Minnesota folklore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Minnesota Folklore, although its study and documentation has never been a priority among academics, is exceptionally rich. As the State has been the residence of such a wide variety of ethnic groups, Minnesota's folktales and songs are reflective of it's history.
[edit] Folk heroes
- Paul Bunyan, the legendery giant lumberjack, is Minnesota's most famous import.
- Otto Walta, a Finnish-American homesteader and strongman from the northern "Pine Country," is the hero of many folktales told around St. Louis County, Minnesota.
- Ola Värmlänning, a booze swilling, Swedish-American prankster from Minneapolis, can easily be compared to the German Till Eulenspiegel.[1]
- Father Francis Xavier Pierz, a pioneer missionary priest, is the subject of many tales told among the Catholics of Stearns County, Minnesota.
[edit] Folk songs
Much work of collecting Minnesota folk songs was conducted during the Great Depression by Bessie M. Stanchfield, whose papers and research are now housed by the Minnesota Historical Society.
- "The Beauty of the West," a Minnesota pioneer ballad from the 1850s, was collected by Stanchfield in the Spring of 1936. She arranged for it to be published for the first time in the Minnesota History in September 1946.
