Roma Folklore

This page links together resources at sacred-texts about the folklore of the Roma people. Also known as 'Gypsies', the Roma are nomads who originated in India during the middle ages, and spread across a wide section of Eurasia, preserving a unique culture and language.

NOTE: The term Gypsy was applied to the Roma by outsiders, possibly in the mistaken belief that they were Egyptian in origin. Some people today take it to be pejorative, and at the very least its use is deprecated. Nevertheless, it is used widely in the literature, particularly the pre-1922 public domain books at this site, by scholars who cannot be construed as using it in a derogative sense. In new material at this site we use the term 'Roma' and leave the term 'Gypsy' in existing documents.

Gypsy Folk Tales
by Francis Hindes Groomes [1899]
A treasure trove of Roma stories by a devoted scholar of the subject.