I'm interested in how people react to the land they live in. A woman could walk up the hill behind her house and wind up in fairyland, where she dances so hard for seven years she dances off her toes. But I also have a fondness for Romanian folklore in which a restless, proactive young Devil is always provoking his lazy big brother, God, to create the world. And I often turn to Native American folklore to understand better the vast and naturally rich continent t I live on. In the western world it's difficult to study narrative folklore except from books.
Few folk live on the land.
When the old people die, their stories go with them. But most of my knowledge of narrative folklore comes from books, lots of books, the more ancient the better. I understand that The Adventure of Louey and Frank is based on an old Irish legend. In the sixth century Saint Brendan and his monks got into a hide-covered boat and sailed for seven years. They had extraordinary adventures, not the least of which is their camping on the back of the whale, Jasconius.