생태적 사유는 실재·모방·이성의 영역을 수용하면서 꿈과 상상과 초합리까지 ‘생각하다’의 영역으로 이끌어 들인 사유의 방식이다. 이것은 인간 중심의 합리적 인식이 어이없이 배제해 버린 또 하나의 현실이라할 자연의 신이를 탐구하고자 하는 노력이다. 이 글에서 천기를 나타내는 속신어와 삼국유사 설화 몇 편을 주목하는 이유는 생태론의 관점이 가장 가공되지 않은 구비문학인 기층의 말과 이야기를 생성한 상상력의 근원과 맞닿아 있음을 짚어 내고자 하였기 때문이다. 이 글은 구비문학과 생태론적 사유의 만남을 폭넓게 제고하는 데 있어 대상으로 삼은 자료가 제한되어 있다는 점, 갈래가 다른 전승물인 속신어와 삼국유사 설화를 함께 다룬 점에서 자료의 편중이란 한계를 지닌다. 이러한 문제점은 생태적 사유에 대한 다음의 논의에서 보완하고자 한다.

Ecological way of thinking is one of many efforts to overcome human crisis through intimate relationships with Mother Nature. As Milan Kundera admonished the cozy ecstasy we get from the speed of technology in his novel Slowness, most human efforts to pursue Utopia based on reason turned out to be the Dystopia resulting in savage destruction of Nature itself. And this is the very starting point why the close relationship between literature and ecology is needed. This paper tries to trace the tradition of the ecological perceptions of Koreans presented in some of the folktales in Samkukyusa and languages used in Folkbliefs, which represent the very traditional perception of ordinary Koreans. The intuition on nature and the respect for Mysteries, and the tendency to present Nature as the narrator of a story through personification is clearly presented with various narrative point of views. In a sense, ecological criticism is one of those critical approaches introduced recently and to do another research on folkbeliefs and folktales could be thought as a repetitious work. But, if ecological approach allows us to stop and think about the speed we are involved in and asks us to reminisce our body and old memories, this approach should be applied to the folkbeliefs and folktales which definitely are the very source of Literature. This study is one of the first steps toward the awakening consciousness on this new way of thinking. It's about time for Modern literature pay more attention to the answers Folkbeliefs suggest us, and the way Lady Suro, King Biche, King Hunkang solve various problems they faced in their social surroundings by turning their ears to the sounds of Nature, thus recovering the mythological way of thinking.