Myth Vs Folk Tale

However, belief systems do not stay entirely static but change as societies evolve over time. This societal evolution naturally have an impact on their mythologies and beliefs, possibly causing a shift in how myths are understood and used, and whether certain myths are seen as sacred, true and alive, or as profane and fictional stories. “Myth” therefore contains within itself an interesting combination of the notions of truth and falsehood. On one end of the scale, myth is seen as a sacred and true story; on the other, myth is a false statement or notion. In contemporary society, mythic narratives are usually understood as being a part of the imagination and therefore strictly opposed to reality. The myths are no longer seen as sacred; instead,

Furthermore, profane stories - also referred to as folk tales1 - share many similar features to the sacred myths, and it can therefore be a complicated process to determine the borders between the genres of myth and folk tale and differentiate between the two. As Somoff states, these similarities have led to much debate in the circles of folklore scholars and to many cases of misunderstanding in folklore theory (279). The way myths can change from “true” to “false” stories, from a sacred mythic tale to a profane folk tale, can be described as contextual: a mythic tale or legend from one society might become a folk tale in another society simply because it is not part of the other society’s mythology and belief system. Likewise, what is simply a folk tale in one society, might be held in sacred regard in another society. In other words, one single story may have a completely different meaning and definition according to the societal context in which they occur (Somoff 279). Similarly, the difference between myth and fairy tale may be a result of historical evolution that changes people’s beliefs: ’Specifically, sacred myth has to be discredited and to become, literally, a lie in order to acquire a poetic quality and re-structured as fairytale narrative’ (Somoff 281). These two notions both share the assumption that it is a lack of belief that differentiates the fairy tale as an independent narrative genre from myth, based on either geography or historic evolution (Somoff 279-280). The contextual differentiation between myth and fairy tale is therefore based on whether there is an element of belief or disbelief connected with the contents of the tale in question; thus, it predetermines the comprehension of the tale (Somoff 281).