Where can I find some interesting folklore to use in a D&D campaign?

Welsh mythology, like Culhwch and Olwen and the Mabinogion is plenty weird and has lots of odd quests like taking a comb and a razor from the head of a giant boar.

Northwest Native American folklore is pretty cool. There are plenty of books about it. Also fiction that might be fun to read to get you the flavor of things. Bear Daughter by Judith Berman would give you a bunch of ideas.

The works of Joseph Campbell are a treasure trove of mythology. There’s also the venerable Bulfinch’s and D’Aulaire’s for Greek and Roman. Sir James Fraser collected stories from many traditions in The Golden Bough.

You might try African or Chinese mythology for something that hasn’t already been heavily worked over in games and movies. The Monkey King might be a great place to start.

Do what folks have always done and make it up. How do you suppose we got folklore in the first place?

You can try Caribbean folklore. Douens (Dwens) are the souls of children who have died before they were baptized. They look like children but they have no face and their feet are on backwards. http://www.tntisland.com/folklore.html or just Google Caribbean folklore. Hope this helps. There are quite a few unique characters and some local versions of well know folklore like Mermaids and Fairymaids. Due to our multicultural back ground our folklore consists of bits and pieces from all around the world.

Interesting question. I like learning about new folklore. Maybe one of these creatures will strike your imagination.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2022984/5_obscure_mythical_creatures_you_should.html?cat=37

kaywizard I loved that synopsis of Caribbean folklore. The part about La Diablesse where it says to turn your clothes inside out to protect yourself reminded me that the same advice is given for avoiding fairies’ mischief. A lot of the other folklore I was unfamiiar with and I loved reading about it. Thank you!

@Earthgirl thank you. p.s a lot of people in the Caribbean are still very superstitious it is not unusual to hear about someone who has had an encounter with one especially La Diablesse. If your into folklore or scaring friends it’s a good place to grow up.