Stories of old people taking on new role (8)
I believe the answer is:
folklore
'stories of old' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.
'people taking on new role' is the wordplay.
'people' becomes 'folk' (informal term for people).
'taking on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'new' indicates anagramming the letters.
'role' with letters rearranged gives 'lore'.
'folk'+'lore'='FOLKLORE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for folklore that I've seen before include "Stories and legends" , "Traditional beliefs and tales of community" , "Traditional knowledge of a culture" , "Stories, traditions, etc., of a group of people" , "Ancient customs and beliefs" .)