Six Characteristics of Folktales
1. All folktales originally began as stories told by word of mouth.
2. All folktales have a moral or teach a lesson.
3. Many old folktales explain how something came to be. (these are called "creation myths").
4. Characters in folktales are usually animals or people.
5. Usually a character in a folktale must face an impossible test.
6. Many folktalkes contain the Rule of Three. Characters and events seem to happen in threes.
