The earliest mentioning of Estonian singing dates back to Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum (c. 1179). Saxo spoke of Estonian warriors who sang at night while waiting for a battle. Henry of Livonia at the beginning of the 13th century described Estonian sacrificial customs, gods and spirits. In 1578 Balthasar Russow described the celebration of midsummer (jaanipäev), the St. John's Day by Estonians. In 1644 Johann Gutslaff spoke of the veneration of holy springs and J.W. Boecler described Estonian superstitious beliefs in 1685. Estonian folklore and beliefs including samples of folk songs appear in Topographische Nachrichten von Liv- und Estland by August W. Hupel in 1774–82. J.G von Herder published seven Estonian folk songs, translated into German in his Volkslieder in 1778 and republished as Stimmen der Völker in Liedern in 1807.
At the beginning of the 19th century during the Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840), increased interest in Estonian folklore occurred among Baltic Germans. J.H. Rosenplänter founded Beiträge zur genauern Kenntniß der ehstnischen Sprache, a journal for studies on Estonian language, literature, and folklore. In Beiträge the German translation of Mythologia Fennica by Kristjan Jaak Peterson was published in 1822. In 1839 The Learned Estonian Society was founded as the central organization for collecting and studying Estonian folklore. A leading figure in the society, Friedrich Robert Faehlmann published a number of Estonian legends and myths in German based on genuine Estonian folklore and on Ganander's Finnish mythology "The Dawn and Dusk" (Koit ja Hämarik), being considered one of the most beautiful Estonian myths having popular origin. In 1842 the Society of the Estonian Literati was founded in Tallinn.