Stith Thompson
Academic / Scholar
American · 20th century
American folklorist, best known for compiling the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature and co-developing what is now the Aarne-Thompson-Uther (ATU) tale-type index.
Connection to Taylor Swift
Uncle Jerry uses Thompson's index to identify and classify folkloric motifs, particularly the White Lady and screaming woman traditions, that surface in Taylor's songwriting.
Notable Works
- Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, The Types of the Folktale (with Antti Aarne)