List of folk song collections

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This is a list of folk song collections including pioneer and notable work in collecting folk songs.

Many such collections were made in the 19th century. The earlier ones are often considered to be parts of the National Romanticisist interests in folklore. The monumental efforts of single enthusiasts laid the foundation for the modern academic investigations of epic folk songs. The comments made by various collectors also indicate that they respected and were inspired by the work done by their counterparts. Child's comments show that he indeed could read and understand ballads in Scandinavian languages.

The following table lists comparable pioneering works from different countries or language areas, and corresponding modern scolarly collections or classifications. The 'pioneers' are not necessarily the first collectors, but they were each the first to gain widespread recognition, and to provide classification or at least useful enumeration.

Country/region	Title	Collector	Modern classification
Denmark	Danmarks gamle Folkeviser (DgF)	started by S. H. Grundtvig 1853.	The original classification is essentially retained but expanded.
Faroe Islands	Færøiske kveder	V.U. Hammershaimb	Føroya kvæði. Corpus carminum Færoensium (CCF)
Germany	?	John Meier?	Deutsche Volkslieder mit ihren Melodien. Balladen
Great Britain, and American variants	Child Ballads	Francis James Child	The original classification is still in use.
Sweden	Svenska folk-visor från forntiden	Erik Gustaf Geijer and Arvid August Afzelius	Sveriges Medeltida Ballader (SMB).