Why has Rip Van Winkles storu become so much a part of American folklore?
It isn’t part of American Folklore. You might as well call the Grapes of Wrath or the Jungle folklore. Folklore would imply it is somehow an American oral legend. Like calling a guy with an acoustic guitar a folksinger despite the fact he plays only original music and never plays traditional songs. Instead it is an original story which just put a new spin on a bunch of British/Celtic folk stories. The stock Sidhe keeps a man over night turns out to be 20 years bit. If anything you should call it post-folklore, as while it builds upon folklore, it isn’t a traditional story.
