A legend can refer to a celebrity or a literary genre that falls between myth, tall tales, and history. Legends focus on individuals and their achievements, unlike myths that explain natural phenomena. Heroes of legend are either fictional or real people whose exploits have been exaggerated. Examples of legends include King Arthur, Robin Hood, and Boudicca.
The legend has several related meanings. A legend today might be someone of notable celebrity, with larger than life accomplishments, whose fame is well known. Another meaning of this word is a literary genre. In this capacity, the term is much abused, used as a synonym for myth, tall tale and history. However, it makes more sense to use the term legend – as it is, in fact, often used – to name a type of literature that falls somewhere between myth, tall tales and history and which otherwise has no name.
In this sense, legend differs from myth, if we understand that myth is focused on explaining natural phenomena, answering questions about why things are as they are in the natural world, because legend is focused on individuals and their achievements. It also differs from tall tales, which focus on hyperbole – and therefore humor – and intentionally attribute inventions and innovations to a hero they don’t belong to for the sake of the story. Finally, it is separated from the story by the fact that its content, once believed to be true, turns out to be fictitious. Heroes of legend in this sense, then, are fictional heroes or real people whose exploits aren’t quite what they are meant to be, who were either so realistic or so admirable that people wished they were real. This description fits the works and heroes typically associated with the genre.
The stories of King Arthur are legends in this sense. It is possible that the tales of this king are based on a historical figure who lived in the fifth or sixth century, but the stories have, no doubt, grown beyond the historical record, if there was one. Robin Hood, the late medieval legendary outlaw/hero, is another of these: the man in the stories may or may not be based on a real person, but the stories certainly grew beyond the man, if there was a man . Boudicca or Boadicea, the first-century British queen who led an attack on the Romans, was defeated and reportedly ended her own life with poison, was no doubt a historical figure, but her life has been turned into legend , at least in some accounts.
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