How are folktales different?

Question

what is the deference between a folktale and a myth? also how are they the same? its confusing because they are both pretty much the same. they are all old stories that we don't really have proof are true. so how would you say they were different and then they are the same?

Answer 1

Kind of like the difference between and epic book and a comic book!  The same story but in a different format!

Answer 2

Folktales differ from Myths simply by the way the are perceived and re-told by the teller... The teller either add or take something off decided by his or her own perception of how the story should be told again simply because they think that it should have gone this way even if it did not happen that way.........

Answer 3

Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of that culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The academic and usually ethnographic study of folklore is sometimes called folkloristics. The word 'folklore' was first used by the English antiquarian William Thoms in a letter published by the London Journal Athenaeum in 1846.[1]

Myth is derived from the Greek word mythos, which means "word of mouth."Academic usage

In the academic fields of mythology, mythography, or folkloristics, a myth is a sacred story. The body of myths in a given culture usually includes a cosmogonical or creation myth concerning the origins of the world or how the world and its creatures came into existence. The active beings in myths are generally gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, or animals. Most myths are set in a timeless past before recorded and critical history begins.

A myth is a sacred narrative in the sense that it hold religious or spiritual significance for those who tell it, and it contributes to and expresses systems of thought and values. Use of the term by scholars implies neither the truth nor the falseness of the narrative. To the source culture, however, a myth by definition is "true," in that it embodies beliefs, concepts, and ways of questioning and making sense of the world.

[edit] Popular usage

In popular use, a myth can also be a collectively held belief that has no basis in fact according to the speaker. This usage, which is often pejorative,[1] arose from labeling the religious myths and beliefs of other cultures as being incorrect, but it has spread to cover non-religious beliefs as well.[2] Because of this popular and subjective word usage, many people take offense when the religious narratives they believe to be true are called myths (see religion and mythology for more information). This usage is frequently associated with legend, fiction, fairy tale, folklore, fable, confusing data, personal desire and urban legend, each of which has a distinct meaning in academia.

Urban myth is an alternative term for urban legend.

Answer 4

Here's my opinion of the two:

Myth: "true gossip" : information that is given out that is meant to be true but really isn't or hasn't proven to be true.

Folktale: ancient stories from thousands of various cultures, countries, ethnic groups about creature of all types, peculiar people...

Answer 5

The main difference is that the folktales are stories that were never believed as true.  Myth are religious stories; whereas the religion is no longer practiced.

They are the same when they try to teach moral values.

Myth's also try to teach history

Folktales try to be entertaining.

Answer 6

a folktale is usually word of mouth?...