Maricar C. Bebanco BSEd II-A

B. Folk Tales

Ever since, the Philippines has been blessed with a wealth of folk tales.Because folk tales have

been passed on by word of mouth it is difficult to trace their origins

. Contemporary writers build their stories from old folk tales or from the productsof their imaginations.

Folk tales

are made up of stories about life, adventure, love, horror, and humor where one can derive lessons about life. These are useful to us because they help usappreciate our environment, evaluate our personalities and improve our perspectives inlife.Example:THE MOON AND THE SUN( Tingguian folk tale)

C. The Epic Age

Epics

are long narrative poems in which a series of heroic achievements or events, usually of a hero, are dealt with at length. Nobody can determine which epics arethe oldest because in their translations from other languages, even in English andSpanish. We can only determine their origins from the time mentioned in the said epic.The HUDHOD and the ALIM of the Ifugaos may have happened during theStone Age when iron was still unknown. The Darangan of the Moros may have startedduring the period of the kingdom of the Bumbaran thar sank in the Pacific Ocean duringthe Deluge. It is clear that MARAGTAS was written during the period of Christ and theIBALON of Bicol which dealt with the early people of Bicol is believed to havehappened before the Deluge.Aside from the aforementioned epics, there are still other epics that can be readand studied like the following epics.

a.Bidasari – Moro epic b.Biag ni Lam-ang – Ilokano epic

Maragtas – Visayan epicd.Haraya – Visayan epice.Lagda – Visayan epicf.Hari sa Bukid – Visayan epicg.Kumintang – Tagalog epich.Parang Sabir – Moro epici.“Dagoy” at “Sudsod” – Tagbanua epic j.Tatuaang – Bagobo epick.Indarapatra at Sulaymanl.Bantugan