Minnesota folklore

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 folk songs are reflective of its history.

Folk heroes

• Paul Bunyan, the legendary giant lumberjack, is Minnesota's most famous export.
• 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.

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 spring 1936. She arranged for it to be published for the first time in the Minnesota History in September 1946.

References

1. "A Swedish Immigrant Folk Figure", Minnesota History, Volume 29, pages 105-113.