Myths, Legends, Folktales

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Myths, Legends, Folktales
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Folktales

• A folktale is a story that, in its plot, is pure
  fiction and that has no particular location in
  either time or space. However, despite its
  elements of fantasy, a folktale is actually a
  symbolic way of presenting the different means by
  which human beings cope with the world in which
  they live.

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Folktales

• Folktales concern people -- either royalty or
  common folk -- or animals who speak and act like
  people.

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Legends

• A legend is a story from the past about a subject
  that was, or is believed to have been,
  historical. Legends concern people, places, and
  events.

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Legends

• Usually, the subject is a saint, a king, a hero,
  a famous person, or a war. A legend is always
  associated with a particular place and a
  particular time in history.

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Myth

• A myth is fiction -- something which is untrue.
  Mythology often addresses the theme of good
  conquering over evil. Scholars of mythology
  usually define a myth as a kind of story which
  attempts to interpret some aspect of the world
  around us.

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Myth

• They are often stories of origins, how the world
  and everything in it came to be in illo tempore
  (Eliade). Sometimes they are public dreams which,
  like private dreams, emerge from the unconscious
  mind (Freud). They are symbolic and metaphorical
  (Cassirer).

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Myth

• Myths concern the powers who control the human
  world and the relationship between those powers
  and human beings.

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Myth

• A myth is a sacred story from the past It may
  explain the origin of the universe and of life,
  or it may express its culture's moral values in
  human terms. Although myths are religious in
  their origin and function, they may also be the
  earliest form of history, science, or philosophy.
  

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Folktales

• People told folktales long before there were
  books, newspapers or televisions. Folktales were
  a way to bring news from one village to the next.
  Parents used folktales to teach lessons to their
  children. These stories helped people learn and
  understand the customs of their village.
  Folktales also explained the wonders of nature,
  like thunderstorms.

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Folktales

• Folktales tell a lot about people who invent
  them. For instance, the early American settlers
  believed in hard work. A lot of their stories are
  about rugged individuals like Paul Bunyan and
  Johnny Appleseed, who were strong and brave and
  accomplished a great deal

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Folktales

• Many cultures have one clever character who is
  always getting into trouble. Native American
  Indians have Trickster, Cape Verdians have Los
  Nobos the wolf, and Africans have Anansi the
  Spider.

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Folktales

• Folktales are told over and over and they change
  with each retelling. Each storyteller breathes a
  different life into a story. The storyteller is
  always making choices where to begin, where to
  end, where to add a dash of humor or a sprinkling
  of suspense.