Folklore

Folklore refers to the set of stories, beliefs and practices within a culture or similar group.
In Toaru Majutsu no Index, folklore is used as the basis for certain forms of Magic.
==Principles==
The folklore (or lore) of a culture consists of a combination of many things, including legends, music, beliefs, sayings, rituals, customs, fairy tales and more. These can be passed down through several ways, including artifacts and oral tradition.
There are often similarities between certain pieces of folklore between different cultures. These similarities can often be traced to a common origin, however there are some pieces which have an unknown origin, somewhere between the cultures it has spread through. These pieces of folklore are referred to as having 'fallen into the cracks'.Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Necessarius Special Admission Test Chapter 6
Folklore is often conflated with mythology (and vice versa). The two share certain similarities and differences, though the exact boundary between them isn't entirely clear.
Urban Legends are a form of modern day folklore.
==Uses of Folklore in Toaru Majutsu no Index==
Below is a list of folklore which are used in some shape or form within Toaru Majutsu no Index (mythologies and urban legends are generally covered on their relevant articles).
Name 	Culture 	Description 	Usage in Toaru Majutsu no Index
 	England 	A heroic outlaw, said to be a skilled archer/swordsman. 	Robin Hood is a sniping weapon used by the Knights of England. Chapter 3 Part 16
 	France 	A magical bay horse that could adjust his size depending on his riders. 	Bayard is an autonomous metal horse, which while lacking the abilities of the horse it was named after, is capable of evading magical detection. Chapter 5 Part 2
 	France 	The story of a poor young girl who ends up marrying a prince with the help of her fairy godmother. 	The French Magician, member of , Cendrillon uses the tale of Cinderella as the basis of her magic. Chapter 1 Part 8
 	Denmark 	Short story about a child's hallucinations while dying of hypothermia on New Year's Eve 	Theodosia Electra mainly uses spells based on the fairy tale.Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Stiyl Magnus Chapter 1 Part 2
 	Russia 	Method to gain happiness 	Vasilisa's name comes from this fairy tale and she uses a spell based on it in several ways, usually creating a fiery explosion. Epilogue
 	Russia 	Water of Life that gives one eternal life. 	Vasilisa has the Water of Life inside her body that grants her youth and longevity, though she denies acutely being immortal. Chapter 11 Part 3
 	China 	A reanimated corpse that moves around at night by hopping. 	
*The Hopping Zombie Spell referred to by Index likely refers to and involves Jiāng shī in some way. Chapter 4 Part 6
*The Magic God Niang-Niang's design is also based on the stereotypical depiction of the Jiāng shī.
 	Various 	A legendary creature with a pointy horn projecting from its forehead, often depicted as looking like a horse. 	
*William Orwell's escutcheon bears the unicorn, along with the dragon and the selkie, as one of its charges. There is also folklore regarding Elizabeth I receiving a horn of a unicorn, though Sherry Cromwell says that it was merely an ordinary animal bone. Chapter 2 Part 3
*The Female Knight referred to the legends of unicorns only growing attached to maidens when describing Carissa's horse Alex. Chapter 3 Part 9
 	Japan 	A curse involving a doll with the target's hair, nailed on a sacred tree at a shrine between 1 and 3 AM. 	Tsuchimikado Motoharu makes use of a variant of the Ushi no Koku Mairi spell against Kumokawa Seria. Chapter 2 Part 11
 	European 	A dried, pickled hand from a hanged man which, with a candle made from the same person, displays the power to unlock doors and still people who see the candle 	Index refers to the Hand of Glory, among other similar things, on witnessing Kazakiri Hyouka's leg regenerating.
 	Japan 	A hero who was found as a child inside a giant peach 	According to Index, the original story of Momotarō is actually a grimoire, camouflaged to look like a harmless fairy tale, concerning the creation of an elixir of immortality. Chapter 4 Part 5
 	Germany 	After being refused his pay for chasing away the rats from the city of Hamelin, the mysterious man known as the Pied Piper uses his magical flute to take away the children of the town, never to be seen again. 	When talking to Acqua of the Back, Terra of the Left compares God's Right Seat's role in leading the people to how the children were enthralled by the enchanted flute of the Piper. Prologue
Nya-Nya Bulembu	Swazi, Africa 	The story of a princess forced to wear an ugly animal skin, causing everyone to find her repulsive but actually keeping men from attacking her as a beautiful princess filled with mystical power was raised within it. 	Certain aspects of the story were used by Leivinia Birdway in order to support her Cannibalization spell. Chapter 2 Part 4
 	Italy 	Aradia is a central figure in Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, a 1899 book written by American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland, allegedly based on material provided by an Italian woman called Maddalena, supposedly documenting the beliefs, rituals and religious text of pagan witches. 	
*Aleister Crowley refers to Aradia while inspecting the female body of an alternative possibility of himself. Prologue
*Aradia's name comes from this book. Epilogue
 	Japan 	The story of a famous samurai who, one day, while taking shelter from the rain under a tree, had a bolt of lightning struck him. However, he used his sword to cut the Thunder God inside the lightning bolt, allowing him to survive. After this incident, he renamed his sword Raikiri (雷切, literally meaning: Lightning Cutter). 	
*A member of the Divination Operation Brigade makes use of , a Japanese sword and mass produced modern spiritual item based on this type of legend. Chapter 11 Part 2
*Kanzaki Kaori uses a spell based on this type of legend to cut through and neutralize Mjölnir's electric attack. Chapter 4 Part 4
Huotou 	China 	A legendary creature in Southern Chinese folklore, described as a dog-shaped monster which eats feces and blows fire. 	Esther Rosenthal possesses an artificial soul named Huotou which is used for Rosenthal-style Necromancy.
 	Japan 	A mythical creature in traditional Japanese folklore, described as a child-shaped imp which lives in rivers or ponds. 	One of the playable characters in Gekisho.
 	Europe/Middle-East	Alternatively griffon or gryphon, a legendary heraldic creature with the head and wings of an eagle, and the body, tail and rear legs of a lion. 	
*The Mobile Fortresses Griffin Sky are named after this creature. Chapter 7 Part 3
*The Griffon Driver's name is derived from this creature. Between the Lines 3
*An artificial specimen owned by Biohacker Matsuo Ryuusuke was named Griffin.Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Biohacker Chapter 5
*A Gryphon is a character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and one can be manifested by Alice Anotherbible. Chapter 4 Part 7
 	Scandinavia 	A giant cephalopod-like sea monster 	An artificial specimen owned by Biohacker Matsuo Ryuusuke was named Kraken.Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Biohacker Chapter 5 Part 5
 	Japan 	A giant man-eating centipede 	An artificial specimen owned by Biohacker Matsuo Ryuusuke was named Omukade.
 	North America 	A monster from folklore, said to possess humanoid traits or possessing a human. 	An artificial specimen owned by Biohacker Matsuo Ryuusuke was named Wendigo.
 	Europe 	A plant root, born from a sinner's bodily fluids, which is said to emit a potentially fatal scream when uprooted and can be used as a medicinal ingredient. 	
*Mass-produced mandrakes are planted across the grounds of Windsor Castle as anti-personnel mines. Chapter 3 Part 1 Chapter 4 Part 2
*A magician in Calais was performing research on mandrakes.Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Agnese's Magic Side Work Experience Chapter 2 Part 3
 	Greek/Other 	A legendary immortal bird which burns its body and is regenerated or reborn from the flames or ashes in a cyclic renewal. First attributed to ancient Egypt (and ) by the ancient Greek writer in the 5th century BCE. but suspected not to actually have been a part of Egyptian mythology and originated in Greek folklore, the phoenix has analogues in various other cultures.	Mut Thebes's full power is derived from a fusion of the phoenix and the vulture symbolizing the goddess Mut, the Dead Phoenix. Chapter 4 Part 3 Chapter 4 Part 5 Afterword
==External Links==
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==References==
Category:Terminology
Category:Magic
Category:Magic Formats