Really interesting thread.

I am late to the party,as usual.

Suppose we approach the phenomenon from a different direction.
The question becomes, "When would have been the "high water mark" of supernatural elements in ballads?"
What characteristic(s) of that era, should it exist, would explain the presence of supernatural elements in ballads?

A very simplified version of the argument usually voiced in this thread is that People stopped singing about ghosts because they stopped believing in ghosts.
But what evidence do we have that there has been a significant decresase in the percent of the population that believes in ghosts over the millenia?


Russ (Permanent GUEST)