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Show Little Scandinavia 149 tinctive body of folklore. To understand fully the history and culture of the area, we must know and understand this lore. Briefly, folklore consists of those stories, songs, rhymes, proverbs, jokes, and anecdotes that are sung or told to us by neighbors, friends, and relatives and that we, in turn, sing or tell to other neighbors, friends, and relatives. It does not, as some believe, indicate falsehood. Folklore may, to be sure, originate in fancy, but it may also be based on fact. It is simply that part of our cultural heritage that is kept alive and is passed through time and space not by the written word nor by formal instruction but by the process of oral transmission, the process of hearing a story and then repeating it to someone else.1 Dr. Wilson is professor of English and history at U t a h State University. 1 For a fuller definition, see William A. Wilson, " T h e Paradox of Mormon Folklore," Brigham Young University Studies 17 (1976) : 40-58 and " U t a h Folklore and the Utah Librarian," Utah Libraries 20, no. 1 (Spring 1977) : 25-36. |
