Tracing legends/folklore through history

I'm looking for a book that traces themes in folklore through different cultures in history and compares variations. I started thinking about this when I noticed how similar some legends and folktalesl are (e.g., three fates in Greek and Norse mythology, Cupid and Psyche story and East of the Sun, West of the Moon) and am interested in learning how much of this scholars attribute to influences of cultures on each other vs legends arising independently as similar ways of interpreting shared human experiences.

I enjoyed Folktales of the Jews: Tales from the Sephardic Dispersion since it includes notes on regional variations and comparison of themes after every story. Has anyone come across books in similar styles with a broader scope?

Spontaneously, I want to recommend Calvert Watkins' How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics, which traces aspects of Greek, Norse, Sanskrit, Avestan and Celtic myths back to Proto-Indo-European times (i.e. about 5000 years before present). It's readable, but definitely an academic book. It's also very much based on correspondences in poetic forms and linguistic formulations.

I'm not really aware of any popular-science approaches to the same topic (and I'd be wary of those anyway), but the reference list of this wikipedia article should provide a starting point.

In general, I think the phrase "comparative mythology" is a good keyword to guide future searches.

(You'll come across the name Dumézil once you start digging into this subject -- his mid-20thC ideas, while influential, are not without controversy, and much of the later research in this area has been about updating, confirming or debunking ideas that he popularized. Don't take his stuff at face value. Though it's not quite as dated as Frazer's The golden bough from the 1890s, which is much more of a wanting-to-see-connections-that-aren't-there effort. But the Bough is a fascinating work of staggering breadth. A pity it's so unreliable.)

>2 Petroglyph: Thanks!

I remember seeing or hearing a BBC article (it was a 3 programme series, though I only remember the one) on the origins of certain fairytales. I particularly remember that Snow White was based on either a rich merchant's or minor noble's daughter who went to one of the royal courts - possibly Spain - and was involved with (I think) the heir to the throne. Her father was the connection to apples and mines.

Sorry the details are so fuzzy; it was a while back, maybe as much as ten years. I'll see if I can dig up some details.

ETA: the Wikipedia article on Snow White has some references you might find useful.

The Golden Bough by George Frazer is a classic in this field, although some mistakes in his arguments have since been cited. It's also more religion-focused than on fairy tales.

>2 Petroglyph:, oops, beat me to it.