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American folklore - Page 5

Parchment-style artwork of the Morning Star boy falling from the sky, Pawnee Native American folktale.

The Boy Who Became the Morning Star: Pawnee Folktale

October 20, 2025

American Myths·Native American Sun, Moon & Star Myths

In the heart of the Pawnee lands, where the endless plains met the morning horizon, the people often gazed upward at dawn, admiring the brilliance of the Morning Star. To them, it was not merely a celestial body but a living being, a spirit of light that bridged the heavens and the earth. Among these Earth People lived a beautiful

Parchment-style illustration of Tom McRae hearing a ghostly echo in the Appalachian woods, American folktale.

American Superstitions·American Traditions & Beliefs

Whistle: The Appalachian Folktale of Midnight Echoes

The whistle was once thought harmless, a tune to pass the time, a habit for lonely travelers crossing the shadowed trails of the Blue Ridge Mountains. But in the quiet villages scattered along the Tennessee, North Carolina border, folks whispered of a warning older than memory itself: “Never whistle after

Parchment-style artwork of an empty rocking chair moving beside a fire, Midwestern American folktale.

The Rocking Chair That Rocked Itself: Midwestern American Folktale

The chair stood by the hearth in nearly every old farmhouse across

A 19th-century carpenter builds several frontier houses rapidly as villagers look on in awe

The Carpenter Who Built a Town in a Day

In a small frontier valley, where the rivers met and wild grasses

A historic blacksmith forging a glowing railroad spike in a riverbank forge as early locomotives approach

The Blacksmith Who Forged the First Railroad Spike

January 12, 2026

American Folktales·American Tall Tales

In a time when iron rails were only beginning to stretch across the rolling hills of the eastern United States, there was a blacksmith whose hands and heart were known for their skill and care. His forge sat quietly by a gentle river, away from the hubbub of construction crews

A gentle giant resting beside a wide curved Mississippi River, shaping the land as water flows around him.

The Giant Who Carved the Mississippi Bend

January 12, 2026

African American Folktales·American Tall Tales

Before maps gave the Mississippi River a name and before people argued over where its waters began or ended, the river moved as it wished. It wandered across the land slowly, testing the soil, listening to the ground, and remembering everything it touched. In those early days, when the earth