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 Romanticist 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 scholarly 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada (Ukrainian-Canadians) | Ukrainian-Canadian Folklore and Dialectological Texts | Jaroslav Rudnyckyj | First volume, 1956 | |
| China | Anthology of Yuefu Poetry (translated) | Guo Maoqian | Traditional, with some elaboration | |
| Denmark | Danmarks gamle Folkeviser (DgF) | started by S. H. Grundtvig 1853. | The original classification is essentially retained but expanded. | |
| England | Various | Cecil Sharp | The founding father of the British folk revival in England | |
| Faroe Islands | Færøiske kveder | V.U. Hammershaimb | Føroya kvæði. Corpus carminum Færoensium (CCF) | |
| Finland/Karelia | Suomen kansan vanhat runot | Christfried Ganander, Elias Lönnrot and others | The original classification is still in use | |
| France | Chants et chansons populaires de la France | Théophile Marion Dumersan | The original classification is still in use. | |
| Germany | Deutscher Liederhort | Ludwig Erk, Franz Magnus Böhme | Deutsche Volkslieder mit ihren Melodien. Balladen (DVM) | |
| Great Britain, and American variants | Child Ballads | Francis James Child | The original classification is still in use. | |
| Great Britain, Ireland and North America | Roud Folk Song Index | Steve Roud | A database of songs in folk song collections, field recordings and folk song publications. | |
| Iceland | Íslenzk fornkvæði | Jón Sigurdsson, Svend Grundtvig | The original classification is still in use. | |
| India | Pattole Palame | by Nadikerianda Chinnappa 1924. | A collection of Kodava language folk songs, belonging to the district of Kodagu. | |
| Ireland | Songs of the People | Sam Henry | The collection was published in book form in 1990. | |
| Italy:Lombardy | Canti popolari Lombardi | Giulio Ricordi and Leopoldo Pullè | The original classification is still in use. | |
| Italy:Piedmont | Canti popolari del Piemonte | Costantino Nigra | The original classification is still in use. | |
| Italy:Sicily | Canti popolari siciliani | Giuseppe Pitrè | The original classification is still in use. | |
| Norway | Utsyn yver gamall norsk folkevisedikting (1912) | Leiv Heggstad | , Norske mellomalderballadar (NMB); Visearkivet Oslo CD-ROM uses TSB | |
| Sweden | Svenska folk-visor från forntiden | Erik Gustaf Geijer and Arvid August Afzelius | Sveriges Medeltida Ballader (SMB). |