Folklore (or lore) consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales, stories, tall tales, and customs included in the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It also includes the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called folkloristics, and people who study folklore are sometimes referred to as "folklorists". The English antiquarian William Thoms introduced the word "folklore" in a letter published in the London journal The Athenaeum in 1846. In usage, there is a continuum between folklore and mythology. Stith Thompson (1885-1976) made a major attempt to index the motifs of both folklore and mythology, providing an outline for classifying new motifs, and within which scholars can keep track of all older motifs.

Folklore can be divided into four areas of study:These areas do not stand alone, however, as often a particular item or element may fit into more than one of these areas.