French folklore encompasses the fables, folklore, fairy tales and legends of the French people.

In the Middle Ages

Occitan literature - were songs, poetry and literature in Occitan in what is nowadays the South of France that originated in the poetry of the 11th and 12th centuries, and inspired vernacular literature throughout medieval Europe. These early recorded songs, poetry and their highest development in the 12th century and includes the well known Songs of the Troubadours:

Songs of the Troubadours

Songs of the Trouvère

Songs of the Trouvère are songs and poetry that stemmed from poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadours but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France.

Epic narratives

A second form of legend in France during the Middle Ages was epic poetry, partly historical and partly legend with themes covering the formation of France, war, kingship, and important battles. This genre was known as chansons de geste which is Old French for "songs of heroic deeds." It is also called the epics of the "Matter of France":

Matter of France

Animal fables, mock epics

Another folkloric medium in the Middle Ages were fables, mock epics and animal folk tales, notably:

Satirical tales by Rabelais

François Rabelais, 1494–1553, wrote:

Fairy tales

French fairy tales are particularly known by their literary rather than their folk, oral variants. Perrault derived almost all his tales from folk sources, but rewrote them for the upper-class audience, removing rustic elements. The précieuses rewrote them even more extensively for their own interests. Collection of folk tales as such only began about 1860, but was fruitful for the next decades.

Fairy tales by Perrault

Charles Perrault (1628–1703) collected tales:

Fairy tales by d'Aulnoy

Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy, 1650/1–1705, collected tales:

Fairy tales by Souvestre

Émile Souvestre (1806–1854) collected tales:

Other fairy tales

Legends of people

Legendary creatures

Other folklore

Texts