Storytelling predates writing. Long before the invention of alphabets or papyrus, humans gathered around fires and shared tales orally. Storytelling served the same purpose then that it does today: preserving knowledge for the next generation. Out of necessity, humans have always needed to share the details of their discoveries with others so that knowledge could spread and survival could improve. You could argue that the storyteller was perhaps the most important role in a human community — and perhaps still is.