Ukrainian folklore

Ukrainian folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Ukraine and among ethnic Ukrainians. The earliest examples of folklore found in Ukraine is the layer of pan-Slavic folklore that dates back to the ancient Slavic mythology of the Eastern Slavs. Gradually, Ukrainians developed a layer of their own distinct folk culture. Folklore has been an important tool in defining and retaining a cultural distinctiveness in Ukraine in the face of strong assimilatory pressures from neighboring lands.

Ukrainian folk customs have numerous layers defined by the period in which that aspect developed and the area in which it was exploited. The lowest and oldest level is the pan-Slavic layer of folk culture which has many elements that are common to the Slavic people in general. Above that are elements common to the Eastern Slavs, and above that are elements found only in Ukraine itself. The layer above this contains cultural and folkloric elements that define the various micro-groups of the Ukrainian ethos such as the Boykos, Hutsuls, Lemkos, Lyshaks, Podolians and Rusyns.

Some features of Ukrainian folklore are quite distinctive from that of the neighbouring Slavic peoples. The songs and festivities of Ivana Kupala (St John's Feast) and the Koliada normally associated with some of the deepest and most ancient levels of folklore contain features not found in the neighbouring Russian culture, and are distinctively Ukrainian. These elements put into a quandary the notion that the ethnic Russian and Ukrainian people sprang from one source.

Ukrainian folk customs and rites were rituals connected with the calendar and with the course of human life. They were often accompanied by religious ceremonies, incantations, folk songs, dances, and dramatic plays. Life cycle rituals mark birth, marriage, and death. Many of these customs are ancient and have blended in many cases with Christian rites. They can be divided into three categories:

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