Legends and myths
Myths and legends are collective narrations perceived by narrators as "historical".
Myths and the so called explanatory or etiological are prose stories to be believed. They lack therefore, initiation formulas for creating fiction due to their didactic and moralizing character. Neither are they adscribed to a particular context. They deal with Gods and the beginning of times: they relate to theological, ritual and religious- magical issues.The characters have human attributes and simultaneously they are godlike figures or heroes that develop in a strange environment and in a time before history (remote past). This temporal distance in conjunction with the godlike characters, prevent the listeners from identifying themselves with these non-human characters, although they accept the story as truthful. The narrative and etiological character of these stories is what distinguishes them from religious beliefs.
Originally, legends are primitive literary medieval narrations about the lives of the saints (hagiography). These pious stories, normally transmitted through literary collections by priests or clergymen, occasionally were also transmitted through oral tradition. In these stories, miracles and fantasy liaised closely with historical and pseudo- historical events. In the Middle Ages the term history was used (if the story was about national or universal past), or also, example -enxiemplo- (if it was identified with a more or less moralizing story). Ultimately, other terms were assimilated such as sage, local tradition, local legend, migratory legend, popular tradition... At present, we understand legend to be an oral or written narration that presents extraordinary events considered to be possible or real by narrator and listener and that are related to the historical past and geographical environment of the intended community or in which the plot develops. To put it differently, they deal with recent past events and present devout characters. Within this literary subgenre we may establish two major categories: the oral and traditional legend and the literary written legend. The legend has various charactersitics. Firstly, the most outstanding features is its structural simplicity and inestability, since there is an only narrative motif (or very few) without references to preceding events or after-effects. The legend follows a strict sequence, although it is more flexible than other stories. It lacks initiating and closing formulas, but does have a framework of objective references (dates, places, etc...) and the narrator´s insistence on the truthfulness of the story which is its identifying principle. The narrator and listener feels it as an extrordinary story with events that they are unable to explain from normal everyday experience, but approved by its connexion with their vital space and time, and often also by known characters or inscribed in recent or considered as recent past. The leading character of the legend usually does not undergo any plot inversion, that is, the character is quite stable and does not evolve probably to gain more realism. Linguistically, there are elements that describe state or condition. The frequency in which these appear distinguish legends from fiction stories and also provides them with a slower pace. In addition, links or cause and effect explanations are omitted: explanations are supposed but not affirmed. As a genre in itself, it has a great ability for migration and re- updating. The literary written legend usually has a literary complexity and development far superior to oral traditional legends which is very often its ultimate source and fundamental plot inspiration. The author usually operates by expanding and embellishing existing narrative material, and providing evidence that will enhance the credibility of the story. Sometimes they are structured into narrative cycles around a character, region or concrete events, and in these cases they may acquire greater dimensions. However, literary elaboration and aspirations make many written legends less local than oral traditional legends, and unable to develop partially in scenarios and distant and unreal ages. R.A. Ramos distinguishes three type of legends according to their content, origen, source or attitud.
- Fabulat.The story is about a supernatural being or stanger; the event is not witnessed by the narrator but has been told by someone else. It is closer to a myth and fiction stories, it is told without interrruption and the data is much more inconcrete.
- Memorat. It refers to encounters with mysterious beings or agents or non-human beings, or cases of illnesses caused or cured by magic or by other means not prescribed by conventional medicine. It usually is a dialogue or conversation in which listeners take part to support or refute the testimony and even to insert new stories. All sources and objective data are determined also, the first person is frequently used.
- Anti-legend. It describes supernatural encounters and illnesses apparently lacking physiological cause, but it gives a rational, down-to-earth explanation of the event. It takes the form of a dialogue and is highly precise.
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