Every nation has beautiful and amazing legends. They are diverse in their subjects: legends about heroic deeds, stories about the origin of names of geographical objects, scary stories about supernatural beings, and novels about lovers.
Definition of the term
A legend is an unreliable narrative of an event. It is very similar to a myth and can be considered its approximate analogue. But legend and myth still cannot be called completely identical concepts. If we are talking about myth, then there are fictional characters who have nothing to do with reality. The legend, on its basis, allows real events that were later supplemented or embellished. Since they add a lot of fictional facts, scientists do not accept legends as a reliable source of information .
If we take the classical meaning of the word as a basis, then the legend is a tradition set forth in an artistic form. Such legends exist in almost all nations.
The best legends of the world - they will be discussed in the article.
Types of Legends
1. Oral legends are the oldest species. They spread through roving storytellers.
2. Written traditions - recorded oral stories.
3. Religious legends - narration of events and persons from church history.
4. Social traditions - all other legends that are not related to religion.
5. Toponymic - explaining the origin of the names of geographical objects (rivers, lakes, cities).
6. Urban legends - the latest look, which has become widespread today.
In addition, there are many more varieties of tales, depending on the plot underlying them - zootropomorphic, cosmogonic, etiological, eschatonic and heroic. There are very short legends and long narratives. The latter are usually associated with the story of the heroic accomplishments of a person. For example, the legend of King Arthur or the hero Ilya Muromets.
How did the legends come about?
From Latin, legenda translates as "what is to be read." The history of legends goes into the deep past and has the same roots as the myth. Primitive man, not having an idea of the causes of many natural phenomena occurring around him, composed myths. Through them, he tried to explain his vision of the world. Later, on the basis of mythology, amazing and interesting legends began to arise about heroes, gods and supernatural phenomena. Many of them are preserved in the traditions of the peoples of the world.
Atlantis - The Tradition of the Lost Paradise
The best legends that arose in antiquity have survived to this day. Many of them still captivate the imagination of adventurers with their beauty and realism. The story of Atlantis suggests that in ancient times there was an island whose inhabitants reached incredible heights in many sciences. But then it was destroyed by a strong earthquake and sank along with the Atlanteans - its inhabitants.
Thanks should be expressed to the great ancient Greek philosopher Plato and the equally revered historian Herodotus for the story of Atlantis. An interesting legend excited minds during the life of these outstanding scientists of ancient Greece. It has not lost its relevance in our days. A wonderful island that has sunk thousands of years ago, continues to search now.
If the legend of Atlantis is true, this event will be one of the greatest discoveries of the century. After all, there was an equally interesting legend about the mythical Troy, the existence of which Genrikh Schliemann sincerely believed. In the end, he managed to find this city and prove that in ancient legends there is some truth.
The foundation of Rome
This interesting legend is one of the most famous in the world. The city of Rome arose in antiquity on the banks of the Tiber. The proximity of the sea made it possible to engage in trade, and at the same time, the city was well protected from the sudden attack of sea robbers. According to legend, Rome was founded by the brothers Romulus and Remus, fed by a she-wolf. By order of the ruler they were supposed to be killed, but the negligent servant threw the basket with the children into the Tiber, hoping that she would drown. She was picked up by a shepherd and became the adoptive father for the twins. Having matured and found out about their origin, they rebelled against a relative and took power from him. The brothers decided to found their city, but during the construction they quarreled, and Romulus killed Rem.
He called the built city by his name. The legend of the emergence of Rome refers to toponymic legends.
The legend of the golden dragon - the path to the heavenly temple
Among the legends, dragon stories are very popular. Many peoples have them, but traditionally this is one of the favorite topics of Chinese folklore.
The legend of the golden dragon says that there is a bridge between heaven and earth that leads to the Temple of Heaven. He belongs to the Lord of the World. Only pure souls can get into it. The shrine is guarded by two golden dragons. They feel an unworthy soul and can tear it when trying to enter the temple. One day, one of the dragons angered the Lord, and he banished him. The dragon came down to earth, met other creatures, and dragons of different stripes were born from it. The Lord was enraged when he saw them, and destroyed all but the unborn. Having been born, they hid for a long time. But the Lord of the World did not begin to destroy the new dragons, but left on earth as his governors.
Treasures and Treasures
Gold legends are not the last in the list of popular legends. One of the most famous and beautiful myths of ancient Greece tells about the search for the Golden Fleece by the Argonauts. For a long time, the legend of the treasure of King Agamemnon was considered simply a legend , until Henry Schliemann found a treasure of pure gold at the excavation site of Mycenae, the capital of the legendary king.
Kolchak's gold is another famous legend. During the Civil War, in the hands of Admiral Kolchak , a large part of Russia's gold reserves turned out to be about seven hundred tons of gold. Transported him in several echelons. What happened with one echelon, historians know. He was captured by the rebellious Czechoslovak corps and surrendered to the authorities (Bolsheviks). But the fate of the remaining two is unknown to this day. The precious cargo could be dumped into the mine, hidden or buried in the ground on a vast territory between Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk. All the excavations that have been carried out so far (starting with the Chekists) have not yielded results.
Well to hell and the library of Ivan the Terrible
Russia also has its own interesting traditions. One of them, which appeared relatively recently, is among the so-called urban legends. This is a story about a well to hell. This name was received by one of the deepest man-made wells in the world - Kola. Its drilling began in 1970. The length is 12,262 meters. They created the well solely for scientific purposes. Now it is mothballed, because there is no money to maintain it in working condition. The legend of the Kola well appeared in 1989, when a story was heard on American television that sensors lowered to the very depths of the well recorded sounds similar to the moans and screams of people.
Another interesting legend, which may well turn out to be true, speaks of a library of books, scrolls and manuscripts. The last owner of the precious collection was Ivan IV. It is believed that she was part of the dowry of Sophia Paleolog, the niece of the Byzantine emperor Constantine.
Fearing that precious books in wooden Moscow might burn out in a fire, she ordered the library to be located in the basements near the Kremlin. According to the seekers of the famous Liberia, it can count 800 volumes of priceless works by ancient and medieval authors. Now there are about 60 versions of where the mysterious library can be stored.