beekeepers made sacrifices to appease him.

Koschei the Deathless hides his death inside a needle inside an egg inside what animal?

The duck is in a hare, in a chest, on the island of Buyan.

The suffix in 'kikimora' shares a root with which English word?

In Polish lore, mora are the souls of the living that wander at night as moths.

What food does the Nordic nisse or tomte expect as a yuletide reward?

The name may derive from Niels or Nicholas.

The beautiful huldra of Scandinavian folklore hides which giveaway feature under her clothes?

Some also have a back like a hollowed-out tree.

The names of the Germanic water spirits nix, neck and nøkk derive from a root meaning what?

The German Nixe was a female river mermaid.

In Scandinavian folklore, some landmarks are said to be trolls that were exposed to what?

In Old Norse sources trolls dwell in rocks, mountains and caves.

In Icelandic sagas, the draugr typically lives where?

They are animated corpses rather than ghosts, often guarding treasure.

Iceland's Yule Cat eats people who fail to receive what before Christmas Eve?

It is considered the pet of the ogress Grýla.

How many Yule Lads visit Icelandic towns, one per night, before Christmas?

Disobedient children get a rotten potato in their shoe.

On which night does the Italian Befana deliver gifts to children?

She arrives via the chimney and leaves coal for bad children.

Perchta, the Alpine goddess-figure, is often identified as the southern counterpart of whom?

Both oversee spinning and appear during the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Knecht Ruprecht first appears in written sources as a figure in a 17th-century procession in which city?

He is Saint Nicholas's most familiar attendant in German lore.

In the popular origin story, what was Père Fouettard before joining Saint Nicholas?

He and his wife murdered three boys, whom the saint resurrected.

The ship-kobold Klabautermann's name is thought to derive from a verb meaning what?

He assists sailors and fishermen on the North Sea.

Which poet first used the name Erlkönig, in his 1778 ballad 'Erlkönigs Tochter'?

Goethe's 1782 poem, set by Schubert, made the child-killing elf famous.

How tall is the Lorelei rock on the Rhine?

Its name may mean 'murmuring rock' after the echo and currents there.

What English nickname did early writers give the turnip-counting spirit Rübezahl?

In one tale a captive princess made him count turnips while she escaped.

The most famous golem legend involves which 16th-century rabbi?

He was the rabbi of Prague.

Whose 1920 play The Dybbuk popularised the possessing spirit in literary circles?

The Hebrew root of dybbuk means 'to cling'.

Which 1786 Orientalist novel first used the word 'ghoul' in English literature?

The Arabic ghūl comes from a verb meaning 'to seize'.

The legendary roc is consistently depicted as large enough to carry off which animal?

It appears in two tales of the One Thousand and One Nights, including Sinbad.

The Japanese tengu are traditionally depicted in the garb of followers of which practice?

Its followers are the mountain ascetics called yamabushi.

A kappa is severely weakened if what happens to the 'dish' on its head?

Kappa love cucumbers and sumo wrestling.

Japanese oni are typically shown wearing loincloths of what and carrying what weapon?

Female oni are sometimes called Yamauba.

How can one survive an encounter with Japan's Slit-Mouthed Woman, Kuchisake-onna?

Answering yes or no to 'Am I beautiful?' both end badly.

Where does the Japanese schoolgirl ghost Hanako-san lurk?

Children dare classmates to summon her.

The Japanese baku is a supernatural being said to devour what?

Its name today also refers to the Malayan tapir.

The nian beast of Chinese New Year lore is said to be frightened by which colour?

Firecrackers and drums are also credited to scaring it off.

How many tails does the Korean gumiho have?

It is a cousin of the Chinese jiuweihu and Japanese kitsune.

Korean dokkaebi are formed by the spiritual possession of what?

Unlike ghosts, they do not arise from a human death.

Which Visayan province of the Philippines is especially associated with the aswang?

Spanish colonists called it the most feared creature of the islands.

How is a manananggal traditionally destroyed while it hunts?

Its severed lower torso must rejoin the flying upper half before sunrise.

The Philippine tree giant kapre is commonly depicted doing what in the branches?

The name comes from the Arabic kafir via Spanish cafre.

The Philippine tikbalang has the head and hooves of which animal?

Its limbs are so long its knees rise above its head when it squats.

The Thai krasue manifests as a floating woman's head trailing what?

Cambodia's Ahp and Malaysia's penanggalan are close relatives.

Signs that a kuntilanak or pontianak is near include an infant's cry and the smell of which flower?

She usually appears as a long-haired woman in white.

A toyol, the undead infant of Malay folklore, is typically used by its master for what?

Its Thai male form is the kuman-thong.

The South Asian churel is said to have which telltale physical feature?

She particularly targets the males of her own family for revenge.

In the Vetala tales, which legendary king tries to capture the corpse-inhabiting spirit?

The Baital Pachisi frames twenty-five tales that each end in a riddle.

The Romanian strigoi is linked etymologically to the Latin strix, associated with which bird?

Bram Stoker's Dracula may be a modern take on the strigoi.

The English word 'bogeyman' derives from Middle English bugge, meaning what?

Cognates include Scots bogle and Cornish bucca.

In E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 story, where does the Sandman take the eyes of sleepless children?

He feeds the eyes to his own children.

In the German-speaking lands where Groundhog Day lore began, which animal was the forecaster?

In Hungary the bear did the job when no badgers were around.

From which hill does Punxsutawney Phil emerge each February 2?

The top-hatted 'Inner Circle' claims to interpret his prediction; the event began formally in 1887.

A 2017 survey found four-leaf clovers occur roughly once in how many clovers?

That is almost twice as common as the oft-quoted 10,000 to 1.

How many leaflets did the record clover found in Japan in 2023 have?

Guinness World Records recognised Yoshiharu Watanabe's find.

By North American tradition, which of a rabbit's feet is the lucky one?

Some versions insist the rabbit be caught in a cemetery under a full moon.

Amulets against the evil eye have been found dating back roughly how far?

Glass evil-eye beads spread after about 1500 BC.

Which hand-shaped amulet is a famous talisman against the evil eye?

The nazar, a blue eye-shaped bead, is the other well-known charm.

Folklorist Steve Roud links modern 'touch wood' to which children's game?

Players were safe from being tagged while touching wood.

Which British Columbia body of water is home to the monster Ogopogo?

It is described as serpentine and up to 15 metres long.

The lake monster Champ is often falsely said to have been sighted in 1609 by which explorer?

The claim first appeared in a 1970 issue of Vermont Life.

In parts of Queensland the Yowie is known by what name?

The ape-like creature of the Outback has origins in Aboriginal oral history.

The hoax 'drop bear' is a predatory version of which animal?

Observers note its resemblance to the extinct marsupial lion Thylacoleo.

Linguists reconstruct the Māori word taniwha to a Proto-Oceanic term meaning what?

Taniwha may be protective guardians or predatory beings.

How does the Nguni tokoloshe become invisible?

Raising beds off the ground is a traditional protection.

Scholars trace the origin of Africa's water spirit Mami Wata to encounters with what in the 15th century?

A 19th-century snake-charmer print later reshaped her iconography.

Mokele-mbembe is a legendary water-dwelling creature of which river basin?

Expeditions seeking it have often been funded by young-Earth creationists.

The Zanzibar spirit Popobawa's Swahili name translates as what?

It sparked a wave of mass panic in 1995.

Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden, is depicted as the granddaughter of which gift-bringer?

She first appeared in Russian folklore only in the 19th century.

Which Russian town is considered the official residence of Ded Moroz?

Soviet authorities briefly banned him before he became a New Year fixture.

Which artist created the first alebrijes after fever dreams in 1930s Mexico City?

Oaxacan artisans later carved them from copal wood.

On what date do the Netherlands give Sinterklaas gifts?

Belgium and Luxembourg celebrate on the morning of the 6th.

Which 1850 book by an Amsterdam schoolteacher gave the earliest known illustration of Zwarte Piet?

A 'Sooty Piet' version had become more common than the traditional one by 2021.

Among which group did the Easter Hare originate as a judge of children's behaviour?

A German text of 1572 already mentions the creature.

Which department store published the 1939 booklet that introduced Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?

Robert L. May wrote it; Johnny Marks later wrote the song.

Werewolf trials first emerged in the early 15th century in what is now which country?

They peaked in the 17th century alongside witch trials.

In Haitian folklore, a zombie is reanimated by which kind of sorcerer?

W. B. Seabrook's 1929 The Magic Island introduced the concept to the West.

The German word poltergeist literally means what?

Skeptics explain cases as juvenile tricksters fooling adults.

The earliest known Cinderella-type story, about the Greek slave girl Rhodopis, was recorded by whom?

She marries the king of Egypt.

What is Little Red Riding Hood's Aarne–Thompson tale-type code?

Perrault first recorded it in literary form.

Which composer's opera Hänsel und Gretel premiered in 1893?

The Grimms likely heard the tale from Wilhelm's future wife Dortchen Wild.

In Rumpelstiltskin, what does the miller's daughter first give the imp for spinning straw into gold?

Her ring comes second; the third price is her firstborn child.

Charles Perrault led which faction in the great literary Quarrel of the 1680s?

His 1697 collection gave us Sleeping Beauty and Puss in Boots.

How many fairy tales did Hans Christian Andersen write, across nine volumes?

They have been translated into more than 125 languages.

What is the name of the mythical wealth-making machine in Finland's Kalevala?

Elias Lönnrot compiled the epic; the 1849 version has 22,795 verses.

How many traditional ballads did Francis James Child anthologise in the 19th century?

Bertrand Bronson later published the tunes.

Which Library of Congress collection did Alan Lomax direct?

He recorded on aluminium and acetate discs with his father John.

In which year was Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folktale published in Russian?

It went largely unnoticed in the West until an English translation in 1958.

Andrew Lang's tale anthologies, edited with his wife, are known by what collective name?

Leonora Blanche Lang did much of the translating.

In Washington Irving's tale, for how many years does Rip Van Winkle sleep in the Catskills?

He sleeps straight through the American Revolution after drinking with mysterious Dutchmen playing ninepins.

The spiny, bull-horned hodag was 'discovered' in 1893 near which Wisconsin town?

Prankster Eugene Shepard claimed his posse needed dynamite to kill it, and the beast later turned up in Paul Bunyan stories.

Which English city did Lady Godiva ride through naked, according to legend?

Later versions added a tailor named Thomas who watched and was struck blind, giving us the term 'Peeping Tom'.

In the legend, what calls Dick Whittington back to London as he flees his job as a scullion?

The real Richard Whittington was a high-born merchant who became Lord Mayor and probably never owned a cat.

Juan Ponce de León was supposedly told by Native Americans that the Fountain of Youth lay in which land?

Tales of youth-restoring waters go back to Herodotus and the Alexander Romance long before the 1513 Florida voyage.

The El Dorado legend is tied to gold offerings in which sacred body of water in Colombia?

A new Muisca ruler reportedly covered himself in gold dust and washed it off there; the golden Muisca raft is now in Bogotá's Museo del Oro.

The Slender Man creepypasta was created in June 2009 on which internet forum?

User Eric Knudsen, posting as Victor Surge, invented the faceless figure that later inspired Minecraft's Enderman.