One of the many forms of folklore, folktales are heard and remembered, and they are subject to various alterations in the course of retellings. 'A generic term for the various kinds of narrative prose literature found in the oral traditions of the world.One possible definition of folktale comes from the Encarta Online Encyclopedia, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Internet Public Library: (Animal characters in many Disney movies still fill this role.) You might ask students if they remember any stories or movies in which animals provided aid to humans. An Introduction to Helpful Animal Talesīegin by discussing with students the definition of a folktale and list various tale types they will likely recognize, asking them to fill in examples of each type: wicked stepmother tales (students might respond with ' Cinderella' and ' Snow White'), brother and sister tales (' Hansel and Gretel'), and helpful animal tales (' The Fisherman and His Wife'). The cooperation between humans and animals, then, is seen to be mutually beneficial, as the animal's life is often spared, the human's living situation is improved in some way and, in some cases, the animal is transformed into a human as a result of kindness it has done or has received. In many helpful animal tales, the animal only offers its aid in return for a kindness done by or promised by a human. Through examining several examples of helpful animal tales from around the world, students will learn about humans living in cooperation with the land and sea and with the beasts that inhabit them. Often they are believed to possess great wisdom, which they impart to a struggling human. Characteristic of these tales is the animal characters' power of speech and the presence of other distinctly human attributes.

There are numerous helpful animal tale types, such as animal nurses who rear great heroes after they have been abandoned as infants, and beasts that lend supernatural aid to humans. Unlike Aesop's fables, which involve strictly animal characters and illustrate a particular moral truth, in folklore the relationship between humans and animals is often a central theme.

David Pickering, ' Animals.' A Dictionary of Folklore. 'Animals of all kinds feature in rituals, legends and folk tales throughout world culture, reflecting the curiosity humans have always had about other species with which they share the earth … and the desire to share the remarkable powers of other species.'

Folk tales definition