The Importance Of Legends

The history of mankind was created, and persists today, through storytelling. From pictures on cave walls to high school history textbooks, humans have felt the urge to share their experiences with their peers. At a point in time someone decided to study the way a story is created, told, and shared throughout society. It is from those studies that the label Legend is found. The responsibility of defining a legend is then placed on everyone. Now the labels different stories receive are meant to divide a large amount of information, but it cannot be forgotten that the origins behind history, or legends, is a story. When people are asked to differentiate history from legend most will point out that history is based on facts, which we accept as

Legends, normally, do not come with an agenda attached. They are simply an enjoyable story. A legend’s purpose can be modified to benefit the audience. Meanwhile, a historical event is confined by reality. It must fit into the already existing story line of humanity to be believable. Another factor to point out is that history tends to be used to achieve an agenda. History acts as a precedent for debates about immigration, war, peace, and general politics. In the musical Wicked in the Wizard of Oz sings, “A man's called a traitor—or liberator, A rich man's a thief—or philanthropist. Is one a crusader—or ruthless invader? It’s all in which label is able to persist”. The label is manipulated to fit the society in which it is being used, if it didn’t fit it could not persist. England’s history is full of successful invasions, and consequentially, battles of independence. From an American’s view, the revolution was justified and the birth of a free nation. From an English view point, the British empire has lost the only foothold they had in the New World that would have brought them more trade items and benefits their stance as a dominating world power. The task of defining a Legend becomes difficult when a person realizes that there are no answers only