what is the meaning of folktale, fairytale, legend & fable?

Answer 1

Folklore: A people’s efforts to explain the phenomena of nature which they do not understand. It records the mores and the cultural patterns of the society from which it stems. It gives expression to such deep, universal emotions as joy, grief, fear, jealousy, and awe. Folklore, in the broadest sense of the word, includes all of the great stream of anonymous creation that is the accumulated wisdom and art of everyday people: superstitions, games, nursery rhymes and songs, dance rituals, medicinal arts, old tales, verses and proverbs, fables, myths, legends, hero tales and epics.

Before universal education made most people literate, folk literature was meant for people of all ages. In those societies where few people can read, this is still true, and the dependence on the oral tradition is still strong. In more sophisticated societies, most folk literature is read by children or told to them.

Folk tales start briskly and continue to be filled with action. They often have humor and appeal to children’s sense of justice, since many tales reward good and punish evil. There is little nuance of characterization, so all characters are presented as entirely good, bad or obedient, etc. Often includes rhyme or repetition. Most have magic.

Fairy Tales: A fairy tale is a story featuring folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and others. The fairy tale is a sub-class of the folktale. These stories often involve princes and princesses, and modern versions usually have a happy ending. In cultures where demons and witches are perceived as real, fairy tales may merge into legendary narratives, where the context is perceived by teller and hearers as having historical actuality. However unlike legends and epics they usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and actual places, persons, and events.

Fable: Simple, highly condensed lessons in morality. A brief narrative which takes abstract ideas of behavior – good or bad, wise or foolish—and attempts to make them concrete or striking enough to be understood and remembered. The chief character in most fables is an animal or inanimate object which behaves like a human and has one dominant trait. They engage in a single significant act which teaches a moral lesson. Aesop is the most common fable collection in English. Aesop is thought to have lived in Greece between 620-560 BCE, most likely a Samian slave. Free speech was a risky business at the time, and Aesop is supposed to have used the fables for political purposes, protecting himself and veiling his opinions behind the innuendos of these little stories. Examples: The Tortoise and the Hare, The Lion and the Mouse, The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

Myths: More complicated than a fable, it attempts to explain, through complex symbolism, the vital outlines of existence. Also attempts to make more acceptable the painful realities of life -- danger, disease, misfortune and death – by explaining them as part of a sacred order in the universe. Myths are often considered to be sacred stories in their culture of origin.

Myths range from simple porquoi (why?) tales (why the woodpecker has a red head) to epic tales (the Iliad). With the exception of the simplest tales, many myths are heavy with symbolism and inner meanings, both complex and abstract. This make some people feel that they have no place in children’s literature, but mythologies furnish the background for the great national epics. Children must know Greek mythology in order to understand the Iliad or Odyssey, Malory’s Morte d’Arthur, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Wagner’s opera The Ring of the Nibelungs, or even Robin Hood. Study the epic hero of a nation and you discover the moral code of that nation and era – all its heroic ideals embodied in one character.

Legends: Stories based on the actions and adventures of real people. The actual identity of the hero may be lost to time like King Arthur, or have his deeds glamorized and glorified like Johnny Appleseed. The stories are usually a blend of fantasy and reality.

Tall Tales: A subcategory of legend in which the hero’s exploits are highly exaggerated. For example, John Henry and Paul Bunyan.

Answer 2

Myth: creation stories of a culture. Fables: Aesop's Fables Tall Tales: Paul Bunyan Folktales: Stories about ancestors handed down through generations.

Answer 3

Definition Of Folktale

Answer 4

Folktale- A short narrative handed down through oral tradition, with various tellers and groups modifying it, so that it acquired cumulative authorship. Most folktales eventually move from oral tradition to written form.

Fairytale-a folk story about real-life problems, usually with imaginary characters and magical events.

legend-a story handed down from the past based on past events.

Fable-A brief story or poem that is told to present a moral, or practical lesson. The characters in fables are often animals who speak or act like human beings.

Answer 5

all kind of the same but if you ask me and you did...
folktale =told by mouth for many many years
fairytale=written long ago for kids enjoyment
legend =based on some real events most probably not true
fable= like a legend but no way any thing is true

just my interpretation of them I'm sure you will get much better answers

Answer 6

folktale - a story passed down from generation to generation

fairytale - a story that usually begins with "Once upon a time" and ends happily ever after and has fantasy elements, Cinderella

legend - also may be passed down but tells how something came to be, may involve animals, Robin Hood is a legend

fable - animals may be main character's, have a moral, many by Aesop

Answer 7

folk tale
– noun
1. a tale or legend originating and traditional among a people or folk, esp. one forming part of the oral tradition of the common people.
2. any belief or story passed on traditionally, esp. one considered to be false or based on superstition.

fairytale
- noun
1: a story about fairies; told to amuse children [syn: fairy tale, fairy story]
2: an interesting but highly implausible story; often told as an excuse [syn: fairy tale, fairy story, ****-and-bull story, song and dance]

legend
– noun
1. a nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.
2. the body of stories of this kind, esp. as they relate to a particular people, group, or clan: the winning of the West in American legend.
3. an inscription, esp. on a coat of arms, on a monument, under a picture, or the like.
4. a table on a map, chart, or the like, listing and explaining the symbols used. Compare
5. Numismatics. inscription
6. a collection of stories about an admirable person.
7. a person who is the center of such stories: She became a legend in her own lifetime.
8. Archaic. a story of the life of a saint, esp. one stressing the miraculous or unrecorded deeds of the saint.
9. Obsolete. a collection of such stories or stories like them.

fable
– noun
1. a short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters; apologue: the fable of the tortoise and the hare; Aesop's fables.
2. a story not founded on fact: This biography is largely a self-laudatory fable.
3. a story about supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents; legend: the fables of gods and heroes.
4. legends or myths collectively: the heroes of Greek fable.
5. an untruth; falsehood: This boast of a cure is a medical fable.
6. the plot of an epic, a dramatic poem, or a play.
7. idle talk: old wives' fables.
– verb
(used without object) 8. to tell or write fables.
9. to speak falsely; lie: to fable about one's past.
– verb
(used with object) 10. to describe as if actually so; talk about as if true: She is fabled to be the natural daughter of a king.