Folk hero

Overview

The folk hero is set apart from a typical mythological hero by forsaking traditionally selfish and individualistic goals in favor of more altruistic goals and deeds. Many folk heroes set themselves apart from others by taking up a fight for the common people against the oppression or corruption of the established power structure, this sort of folk hero often operates outside the law in some way, such as English folk hero Robin Hood.

Another sort of folk hero could be described as the culture hero, a benefactor who provides for a culture or group of people, often as a legendary founder or reformer, who made a major impact which defines the group they were a part of, such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

|File:Jeanne d'Arc - Les vies des femmes célèbres.jpg|Joan of Arc depicted on horseback in an illustration from a 1505 manuscript. The martyr and saint Joan of Arc is a national hero in France. |File:Giuseppe Garibaldi 1861.jpg|Giuseppe Garibaldi, one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland", is celebrated as one of the greatest generals of modern times, and as the "Hero of the Two Worlds" because of his military enterprises in South America and Europe. He fought in numerous military campaigns that led to the Italian unification |File:Portrait of Davy Crockett.jpg|Davy Crockett, an American folk hero |File:Grotepier TN.JPG|Statue of Pier Gerlofs Donia, a Frisian folk hero |File:Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.png|Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a Turkish national hero |File:100 años del natalicio del Santo -i---i- (36184746106) (cropped).jpg|El Santo, a Mexican folk hero |Ned Kelly in 1880.png|Ned Kelly, an Australian folk hero |File:Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Edward Mason Eggleston.jpg|Paul Revere, American folk hero depicted in his famous Midnight Ride |File:Otger cataló.png|Otger Cataló, A fictional Catalan folk hero who legend credits with resisting the Moorish conquerors of Catalonia. |File:Honoring Scanderbeg.png|Honoring the Albanian National Hero, Scanderbeg. Albanians at the Tomb of Scanderbeg on His Death Day. Drawn by R. Caton Woodville, 17 January 1908.

Citations

General and cited references

• Seal, Graham. Encyclopedia of Folk Heroes. ABC-CLIO, 2001.

References

1. Klapp, Orrin E.. (1949). "The Folk Hero". Journal of American Folklore.
2. Seal, Graham. (2009). "The Robin Hood Principle: Folklore, History, and the Social Bandit". Journal of Folklore Research.
3. ["Scholar and Patriot"]({{Google books). Manchester University Press.
4. "Giuseppe Garibaldi (Italian revolutionary)".