A legend is a type of folklore. It tells stories about people and events believed to have happened in history. These stories often show human values and have details that make them seem real. Legends may include miracles and can change over time to stay interesting.

Legends often exist in a place of uncertainty. People who hear them may not fully believe them, but they also may not completely doubt them. Legends are sometimes different from myths because they focus on real people and may have some connection to history, while myths usually do not. The Brothers Grimm said that a legend is a story based on real events. Because legends focus on people, they often include legendary creatures, which show that legends are connected to history.

A modern definition of legend was created by Timothy R. Tangherlini in 1990.

Etymology and origin

The word "legend" was borrowed from Old French and began being used in English around 1340. The French word "legende" came from the Latin word "legenda" used during the Middle Ages. In early English, the word "legend" meant a story about an event. The word "legendary" was first used as a noun in the 1510s to describe a group of legends. Over time, the word changed to "legendry," and "legendary" became the adjective form.

By 1613, English-speaking Protestants started using the word "legend" to suggest that certain events, especially stories about saints not included in John Foxe’s Actes and Monuments, were not true. This helped "legend" take on modern meanings like "not documented" and "not real," which are different from the word "chronicle."

In 1866, Jacob Grimm described fairy tales as "poetic, legend historic." Scholars like Karl Wehrhan, Friedrich Ranke, and Will Erich Peuckert later focused on the storytelling aspect of legends. After the 1960s, researchers began studying how legends are told and their connections to culture and psychology. Some scholars tried to create categories for legends, similar to the Aarne–Thompson folktale index. In 1925, Friedrich Ranke described a folk legend as "a popular story with untrue, imaginary content," but this idea was later rejected.

Compared to the structured format of folktales, legends are more flexible, as noted by Helmut de Boor in 1928. Legends use realistic storytelling, unlike the ironic tone of folktales. Wilhelm Heiske observed that legends and folktales share similar themes but noted that legends are not necessarily more historical than folktales.

In Einleitung in der Geschichtswissenschaft (1928), Ernst Bernheim said a legend is simply a long-lasting rumor. Gordon Allport explained that some rumors stay popular because they reflect common cultural ideas, which is why "urban legends" are a type of rumor. When Willian Hugh Jansen suggested calling short-lived legends "short-term" and long-lasting ones "long-term," the difference between legends and rumors became unclear, according to Tangherlini.

Christianlegenda

In a narrow Christian sense, "legenda" referred to stories that were read in church on specific days. These stories often described the lives of saints and were collected in a book of tales. Over time, the word "legend" came to describe any story set in a real historical time but that includes supernatural, divine, or fantastical elements.

Oral tradition

History that is passed down by word of mouth over many generations often becomes stories or myths over time. An example of this is the oral traditions of the African Great Lakes region.

Urban legend

Urban legends are a type of modern folklore that comes from local culture. These stories are usually made up but are often told as if they are true. They may include scary or funny parts. People share these stories for fun, and sometimes they are used to explain strange events, like missing people or unusual objects.

The term "urban legend" has been used in writing since at least 1968. Jan Harold Brunvand, an English professor at the University of Utah, first shared the term with the public in a series of books starting in 1981. In his book The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings, Brunvand made two points: first, that legends and folklore are not only found in traditional or old societies, and second, that studying these stories can teach people about modern life.

• The story of the White Lady who is said to haunt Union Cemetery is a version of the Vanishing Hitchhiker legend.
• Bahay na Pula in the Philippines is believed to be haunted by people who were killed or harmed by the Japanese army on the property during World War II.

Related concepts

Hippolyte Delehaye explained the difference between legend and myth: "A legend, however, must have some connection to real people or places. It tells stories about imaginary events that involve a real person or sets romantic stories in a specific location."

When a legend is retold as a fictional story, its true qualities as a legend begin to disappear. For example, in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving changed a local legend from the Hudson River Valley into a fictional tale with "Gothic" elements. This change made the story less like a real legend.

Stories that go beyond what is realistic are called "fables." For instance, Aesop’s fables use animals that speak, which clearly marks them as fables, not legends. The parable of the Prodigal Son would be a legend if it were told as a true story about a real person. If the story included a donkey that gave wise advice to the Prodigal Son, it would be a fable instead.

Legends can be shared through spoken words, passed from person to person, or written down. Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda Aurea, or The Golden Legend, is a collection of stories about saints. These stories are tied to the religious calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. While they are presented as true accounts of saints’ lives, they often include many miracles and are written without questioning their truth. The Legenda was created to help people give short, inspiring talks about the saint of the day.