The explanation for these internationally shared tales may be that they are rooted in general human experience. Our shared biology and universally similar life-cycles, from birth, marriage, child-rearing, ageing and death, may generate broadly similar stories: about true love or the perils of raising children, or futile attempts to surmount the barrier between life and death.
Experts are divided about exactly how stories develop and spread from place to place, but it is clear that myths and legends have always had important roles in our culture. Useful lore is transmitted from generation to generation in a brief and comprehensible form. Groups that know how to pass on such stories improve the life-chances of those who hear them, and those folk in turn pass on the stories to their children.
Traditional tales often hinge on ethical or moral issues, or they permit insight into the way other people think. So they insist that you should keep your promises — and should avoid making rash ones; that courage and perseverance will be rewarded and that the wicked do not prevail in the end. The British Isles have their myths and legends, preserved in some of our earliest written records.
The story of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who battled monsters and a dragon, probably originated in eighth-century Northumbria, although it was not written down until the early eleventh century. Irish legends of gods and heroes were also written down in the twelfth century or later. In Welsh there are heroic poems from as early as the sixth century; one such poem contains the first ever reference to the hero Arthur.
Arthur is a blended type of heroic figure. Some of his characteristics stem from a legendary Welsh hero who fought monster-cats and dog-headed men and who went off to the Underworld to steal a magic cauldron. Yet Arthur also takes inspiration from a British war-leader, mentioned in early chronicles, who led his people against the invading Saxons. In the mid-fifteenth-century, Sir Thomas Malory who was confined as a prisoner in the Tower of London, wrote down the best-known version of the Arthur story, incorporating into it tales of the Knights of the Round Table, and the Holy Grail.
Malory included the ancient mythic ending, in which Arthur does not die after his last battle, but rather is borne away by boat to the Isle of Avalon. Legends about Robin and his men, clad in Lincoln Green, who haunt Sherwood Forest, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, are first printed in the late fifteenth century.
Later still, Robin is transformed from a thuggish and immoral thief to a dispossessed nobleman in exile in the greenwood. These two myths became very popular once again in the Victorian period. Both stories were mobilised for political and ideological purposes. Robin Hood and his Merry Men spoke to ideas of a peculiarly English democratic tradition and independence of mind. Oftentimes, the characteristics of people, particularly of heroes, in a legend are unverifiable or perhaps even false, but legends still have some basis in fact.
They tend to include real people from history or take place in, say, a real war, but have obvious exaggerated or fictional elements.
In legends, historical figures may have superhuman or otherwise extraordinary qualities e. Many myths and legends contain morals and supposed truths about bravery, goodness, cowardice, and evil. This is one reason why it is easy to confuse the two. It is a Greek myth that Prometheus stole fire from Zeus , the chief god, and gave it to humans so that they could keep themselves warm.
To punish him, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock where his liver was eaten by an eagle every day but grew again every night.
There is nothing to prove this occurred, and we do not even have a time frame to work with, so it is considered a myth. A common contemporary myth is that a cat crossing the road in front of you brings bad luck.
This is a myth, as it not based on any solid evidence. Stories of heroes like Robin Hood and King Arthur are related to a certian time period and hence they are legends. As myths tend to include supernatural elements in a timeless past, there is no objective proof for them. Legends are stories based on historical events or figures and hence usually exist within a certain time frame and can be placed on a real timeline. They can be verified to some degree, though it may only be to a very minor degree.
The term "fantasy" is also synonymous in most cases. Legends may include facts, but they are not entirely factual themselves; the truth in them has been distorted over time, usually for the sake of a good story. For example, while Pocahontas and John Smith were real people in American history, their relationship and the events that led up to their meeting have been deeply exaggerated in many stories, including in Walt Disney's animated film, Pocahontas. Share this comparison:. If you read this far, you should follow us:.
A fable is about animals, plants, or forces of nature that can talk and act like humans. Fairy tales are probably one of the most popular today. Fairy tales are specifically for kids and often have a lot to do with magic like a fairy godmother, elves, or any supernatural character. Animals can also be characters in a fairy tale.
Fairy tales always have good characters and evil characters. Return to Writing Videos. Study Guides Flashcards Online Courses. Myths, Fables, Legends, and Fairy Tales. Hi, guys! Welcome to this Mometrix video on myths, fables, legends, and fairy tales.
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