Children and the beauty of folklore — our culture is poorer without it | Alisha Rose

Teach your children folklore - our cultures are poorer without

Our lands are tied to the tales of what took place. Stories of joy and pain, victory and loss, beauty and horror. 

They form a part of our ancestral identity. They show us our past, and tell us who we are. Because those of the present are a product of the past.

But what is folklore? It is the beliefs, customs and stories of communities. It is woven from a tantalising blend of truth and fiction, passed down through spoken form. 

It is the lessons of our ancestors, shared; traditions and knowledge attached to a place or people. 

These lores often center on individuals - legendary figures we aspire to be like who may or may not have existed: kings and queens; monsters and fairytale creatures; heroes and villains. Such as Robin Hood, King Arthur, and Beowulf, romanticized by storytellers through the ages. 

These heroes, majestic animals and mystical creatures are potent, defining aspects to different cultures around the world but especially within the British Isles.

But why was folklore told in the first place?

It has a purpose beyond entertainment. For our ancestors, it was an effective way to impart wisdom, life lessons and morals, especially onto young people. 

Traditionally, folklore was used as cautionary tales for safeguarding children, warning them about the dangers of curiosity. You could teach them not to wander off into the woods alone, go too close to dangerous waters, or pick poisonous florae such as bluebells and foxgloves. 

And because children love to ask “why?”, the lore provides them with life lessons rooted in reality but with reasons they can understand. 

It can be argued that this only piques their interest and makes them chase what they are supposed to avoid. But that’s one reason why a lot of lore is particularly dark - enough to deter accidents by small mischievous individuals. 

For example, there is the lore that if a child picks a bluebell in a bluebell wood, they will never be seen again. Or even darker, that when a bluebells bell rings, it calls all the fairies to a gathering, but if a human hears the bell, they will be visited by a malicious fairy and die soon after.

Some will say that these lores are inappropriate because they scare little ones - but that was the intention. It comes down to knowing your child and making a personal judgement on what you tell them.

And as the Oxford Research Center in the Humanities puts it, “groups that know how to pass on such stories improve the life chances of those who hear them.”

Why you should know your share of folklore

Folklore also promotes goodwill and gives an insight into the way people think and act, allowing you to learn from the mistakes and bad attitudes of others. It offers traditional morals and chivalry, with a touch of mystery and romanticism. Folklore is a manual of manners and the passing on of ancestral wisdom.

But folklore is not only central to the teaching of children. As long as folklore is known and told, humans will use it to feel connected to their cultural roots; to feel in touch with their ancestral identity. 

There is a growing popularity of Youtubers such as Duke of Avalon, who are committed to the art of folklore storytelling. Thanks to them, we have access to the obscure and the magical regional stories that are in danger of being forgotten.

While this danger puts folklore at a disadvantage, there are advantages to it too.

Fairytales can be appropriated by modern pop-culture, becoming layered with progressive morals. That’s because unlike folklore, fairytales are not rooted in a particular place and time. 

Phrases like “once upon a time in a land far away” make fairytales highly adaptable and universal to the human experience. While folklore is centered on the specific events, places and people that potentially existed, and may exist to this day.

So our folklore, our traditional stories, our culture’s expressions, our potential to feel in touch with our roots, and our romanticism of life, are safe as long as you pass folklore on to your children.

It is not worshipping the ashes of our culture. And will always be relevant to the human spirit - to our imaginations that long for mystery and magic. 

As Voltaire said of God: “if he did not exist, it would have been necessary to invent him."

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