Contemporary Legends from the Slovene Karst in Comparison with Fairylore and Belief Traditions<br>Sodobne zgodbe s slovenskega krasa na Notranjskem v primerjavi z lokalnim bajčnim izročilom in tradicionalnim pripovedništvom</br>

Abstract

The paper presents narratives collected in the last decade in the Karst region in southwest Slovenia, more precisely in Lož Valley with its Snežnik Castle and its forests, in the vicinity of Cerknica Lake, and in the region of Pivka. Although most of these stories can be defined as contemporary legends they do have much in common with traditional folk tales and with local mythology. The analyzed legends mention ghosts, witches, fairies, and other mythological creatures from Slovene traditional mythology; their content has been changed considerably, and they are usually narrated as personal experience, which is a characteristic of contemporary legends. On the basis of exact comparison and the study of context the author tries to outline the changes in contemporary folk narrative and the social function of both genres of narration according to the circumstances in which they have been recounted.