volksmythen

Volksmythen are traditional narratives that belong to a culture's collective memory. They recount origins, explain natural phenomena, justify social practices and moral norms, and express a community's values. Typically transmitted orally across generations, they may be performed in rituals, seasonal celebrations, or informal storytelling, and they often survive in multiple variants that differ by region.

The content of volksmythen is diverse. Common elements include cosmogonies and etiologies explaining why the world or a landscape is the way it is, hero journeys and lineage myths, and figures such as ancestors, gods, or tricksters. They may be sacred, with ritual significance, or secular, functioning as moral tales or community memory. The boundary between myth, legend, and folklore is fluid, and motifs often blend with other belief systems through syncretism.

Scholars in folklore, anthropology, and religious studies analyze volksmythen to understand how a people constructs meaning, identity, and social order. Methods include fieldwork, the collection of variants, comparative analysis, and attention to performance contexts. Myths are not static; they adapt to historical change, migration, and contact with other cultures, sometimes becoming core elements of regional or national identities.