Folk:   The representatives of common people in a region.

Lore:   Knowledge

Folklore is an oral tradition of stories, song and sayings that encompass the beliefs, myths, tales and traditions of a community. Its memories have been passed from generation to generation, ranging from tales of hardship to humour, influencing the course of a culture. As stories are passed on, they have been embellished to fit in with new ideas and times.

During the latter part of the nineteenth century the study of folklore became a more formal discipline.  People started writing down folk tales until it became an intellectual theme. Today anthropologists, ethnologists and historians attempt to pinpoint this unwritten past.

You may have an example of folklore in your own home or characters in your culture.

The term folklore originated as a standard mode of expression in 1846 by an Englishman, William Thomas. He wanted to use an Anglo-Saxon term to cover the oral traditions of cultures around the world.