65 www.folklore.ee/folklore HANDLING COLLECTIVE FEAR IN FOLKLORE

Throughout centuries human fear has induced the emergence and formation of folkloric phenomena. It is characteristic of human na-ture to fight against fear, trying to reduce or prevent it, and this aim reverberates in the folk narratives. The mediation of fear in folklore does not, however, provide a tradition carrier relief from these fears, but proposes solutions (that can be materialised at least in narrative form) to handle them. In the following I will analyse methods of coping with one of the main sources of human fear in narratives – namely, death and fatal diseases, which have been topical since the beginning of human thought. Here I would like to point out three main aspects of fear in folklore (i) The sc. mass fear (collective fear for epidemics and other catas-trophes) reflected in folk narratives, whereas (ii) universally threatening situations are often expressed by indi-vidual experience in narratives (like a contact with demonic super-natural beings), and we must also consider that (iii) in the European culture the reflection of fear in folk mythology has been influenced by the propagation of guilt and punishment causality by the church (e.g. in legends about violating a moral code). Legends present us a complex system for manoeuvring around the world filled with mythological dangers. Narrative samples with frightening ending should prevent a person from repeating the con-demnable deed, helping thereby to escape a similar punishment, whereas legends that end happily for the main character illustrate the need to follow certain moral standards. The aim of the legends, obviously, is to mediate something more and not just imitate a real situation – the narratives are interpretations or elaborations of fact