A story that has been passed down through generations by ordinary people in a culture, often featuring magic, heroes, or lessons about life.
From 'folk' (Old English 'folc,' meaning people) combined with 'tale' (Old English 'talu,' meaning story). The compound emerged in the 19th century as scholars began systematically collecting and studying traditional narratives.
Folktales are humanity's oldest form of data storage—before writing existed, cultures encoded their values, warnings, and wisdom into stories that could survive thousands of years of retelling. The fact that similar tales appear across completely isolated cultures (like flood myths or trickster characters) suggests these stories tap into something deeply human about how we make sense of the world.
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