Every tradition, its own room.

Bedivere ( or ; Welsh: Bedwyr; Latin: Beduerus; French: Bédoier, also Bedevere and other spellings) is one of the earliest characters to be featured in the legend of King Arthur, originally described in several Welsh texts as the one-handed…

Bealtaine (Irish pronunciation: [ˈbʲal̪ˠt̪ˠənʲə]) or Beltane ( BEL-tayn) is the Gaelic May Day festival, marking the beginning of summer. It is traditionally held on 1 May, or about midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice.

Beowulf ( ; Old English: Bēowulf [ˈbeːo.wuɫf]) is an Old English poem, an epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines, contained in the Nowell Codex.

The final act of the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf includes Beowulf's fight with a dragon, the third monster he encounters in the epic.

The Bern Riddles, also known as Aenigmata Bernensia, Aenigmata Hexasticha or Riddles of Tullius, are a collection of 64 rhythmic Latin riddles, named after the location of their earliest surviving manuscript, which today is held in Bern (t…

The Bhagavad Gita (; Sanskrit: भगवद्गीता, IPA: [ˌbʱɐɡɐʋɐd ˈɡiːtaː], romanized: bhagavad-gītā, lit. 'God's song'), often referred to as the Gita (IAST: Gītā), is a Hindu scripture, likely composed in the second or first century BCE, which fo…

Bharatthari is the hero of many folk stories in North India. He was the King of Ujjain, before renouncing the world and abdicating in the favor of his younger brother Vikramaditya.

Biag ni Lam-ang (lit. 'The Life of Lam-ang') is an epic story of the Ilocano people from the Ilocos region of the Philippines.

Billy Blind (also known as Billy Blin, Billy Blynde, Billie Blin, or Belly Blin) is an English and Lowland Scottish household spirit, much like a brownie. He appears only in ballads, where he frequently advises the characters.

The Black Legend (Spanish: leyenda negra) or the Spanish Black Legend (Spanish: leyenda negra española) is a purported historiographical tendency which consists of anti-Spanish and anti-Catholic propaganda.

The Blarney Stone (Irish: Cloch na Blarnan) is a block of Carboniferous limestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Blarney, about 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the centre of Cork City, Ireland.

The parable of the blind men and an elephant is a story of a group of blind men who have never come across an elephant before and who learn and imagine what the elephant is like by touching it.

Bloody Bones is a bogeyman figure in English and North American folklore whose first written appearance is approximately 1548. As with all bogeymen the figure has been used to frighten children into proper deportment.

"Bluebeard" (French: Barbe bleue [baʁb(ə) blø]) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Claude Barbin in Paris in 1697 in Histoires ou contes du temps passé.

Blunderbore (also recorded as Blunderboar, Thunderbore, Blunderbus, or Blunderbuss) is a giant of Cornish and English folklore. A number of folk and fairy tales include a giant named Blunderbore, most notably "Jack the Giant Killer".

A bogatyr (Russian: богатырь, IPA: [bəɡɐˈtɨrʲ] ; Ukrainian: богатир, romanized: bohatyr, IPA: [boɦɐˈtɪr] ) is a stock character in medieval East Slavic legends, akin to a Western European knight-errant.

Boitatá (from Tupi language), in Brazilian native folklore, refers to either a will-o'-the-wisp, a mythical fire snake which guards against humans setting fire to the fields or forests, or a bull-like creature. Snake-like will-o'-the-wisps …

A brazen head, brass, or bronze head was a legendary automaton in the Middle Ages to the early modern period whose ownership was ascribed to late medieval scholars, such as Roger Bacon, who had developed a reputation as wizards.

Budj Bim heritage areas includes several protected areas in Victoria, Australia, the largest two being Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape and the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape.

A bullaun (Irish: bullán; from a word cognate with "bowl" and French bol) is the term used for the depression in a stone which is often water filled. Natural rounded boulders or pebbles may sit in the bullaun.

Bunbuku Chagama (分福茶釜 or 文福茶釜) , literally "Bunbuku tea-kettle", is a Japanese folktale or fairy tale about a tanuki (raccoon dog), that uses its shapeshifting powers to reward its rescuer for his kindness.

A bylina (Russian: былина, IPA: [bɨˈlʲinə]; pl. былины, byliny), also popularly known as a starina (Russian: старина), is a type of Russian oral epic poem. Byliny deal with all periods of Russian history.

Cabeça de Cuia ("gourd-head") is a legendary creature in the folklore of the Northeast Region of Brazil, more specifically the state of Piauí, along the Paranaíba River basin.

Camelot is a legendary castle and court associated with King Arthur.

Cantastoria (Italian: [ˌkantaˈstɔːrja]; also spelled cantastorie [ˌkantaˈstɔːrje], canta storia or canta historia) comes from Italian for "story-singer" and is known by many other names around the world.

Caribbean folklore includes a mix of traditions, tales, and beliefs of the Caribbean region. Caribbean folklore was shaped by a history filled with violence, colonialism, slavery, and multicultural influences.

The cat-sìth (Scottish Gaelic: [kʰaʰt̪ ˈʃiː], plural cait-shìth), in Irish cat sí (Irish: [kat̪ˠ ˈʃiː]), is a fairy creature from Celtic mythology, said to resemble a large black cat with a white spot on its chest that walks on its hind leg…

Many types of trees found in the Celtic nations are considered to be sacred, whether as symbols, or due to medicinal properties, or because they are seen as the abode of particular nature spirits.

A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found throughout much of European folklore.

The chanson de geste (Old French for 'song of heroic deeds', from Latin: gesta 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature.

Chanticleer and the Fox is a fable that dates from the Middle Ages. Though it can be compared to Aesop's fable of The Fox and the Crow, it is of more recent origin.

In Russian folklore, Chernava (diminutive: Chernavushka; Russian: Чернава, Чернавушка) is Sea Tsar's daughter (or, according to some versions, a niece), spirit and personification of the river of the same name. She is a mermaid.

The Cheval Gauvin (French: Gauvin horse) is a legendary evil horse of Franche-Comté, France and the Jura Mountains in Switzerland.

Chinese Fables and Folk Stories, a compilation of 37 tales, was billed as the first book of Chinese fables ever printed in English when it was published by American Book Company in 1908. The co-authors were Mary Hayes Davis and Chow-Leung.

Chinese mythology (traditional Chinese: 中國神話; simplified Chinese: 中国神话; pinyin: Zhōngguó shénhuà), is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China.

Choctaw mythology is part of the culture of the Choctaw, a Native American tribe originally occupying a large territory in the present-day Southeastern United States: much of the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana.

The Christ myth theory, also known as the Jesus myth theory, Jesus mythicism, or the Jesus ahistoricity theory, is the fringe view that the story of Jesus is a work of mythology with no historical substance.

Chunhyangjeon (Korean: 춘향전; Hanja: 春香傳; lit. The Story of Chunhyang or The Tale of Chunhyang) is one of the best known love stories and folk tales of Korea.

The church grim is a guardian spirit in Scottish, English and Nordic folklore that oversees the welfare of a particular Christian church, and protects the churchyard from those who would profane and commit sacrilege against it.

In Irish mythology, Clíodhna (Clídna, Clíodna, Clíona, sometimes anglicised to Cleena) is a Queen of the Banshees of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

The clurichaun () or clúrachán (from Irish: clobhair-ceann) is a mischievous fairy in Irish folklore known for his great love of drinking and a tendency to haunt breweries, pubs and wine cellars.

Cornish mythology is the folk tradition and mythology of the Cornish people.

Corydon (Greek Κορύδων Korúdōn, probably related to κόρυδος kórudos "lark") is a stock name for a herdsman in ancient Greek pastoral poems and fables, and in much later European literature.

A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it.

Creation, Man and the Messiah (Norwegian: Skabelsen, mennesket og Messias - et digt) is the title of an epic poem written by the Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland in 1829.

The cù-sìth(e) (Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [kʰuː ˈʃiː]), plural coin-shìth(e) (Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [kʰɔɲ ˈhiː]) is a mythical hound found in Irish folklore and Scottish folklore.

The Curupira, Currupira or Korupira (Portuguese pronunciation: [kuɾuˈpiɾɐ]) is a forest spirit in the myth of the Tupí-Guaraní speaking areas in the Brazil, Paraguay and Guyanas.

The dahu (French pronunciation: [da.y]) is a legendary creature that resembles a mountain goat and is well known in France and francophone regions of Switzerland and Italy, including the Aosta Valley.

Daredevils of Sassoun (Armenian: Սասնա ծռեր Sasna cṙer, also spelled Daredevils of Sasun) is an Armenian heroic epic poem in four cycles (parts), with its main hero and story better known as David of Sassoun, which is the story of one of th…

David of Sassoun (Armenian: Սասունցի Դաւիթ, romanized: Sasuntsi Davit also spelled David of Sasun) is the main hero of Armenian national epic Daredevils of Sassoun, who drove Arab invaders out of Armenia.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin (German: der Rattenfänger von Hameln), also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin, is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back t…

Deirdre ( DEER-drə, -⁠dree, Irish: [ˈdʲɛɾˠdʲɾʲə]; Old Irish: Derdriu [ˈd̠ʲerʲd̠ʲɾʲu]) is a tragic heroine in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology.

A flood myth or a deluge myth is a narrative in which a great flood—usually sent by one or more deities—destroys civilization, typically as an act of divine retribution.

Deutsche Sagen ("German Legends") is a publication by the Brothers Grimm, appearing in two volumes in 1816 and 1818.

The Dhola Maru, also known as Dhola Marvani, is the romantic tale of Dhola and Maru in Rajasthan. The Rajasthani version is entirely different from a version found in Chhattisgarh. The folktale can also be found in Punjab.

Dialogus creaturarum (more properly Dialogus creaturarum optime moralizatus or Dyalogus creaturarum moralizatus), is a collection of 122 Latin-language fables and, as the title implies, dialogues of creatures.

Dick Whittington and His Cat is the English folklore surrounding the real-life Richard Whittington (c. 1354 – 1423), wealthy merchant and later Lord Mayor of London.

The Dobhar-chú (Irish pronunciation: [ˈd̪ˠoːɾˠxuː]; lit. 'water dog' or 'water hound'), or King otter, is a creature of Irish and Scottish folklore.

The Dog of Osu (오수; 獒樹, literally translated as 'the tree of a dog') (오수의 개; 오수개) is an old Korean folktale about a loyal dog that sacrificed himself to save his owner's life, or that particular dog.

The Verse About the Book of the Dove or Dove Book (Russian: Голубиная книга, romanized: Golubinaya Kniga) is a medieval Russian spiritual verse. At least 20 versions are known. They vary in length from 30 to over 900 lines.