UC Irvine

The adventurous nature of the sport of surfing and the conditions of its historical development facilitated the creation and sustenance of an indigenous folklore. 1 Surfing legends, tall tales, wonder tales, and fabulates are the genres conspicuous to the folklorist in terms of repeti tion of themes and characterizations; for fantasy and heroism are the leitmotifs of surf-lore. In many of its manifestations, surf-lore is a special interpretation of historical events and personages; it thus provides the folklorist the opportunity to observe the process of legend formation from fabulate and memorate.