The British Columbia Folklore Society

Folklore Information Requests - Public Input Wanted.

The Society occasionally has requests for assistance that would benefit from a greater readership than our Journal or Newsletter are able to meet.

We have therefore added this web page to our website so that readers other than Society members may help with larger, folklore request issues.

Recently we had a request from Sigurður Ægisson who writes:

“I am an Icelandic theologian and ethnofolklorist collecting material for my book on Icelandic birds in local and world folklore. I am looking for [folklore from anyone who can provide information]?”

Bird Folklore Wanted:

Arctic skua / Parasitic jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus); F: Labbe parasite

Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea); F: Sterne arctique

Barrow's goldeneye (Bucephala islandica); F: Garrot d'Islande / Garrot islandais

Black guillemot (Cepphus grylle); F: Guillemot à miroir blanc

Black-headed gull / (Common) Black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus); F: Mouette rieuse

Brünnich's guillemot / Thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia); F: Guillemot de Brünnich

Common gull / Mew gull (Larus canus); F: Goéland cendré

Common scoter / Black scoter (Melanitta nigra / Oidemia nigra); F: Macreuse noire

Cormorant, Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo); F: Grand Cormoran

Dunlin (Calidris alpina / Erolia alpina); F: Bécasseau variable

Eider / Common eider (Somateria mollissima); F: Eider à duvet

Fulmar, Northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis); F: Pétrel glacial

Gadwall (Anas strepera); F: Canard chipeau

Gannet / (Northern) gannet (Sula bassana / Morus bassanus); F: Fou de Bassan

Glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus); F: Goéland bourgmestre

Goosander / Common merganser (Mergus merganser); F: Harle bièvre

Great black-backed gull (Larus marinus); F: Goéland marin

Great northern diver / Common loon (Gavia immer); F: Plongeon imbrin

Great skua (Catharacta skua); F: Grand labbe

Grey phalarope / Red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius); Phalarope à bec large

Guillemot / Common murre (Uria aalge); F: Guillemot de Troïl

Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus); F: Faucon gerfaut

Harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus); F: Garrot arlequin

Herring gull (Larus argentatus); F: Goéland argenté

House sparrow (Passer domesticus); F: Moineau domestique

Kittiwake / Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla); F: Mouette tridactyle

Leach's storm-petrel / Leach's petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa); F: Pétrel culblanc

Lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus); F: Goéland brun

Little auk / Dovekie (Plautus alle / Alle alle); F: Mergule nain

Long-tailed duck / Oldsquaw (Clangula hyemalis); F: Harelde de Miqueon / Canard de Miquelon

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos); F: Canard colvert

Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus); F: Puffin des Anglais

Merlin / Pigeon hawk (Falco columbarius); F: Faucon émerillon

Pintail / Northern pintail (Anas acuta); F: Canard pilet

Ptarmigan / Rock ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus); F: Lagopède muet / Lagopède des Alpes

Puffin / Atlantic puffin / Common puffin (Fratercula arctica); F: Macareux moine

Purple sandpiper (Calidris maritima / Erolia maritima); F: Bécasseau violet

Raven / Common raven (Corvus corax); F: Grand corbeau

Razorbill (Alca torda); F: Petit pingouin

Red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator); F: Harle huppé

Red-necked phalarope / Northern phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus / Lobipes lobatus); F: Phalarope à bec étroit

Redpoll (Carduelis flammea); Common redpoll (Acanthis flammea; F: Sizerin flammé

Red-throated diver / Red-throated loon (Gavia stellata); F: Plongeon catmarin

Scaup, Greater scaup (Aythya marila); F: Fuligule milouinan/Canard milouinan

Short-eared owl (Asio flammeus); F: Hibou brachyote F: Hibou des marais

Shoveler [Northern shoveler] (Anas clypeata / Spatula clypeata); F: Canard souchet

Slavonian grebe / Horned grebe (Podiceps auritus); F: Grèbe esclavon

Snipe / Common snipe (Gallinago gallinago / Capella gallinago); F: Bécassine des marais

Snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis); F: Bruant des neiges

Snowy owl (Nyctea scandiaca); F: Chouette harfang / Harfang des neiges

Starling / (European) starling (Sturnus vulgaris); F: Etourneau sansonnet

Teal / Green-winged teal / Common teal (Anas crecca); F: Sarcelle d'hiver

Wheatear / (Northern) wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe); F: Traquet motteux

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus); F: Courlis corlieu

White wagtail (Motacilla alba); F: Lavandiére grise / Bergeronnette grise

Wigeon / European wigeon (Anas penelope / Mareca penelope); F: Canard siffleur

Wren / Winter wren (Troglodytes troglodytes); F: Troglodyte mignon

Readers who can help are invited to contact Sigurður by e-mail directly at <saeson@islandia.is>

• • • • •

A Folklore Group has been established at the International Culture Centre at Ha Noi National University in Vietnam, where a Department of Folklore and Vietnamese Ancient Mediaeval Literature exists. Tales have been collected for some time, and motif work also; one student has identified some 1,200 motifs in a representative collection of tales. In Laos, things seem a little less organised, though there is great interest, and in particular there is only one set of Thompson's Motif Index in the country, and none at all of the Types of the Folktale.

A plea is made for help in regard to the relevant literature:
“Both in Vietnam and Laos, the worst obstacle for folklore studies to reach international standard, is, no doubt, the need for modern literature on folklore. Without any exaggeration, one might say that all Western literature on related subjects published after the outbreak of World War II is non-existent in the libraries of these two countries. Libraries, publishing houses and researchers are invited to send spare copies to one of the addresses below and may rest assured that the books sent will not remain unread on the shelves.”

The addresses are:

Professor Phan Cu De,
RICC,
B6, p. 33 Kim Lien - Dong Da,
Ha Noi,
VIETNAM

Dr. Houmphanh Ratannavong,
Institute for Research on Culture,
Ministry of Information and Culture,
P.O. Box 5246,
Vientiane,
LAOS

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