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Folklore & Folk Culture

"The term 'folklore'was coined in 1846 to refer to the ballards, folktales and customs of the rural past. Nowdays 'folklore' is taken to refer to the everyday culture and cultrual traditions of all social groups-young as well as old, urban as well as rural, ourselves as well as others."

Folklore Society, University College, London



Kentucky Folklore

Kentucky Folklore
http://www.usgennet.org/family/baicon/kystories.html
A site which solicits and displays Kentucky folklore in the form of stories at no charge

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General Folklore

Myths and Legends
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~cbsiren/myth.html
Excellent, frequently updated, site containing indexes, site reviews, encyclopedias and dictionaries (including Bulfinch¡¯s), plus collections of folktales, fairytales, stories, and folklore sorted by type or country.  Includes sites suitable for children..
Eastern European Folklore and Customs
http://www.tccweb.org/folklore.html
Excerpts from several books about folklore, mythology, and folk tales.
The Encyclopedia Mythica
http://www.patheon.org/mythica/
An encyclopedia of mythology, folklore, and legend where you can look through the encyclopedia and read its articles.
American Folklife Center
http://lcweb.loc.gov/folklife/
Find information about the site, browse through the archives, view publications and recordings, and read about upcoming events.
Center for Southern Folklore
http://www.southrnfolklore.com/
See information and updates about the center and shop from their catalog.
Encarta Learning Zone
http://encarta.msn.com
Search for Folklore and find some top articles on legends and folklore.
Folklore
http://virtual.park.uga.edu/~clandrum/folklore.html
Three basic categories of folklore and examples of these.
Folklore, Myths, and Legends
http://www.mythology.com/
A listing of popular books about ghosts and myths.
Scottiesh Culture: Legends, Folklore, and Religion
http://www.tartans.com/legend.html
A list of books focused on legends and fairy tales plus a listing of festivals and celebrations.
Folklore: Irish/Celtic Seasonal Celebrations
http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~bj333/folklore.html
Articles about ancient tales, Monastic tales, seasonal celebrations, and links to other sites.
UFO Folklore
http://www.qtm.net/~geibdan/framemst.html
This is a site where you can read about abductions, sitings, crop circles and more.
Folklore, Myth, and Legend
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/storfolk.html
Read several articles about fables, fairy tales, and different versions of popular children¡¯s books.
Folklore
http://209.52.189.2/welcome.cfm/folklore
Read articles by Dubh Sidhe on folklore, legend, myth, tall tales, etc. and see how history and family lore relate to folklore. Also find links to other sites on the web.
Summer Solstice
http://www.celestia.com/SRP/MJ96/SummerSolstice.html
An article about ancient civiliaztion and the way in which they measured the seasons.
Folklore and Mythology: Electronic Texts
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html
An alphabetical listing of collected legends plus links to other folk and fairy tales and Germanic legends.
Stories, Folklore, and Fairy Tales Theme Page
http://www.cln.org/themes/fairytales.html
Links relating to stories, folklore, and fairy tales with two types of resources: curricular resources for students and instrucitonal materials for teachers.
Family Folklore: How to Collect Your Own Family Folklore
http://educate.si.edu/migrations/seek2/family.html
Guidelines for getting started, interviews, presentation, and more.
The Tree Leaves Folk Fellowship
http://www.treeleaves.com/index.html
Find information about ecology, folklore, folkways, events, folk art, etc.
American Life Histories: Manscripts from the Federal Writers Project 1936-1940
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/wpahome.html
Read the life hisories of several writers which were written by the staff of the Folklore Project for the WPA.
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Literature, Fables, and Fairies

Iconography Links
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/links/iconography.html
Several links to mythology pages including those about King Arthur, Bulfinch, and more.
Cinderella Stories
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/cinderella.html
A list of variations to the chilren¡¯s story Cinderella, including versions which can be found in folktale collections.
Fairy Related Links
http://www.faerielands.com/fairylinks/index.html
Links to topics such as art and literature, culture, business and commerce, and more.
Fables
http://www.fables.org/
This site sill allow you to visit the Town Crier to hear the latest happenings, read some new stories in the Great Hall, take a stroll through the Archives, enjoy the art in the Gallery, and more.
National Storytelling Network
http://www.storynet.org/
Learn about the network, storytelling festivals, see a calendar of events, visit the cyber caf¨¦, and more.
Hungarian Folk Art and Fine Art
http://www.hungarianfolkart.com/
Here you can view and purchase several pieces of folk art over the web.
The Folk Art Gallery
http://www.thefolkartgallery.com/
Take a look at a large variety of folk art from around the world. There are masks, textiles, ritual artifacts, pottery, and other items of interest.
Chinese Folk Art
http://www.chinesefolkart.com/
Here you can purchase or simply look at Chinese paintings, plates, embroidery, jewelry, stamps and more.
Dixie Folk Art
http://www.dixiefolkart.com/
Find information about the site, view inventory and articles, or visit other shops.
Questions & Answers About Folk Art
http://www.americaohyes.com/pages/guest.html
Questions about folk art are answered here by John Adams.
Folk Art and Outsider Art: America Oh Yes
http://www.americaohyes.com/
Visit this large collection of folk art by self-taught artists.
Casa Mexicana
http://www.casamexicanafolkart.com/
View several peices of folk art from Mexico along with a few items from South and Central America.
Ghost Dog Gallery
http://www.ghostdoggallery.com/
American folk art, outsider art, and primitive art by featured artists such as Ira Smith, Lynnette Cox, and Purvis Young.
Tias.com: Antiques and Collectibles
http://www.tias.com/
Visit over fifteen different stores containing collectibles of many kinds.
Artisans Gallery
http://www.folkartisans.com/index.html
Find information about the site, view inventory and articles, and visit other shops.
Everywhere Store
http://www.everywherestore.com/
Purchase and view items from Africa, Asia, Central and South America, India,Tibet, and Eastern Europe.
Folk Art and Craft Exchange
http://www.folkart.com/
View or purchase art from the country and class of your choice.
Folk Art Society of America
http://www.folkart.org/
Information aobut the society, membership, and upcoming events.
Cowboy Poets on the Internet
http://www.westfolk.org/travel.home.html
Information about the Western Folklife Center, programs, archives, and media.
Appalachian Traveler
http://www.apptrav.com/folk.html
View and order dolls, wood crafts, folk art, information about Appalachian fact and folklore, and more.
First Auction: In the Spotlight
http://folkart.about.com/arts/folkart/
Learn answers to questions about folk art, read folk art stories, find folk art definitions, and take a look at free folk art patterns.
Galleries and Shops: Folk Art
http://folkart.about.c...folkart/cs/galleriesshops/index.html
Take a look at art from several different stores and artists.
Toad Hollow Farm
http://www.toadhollowfarm.com/treetrunk.html
Here view amazing tree trunk homes for woodland creatures of all sorts.

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Folk Music And Dance

Folk Music of England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales & America
http://www.contemplator.com/wastrel.html
Here you can find the songs of Wastrels, Rascals, and Criminals on topics such as love, war and the sea.
Folk Music and Carolan
http://www.comtemplator.com/rcenter.html
A site where you can hear and purchase some interesting folk music in the forms of songbooks or albums.
The Mudcat Cafe
http://www.mudcat.org/
Look through or download your own copy of The Digital Tradition Folksong Database.
Explore the Archives
http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/folklore/content1/
Look through the Dance & Performance Archive, the Folksong & Music Archive and more.
The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection
http://www.smsu.edu/folksong/maxhunter/index.html
Listen to several folk songs from the Ozark.  Search the entire collection by song title, singer or catalog number.
Archives of Traditional Music
http://www.indiana.edu/~librarchm/home2.html
Learn about the archives, its mission, facilities, and order online.
The Society for Ethnomusicology
http://www.ethnomusicology.org/
Learn about SEM, membership, news, programs and more.

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Folk Medicine

Folk Medicine
http://virtual.park.uga.edu/~clandrum/category_html/medicine.html
Learn about folk medicine and read an example of it.
Folk Medicine
http://www2.humnet.ucla.edu/folkmed/
Read about the UCLA Folklore Archive Resource and search their database.
Gypsy Folk Medicine
http://www.cam.org/~jennyb/gypsy.html
A large list of cures for things such as warts, freckles, insomnia, nervousness, and headaches along with a few cleansing remedies.

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Folk Magic

Folk Magic in Britain 1200-2000
http://www.folkmagic.co.uk/
A site regarding unusual objects found such as charms, witch bottles, and written curses. Also, the researchers are trying to learn about witchcraft between the years 1200-2000.
Pennsylavania Dutch Hex Signs
http://www.amishmarket.com/Gifts/
A listing of items available which have hex signs.  Learn more about the meanings of hex signs  by selecting hex signs from the column on the left.

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Ghost Stories

Haunted Houses: What DoYou Believe?
http://www.realhaunts.com/
Stories of ghosts from across the U.S. and learn the causes for haunts.
American Ghosts & Hauntings
http://www.prairieghosts.com/home2.html
Make reservations for ghost tours and haunted events.

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Folk Festivals

Folk Festivals in the United States and Canada
http://www.folkfests.com
A directory of festival dates listed by state and province.
Kentucky Folk Festivals
http://oeonline.com/folk_fests/ky-fest.html
Announced dates for festivals around Kentucky.

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Women Folk

Womenfolk
http://womenfolk.com/
A site about quiltmaking, poetry, creativity and more.
Quilts Unlimited
http://www.quiltsunlimited.com/
Purchase antique quilts over the internet.
Animas Quilts, Inc.
http://www.animasquilts.com/animas.html
Shop online for quilts and pattern pieces and also visit a number of other recommended sites.
Diotima: Women and Gender in the Ancient World.
http://www.stoa.org/diotima/
Learn about this site, search courses, read essays, and view biblical studies.

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Urban Legends

Urban Legends: Don't Believe Everything You Read
http://www.scambuster.org/legends.html
This site has a list of urban legend e-mails which make the rounds regularly. Find out about their veracity, or just enjoy reading the kinds of folklore available on the Internet.
Urban Legends Reference Pages
http://www.snopes2.com/ulindex.htm
Urban legends on subjects including: weddings, horror, critters, pregnancies, Cokelore (the soft drink), college lore and even Titanic legends.
Hoaxbusters
http://HoaxBusters.ciac.org/
Hoax Busters is a public service connected with the U.S. Dept. of Energy which looks at a variety of Hoaxes by category or allows you to search for a specific one. It has information on how to recognize a hoax, what to do if you receive a hoax or chain letter, and provides a history of Internet Hoaxes.
Urban Folklore
http://www.nardis.com/~twchan/afu.html
Provides an excellent list of urban folklore sites, including a link to the Darwin Awards!
The AFU and Urban Legends Archive
http://www.urbanlegends.com/
This site has been going strong since 1991 and lets you browse many urban legends topics like: Disney, drugs, celebrities, books, food, legal, medical, politics, television, songs, and more!
Urban Legends and Folklore
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com
Includes news, show biz, virus hoaxes, a spotlight feature and some general information.

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