Law vs. Lore — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Fiza Rafique — Updated on April 22, 2024
Law refers to the system of rules established and enforced by governmental or social institutions, while lore is a body of traditions and knowledge on a subject, passed down within a culture.
Difference Between Law and Lore
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Law is a formal system of rules and guidelines that are established and enforced by institutions to govern behavior, whereas lore encompasses the traditional knowledge and stories passed down through generations within a culture or community. Both are crucial for maintaining societal norms, but they serve different purposes.
Law is often codified in written statutes and legal decisions, making it enforceable through the judicial system, while lore, on the other hand, is typically uncodified and transmitted orally or through practice. This makes lore more fluid and adaptable over time compared to the more rigid structure of law.
While laws are created with the intention of establishing order and providing a basis for resolving disputes, lore serves to educate and preserve the cultural identity of a community. Lore can include myths, legends, and folktales which provide moral guidance and a sense of historical continuity.
In many societies, law is shaped by precedents and legislative actions, and its interpretation is subject to legal principles. In contrast, lore is often subject to personal interpretation and can vary widely in its presentation and emphasis depending on the storyteller.
Both law and lore influence behavior and societal expectations, but law does so through formal sanctions and legal outcomes, whereas lore influences through cultural norms and values, often without any formal enforcement mechanism.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Rules enforceable by institutions
Traditions and knowledge passed culturally
Form
Codified in statutes and legal rulings
Often uncodified, oral or practiced
Purpose
To govern behavior and resolve disputes
To educate and preserve cultural identity
Enforcement
Judicial systems and legal sanctions
Passed through generations without formal enforcement
Adaptability
Changes through legislation and precedent
Evolves through storytelling and practice
Compare with Definitions
Law
Legal principle.
The law of gravity states that what goes up must come down.
Lore
Traditional knowledge.
Fishermen’s lore has it that dolphins following a ship bring good luck.
Law
Rule of conduct.
The laws of the game were strictly enforced during the match.
Lore
Folk belief.
According to local lore, the woods are haunted by a spectral hound.
Law
Binding custom.
Local laws require shops to close by midnight.
Lore
Cultural stories.
The lore of the Native American tribes is rich with symbolic creatures.
Law
Legislation.
New laws regarding privacy were enacted last year.
Lore
Mythology.
Norse lore includes tales of gods like Thor and Loki.
Law
Judicial decision.
The court's ruling became law after the precedent was set.
Lore
Oral history.
The lore of that ancient battle was passed down through generations.
Law
Law is a system of rules created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and the art of justice.
Lore
Accumulated knowledge or beliefs held by a group about a subject, especially when passed from generation to generation by oral tradition.
Law
A rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority.
Lore
The space between the eye and the base of the bill of a bird or between the eye and nostril of a snake.
Law
The body of rules and principles governing the affairs of a community and enforced by a political authority; a legal system
International law.
Lore
All the facts and traditions about a particular subject that have been accumulated over time through education or experience.
The lore of the Ancient Egyptians
Law
The condition of social order and justice created by adherence to such a system
A breakdown of law and civilized behavior.
Lore
The backstory created around a fictional universe.
Law
A set of rules or principles dealing with a specific area of a legal system
Tax law.
Criminal law.
Lore
(obsolete) Workmanship.
Law
A statute, ordinance, or other rule enacted by a legislature.
Lore
(anatomy) The region between the eyes and nostrils of birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
Law
A judicially established legal requirement; a precedent.
Lore
(anatomy) The anterior portion of the cheeks of insects.
Law
The system of judicial administration giving effect to the laws of a community
All citizens are equal before the law.
Lore
The space between the eye and bill, in birds, and the corresponding region in reptiles and fishes.
Law
Legal action or proceedings; litigation
Submit a dispute to law.
Lore
That which is or may be learned or known; the knowledge gained from tradition, books, or experience; often, the whole body of knowledge possessed by a people or class of people, or pertaining to a particular subject; as, the lore of the Egyptians; priestly lore; legal lore; folklore.
His fair offspring, nursed in princely lore.
Law
An impromptu or extralegal system of justice substituted for established judicial procedure
Frontier law.
Lore
That which is taught; hence, instruction; wisdom; advice; counsel.
If please ye, listen to my lore.
Law
An agency or agent responsible for enforcing the law. Often used with the
"The law ... stormed out of the woods as the vessel was being relieved of her cargo" (Sid Moody).
Lore
Workmanship.
Law
(Informal) A police officer. Often used with the.
Lore
Lost.
Neither of them she found where she them lore.
Law
The science and study of law; jurisprudence.
Lore
Knowledge gained through tradition or anecdote;
Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend
Law
Knowledge of law.
Law
The profession of an attorney.
Law
Something, such as an order or a dictum, having absolute or unquestioned authority
The commander's word was law.
Law
A body of principles or precepts held to express the divine will, especially as revealed in the Bible.
Law
The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Law
A code of principles based on morality, conscience, or nature.
Law
A rule or custom generally established in a particular domain
The unwritten laws of good sportsmanship.
Law
A way of life
The law of the jungle.
Law
A statement describing a relationship observed to be invariable between or among phenomena for all cases in which the specified conditions are met
The law of gravity.
Law
A generalization based on consistent experience or results
The law of supply and demand.
Law
(Mathematics) A general principle or rule that is assumed or that has been proven to hold between expressions.
Law
A principle of organization, procedure, or technique
The laws of grammar.
The laws of visual perspective.
Law
(usually with "the") The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
The courts interpret the law but should not make it.
In theory, entrapment is against the law.
Law
The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.
Property law
Commercial hunting and fishing law
Law
Common law, as contrasted with equity.
Law
A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way.
There is a law against importing wallabies.
A new law forbids driving on that road.
The court ruled that the executive order was not law and nullified it.
Law
(more generally) A rule, such as:
Law
Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. mores.}}
"Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you" is a good law to follow.
The law of self-preservation
Law
A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art.
The laws of playwriting and poetry
Law
A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. theory.}}
The laws of thermodynamics
Newton's third law of motion states that to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.
This is one of several laws derived from his general theory expounded in the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
Law
A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule.
Mathematical laws can be proved purely through mathematics, without scientific experimentation.
Law
Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.
The law of scarcity
The law of supply and demand
Law
(linguistics) A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language.
Grimm's law
Dahl's law
Law
(cricket) One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC.
Law
The control and order brought about by the observance of such rules.
They worked to maintain law and order.
It was a territory without law, marked by violence.
Law
(informal) A person or group that act(s) with authority to uphold such rules and order (for example, one or more police officers).
Here comes the law — run!
Then the law arrived on the scene
Law
The profession that deals with such rules (as lawyers, judges, police officers, etc).
He is studying for a career in law.
She has practiced law in New York for twenty years.
Law
Jurisprudence, the field of knowledge which encompasses these rules.
She went to university to study law.
Law
Litigation; legal action (as a means of maintaining or restoring order, redressing wrongs, etc).
They were quick to go to law.
Law
An allowance of distance or time (a head start) given to a weaker (human or animal) competitor in a race, to make the race more fair.
Law
(aviation) A mode of operation of the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft.
Normal law; alternate law; direct law
Law
(fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
Law
An oath sworn before a court, especially disclaiming a debt. wager of law", "wage one's law", "perform one's law", "lose one's law".}}
Law
(obsolete) A tumulus of stones.
Law
A hill.
Law
A score; share of expense; legal charge.
Law
(obsolete) To work as a lawyer; to practice law.
Law
To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate.
Law
(nonstandard) To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; to govern.
Law
(informal) To enforce the law.
Law
To subject to legal restrictions.
Law
(dated) An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks.
Law
In general, a rule of being or of conduct, established by an authority able to enforce its will; a controlling regulation; the mode or order according to which an agent or a power acts.
These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made.
The law of thy God, and the law of the King.
As if they would confine the Interminable . . . Who made our laws to bind us, not himself.
His mind his kingdom, and his will his law.
Law
In morals: The will of God as the rule for the disposition and conduct of all responsible beings toward him and toward each other; a rule of living, conformable to righteousness; the rule of action as obligatory on the conscience or moral nature.
Law
The Jewish or Mosaic code, and that part of Scripture where it is written, in distinction from the gospel; hence, also, the Old Testament.
What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law . . . But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
Law
An organic rule, as a constitution or charter, establishing and defining the conditions of the existence of a state or other organized community.
Law
In philosophy and physics: A rule of being, operation, or change, so certain and constant that it is conceived of as imposed by the will of God or by some controlling authority; as, the law of gravitation; the laws of motion; the law heredity; the laws of thought; the laws of cause and effect; law of self-preservation.
Law
In mathematics: The rule according to which anything, as the change of value of a variable, or the value of the terms of a series, proceeds; mode or order of sequence.
Law
In arts, works, games, etc.: The rules of construction, or of procedure, conforming to the conditions of success; a principle, maxim; or usage; as, the laws of poetry, of architecture, of courtesy, or of whist.
Law
Collectively, the whole body of rules relating to one subject, or emanating from one source; - including usually the writings pertaining to them, and judicial proceedings under them; as, divine law; English law; Roman law; the law of real property; insurance law.
Law
Legal science; jurisprudence; the principles of equity; applied justice.
Reason is the life of the law; nay, the common law itself is nothing else but reason.
Law is beneficence acting by rule.
And sovereign Law, that state's collected willO'er thrones and globes elate,Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill.
Law
Trial by the laws of the land; judicial remedy; litigation; as, to go law.
When every case in law is right.
He found law dear and left it cheap.
Law
An oath, as in the presence of a court.
Law
An exclamation of mild surprise.
Law
Legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity;
There is a law against kidnapping
Law
The collection of rules imposed by authority;
Civilization presupposes respect for the law
The great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order
Law
A generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature;
The laws of thermodynamics
Law
A rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society
Law
The learned profession that is mastered by graduate study in a law school and that is responsible for the judicial system;
He studied law at Yale
Law
The force of policemen and officers;
The law came looking for him
Law
The branch of philosophy concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do
Common Curiosities
Can lore influence legal systems?
Yes, cultural lore can sometimes influence the development of formal laws and customs.
How is lore typically transmitted?
Lore is usually passed down orally or through habitual practice.
Do laws exist in all human societies?
Some form of law exists in most societies, though its structure can vary widely.
What forms can lore take?
Lore can include myths, legends, songs, and folklore.
How are new laws made?
New laws are usually made through legislative processes or legal rulings.
What is the main purpose of law?
Law aims to regulate society through enforceable rules.
Is law always written?
Most formal laws are written, but some legal principles may be upheld as unwritten customs.
Can anyone create lore?
Lore typically evolves within a community and is added to by many over generations.
How does lore preserve culture?
Lore keeps cultural heritage alive by passing down beliefs, customs, and stories.
How does lore differ from history?
Lore often blends factual history with myth and moral lessons, whereas history tries to record past events as accurately as possible.
Is all lore ancient?
Not necessarily, new lore can develop as cultures evolve and create new stories or traditions.
Can laws change over time?
Yes, laws can evolve through new legislation or changes in societal values.
What role does enforcement play in the application of law?
Enforcement is crucial as it ensures compliance with legal standards.
What happens when law and lore conflict?
Conflicts can arise, requiring resolution through legal or cultural reconciliation processes.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
