Ethnology in Folklore

Ethnology in Folklore argues that folklore materials should be treated not merely as literary artifacts but as ethnological evidence. Gomme maintains that folk tales, customs, and rituals preserve traces of earlier social structures, belief systems, and cultural layers. He views folklore as a gateway to prehistoric cultural history and employs a comparative method to identify survivals and continuities across societies. The work situates folklore within anthropology and ethnology, promoting an interdisciplinary framework for understanding traditional culture.