Tall tales are exaggerated stories about larger-than-life characters, often based on real people. They are a type of folk tale, transmitted orally and embellished over time. North American fairy tales often focus on legendary heroes in specific professions, such as John Henry and Paul Bunyan. Exaggerated elements include early age development, impressive companions, and important inventions.
A tall tale is a story about a larger-than-life character, fictional or based on a real person who has exaggerated adventures and performs exaggerated feats of daring, strength, courage, and/or intelligence. It is typical of the fairy tale that everything in it is the subject of hyperbole, and in this feature it relates to the ‘fish story’ or ‘whopper’, in which the exploits of a fisherman are exaggerated for dramatic or humorous effect.
A fairy tale is a kind of folk tale, a story that generally has no single author, but is transmitted orally and embellished by many storytellers over time. By now some of these stories have been collected and published, and some authors have written “original” Paul Bunyan stories, for example, but the origins of these kinds of stories—who first invented or told them—usually aren’t very important. Other cultures have traditions similar to the North American fairy tale, some focusing on a particular strong and legendary hero, and some sharing the characteristic of having the hero’s adventures revolve around a particular profession, but the fairy tale genre is more closely associated with the United States. United. United States and, in particular for the registration of the stories, Canada.
Tall tales are also similar to fish stories in that many of them were told about a certain occupation among the practitioners of that occupation. For example, railroad workers have stories about the legendary steel-driving man John Henry; lumberjacks tell of logger Paul Bunyan, and in Canada, of Ti-Jean, the 10-year-old French-Canadian lumberjack; the drovers recount the adventures of the cowboy Pecos Bill; and frontier pioneers tell of frontiersmen Davy Crockett and Johnny Appleseed. These are just some of the heroes of North American fairy tales.
There are a number of elements that are typically subject to exaggeration in a tall tale. For one thing, heroes are generally subject to an incredible rate of development at an early age, doing phenomenal things while still young. John Henry, so it is said, spoke when he was born. Paul Bunyan, who is credited with creating a number of North America’s remarkable natural features – Puget Sound, the lakes of Minnesota and the Grand Canyon, to name a few – was already altering the landscape as a child by kicking his toes and felling a significant amount of timber. Ti-Jean enters a winter logging camp at age 10 and beats the men there in all kinds of contests.
The hero of a fairy tale can also:
eat huge amounts of food, like John Henry
have impressive companions like them, like Paul Bunyan’s “pet” Babe, the Blue Ox
be held responsible for foundational and important inventions within their profession, often as a novice, such as Pecos Bill’s invention of the lariat and spurs, or Paul Bunyan’s invention of the jacksaw
win incredible races where the odds are against them, like in the story of John Henry and the car.
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