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In the course of March 2020, the Netherlands, Flanders, and a large part of Europe were affected by the first wave of the COVID-19 virus. For four months, the population was in lockdown, and many issues had to be handled online. Social media became important to keep in touch with and to air opinions. Two folktale genres, namely the joke and the modern legend, were used to express frustrations, malicious pleasures, fears, and feelings of distrust. During the first wave, Theo Meder and Mathijs Kroon did some intensive collecting of jokes, memes, fake news, and conspiracy theories. It was expected by folktale researchers like Giselinde Kuipers and Theo Meder that, just like in former crises, jokes would contain plenty of morbid disaster humor, but that did not happen. Contemporary legends, on the other hand, were polarizing and toxic, and mistrust was mainly directed against the elite of politicians, scientists, doctors, and journalists. The corona crisis was seen as some kind of hoax in many ways, while most of the "sheeple" refused to wake up. The analysis of folktales during the pandemic provides an insight into the feelings and emotions in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by The Lore of the Land, published by Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson in 2005, a Dutch version of this book, comprising local and regional legends, was published in the Netherlands in 2010 by Willem de Blecourt, Ruben Koman, Jurjen van der Kooi, and Theo Meder. The editors selected over three hundred and fifty legends, representative of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands, for the volume. Some were real ecotypes, having been appropriated by local communities and having led to the erection of associated statues, often for touristic and commercial purposes, as well as for shaping collective identities, while others were almost forgotten tales. The editors also found, somewhat unexpectedly, that quite a number of popular legends had been composed and constructed by romantic writers in the nineteenth century, and that these older legends were much more popular than the recently-invented ones. As the editors also included a number of contemporary legends, they discovered that one such legend had already become popular enough to have a statue erected and a song composed in its honour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contemporary legend and rumour, fact and fiction often mingle. Modern legends and ostensive action can have a tremendous impact on the perception of reality and they can form a barometer for the social climate. For ethnologists and folklorists, the perception of truth should be more vital than truth itself. The question is why certain legends are believed to be true. This article explores that question through material collected from the Netherlands that portrays immigrants and Muslims as dangerous "Others." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neither in Dutch nor in European narrative folklore does the lawyer have a positive reputation. It does not matter whether we look at the past or the present: in folktales the practice of lawyers is associated with greed, trickery and heartlessness. In the Middle Ages, when the profession was literally for sale, judges were accused of corruption and incompetence, but their reputation improved over time when they became well-educated and impartial professionals. In present and past, the common man looks upon justice as incomprehensible and unpredictable. European and American folktales (especially jokes) about law and lawyers basically share the same themes, but there is a remarkable difference in quantity nowadays. Whereas lawyer jokes are hype in the U.S., they are not in the Netherlands or Western Europe. The main reason seems to be the American “vulture culture” of suing, claiming, and cashing, as exposed in the news media. If Dutch and European lawyers take over the mores of their American colleagues, it will just be a matter of time before a vast number of lawyer jokes are transferred and translated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]