Legends today

                                    
 

                                   Plan 

Introduction. Legends – a definition………………………………….. 4

Part 1. Examples from different countries…………………………….. 6

1. English legends about Robin Hood……………………………... 6
2. King Arthur – a legendary hero…………………………………. 7
3. The legend about Lady Godiva………………………………….. 8
4. An old Indian legend about Dagomba…………………………....9
5. A legend from the USA………………………………………….10
6. Ancient Greece legends………………........................................ 11
7. The legend about the Cherokee Rose……....................................17

Part 2. Legends today…………………………………………………  20

     2.1 Loch Ness from Scotland………………………………………..20

     2.2 The Yeti from the United States and Canada……………………20

     2.3 Bigfoot from the Himalayas……………………………………. 21

     2.4 The crocodiles under New York………………………………... 21

     2.5 The Legend of the Vampire……………………………………...21

Conclusion

Literature

Appendix 
 

 

    

     Легенди (від латиського слова "legenda" - те, що слід прочитати) — група        фольклорних творів, об'єднаних присутністю в них елементів фантастичного, незвичайного, надприродного, але може сприйматися як дійсне, достовірне, яке проходить на межі історичного та міфологічного часу або в конкретному історичному періоді.

     Легенди переважно пов'язані з персонажами священної історії ( в тому числі з святинями християнської та ісламської релігій, євангелiйськими персонажами).

     Однією з основних рис легенди є їх належність до історичного часу, або їх переходу від міфологічного часу до історичного.

     Деякі легенди включають в себе елементи дійсності, але частіше зміст та події, описані в легендах є цілком вигаданими. Часто представники тієї чи іншої нації хочуть наділити героїв легенд чимось особливим, надзвичайним, якого напевно не було насправді, але факт існування головних персонажів підтверджено історично в якості зразка можна навести приклад Короля Артура та його лицарів, Вільгельма Теля, Робін Гуда та інших героїв відомих легенд. В українській історії можна навести історичну постать Устима Кармелюка, захисника знедоленого люду.

     Різні легенди розповідають про різні цивілізації, наприклад таких країн як Греція, Індія, Італія, Єгипет, європейські країни.

     Інколи досить непросто розрізнити легенду від міфів та повір'їв. Хоча, безумовно, існують окремі типологічні відмінності, які є темою окремого дослідження.

     Об'єктом даного дослідження стали легенди різних часів і народів. Однак, перевага віддається старовинним та сучасним легендам англомовних країн. 
 
 
 

     У ході роботи були використані не тільки книги легенд, а і періодичні видання, енциклопедії та підручники англійських видавництв.

     Метою нашої роботи було зібрати зразки легенд різних країн, різних часів, перекладених на англійську мову, проаналізувати їх і простежити спільне та відмінне, стиль викладення подій, щоб мати уявлення про легенду як літературний твір у цілому, так і про легенди англомовних країн зокрема.

     Новизна роботи полягає у співставленні легенд, які належать до різних культурних традицій та часів та представленні сучасних легенд

     Практичне значення роботи в тому, що в ній є досить цікаві зразки легенд різних країн на англійській мові, які можна використовувати як в практиці викладання англійської мови, так і для широкого кола читачів. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                                                               INTRODUCTION 
 
 
 

     Legends are stories about the past. Some of the stories come from ancient history. Another definition says: "A legend is an old popular story which is perhaps true and perhaps not."

     The New Penguin Encyclopedia gives such definition: "Legend — a vague term, either referring to stories of ancient heroes, saints, or ordinary men or women which have been handed down by oral or written tradition, or simply to fairy stories. It is usually, but not always, distinguished from myth, which deals with gods; and opposed to history, which is subject to critical judgment. Nevertheless, because ancient peoples were not given to fiction, in the modem sense of the term, a legend often contains a kernel of truth."

     Legend is any improbable or fairing story handed down from the past. Legends often contain an element of fact, but sometimes they are totally untrue. Legendary tales often are interwoven with the history of a people or nation. These include stories that talk about the earliest king of Rome, King Arthur and the knights, William Tell, and Paul Bungan.

     The word 'legend" comes from the Latin 'legenda" meaning a story to be read aloud. It came to mean the life of a holy person or a collection of saints lives. The most famous collection of saints lives 'The Golden Legend" (about 1300) includes the story of a George and a Dragon. In the late Boo's Geoffrey Chaucer's Legend of Gold Women retold the lives of Cleopatra, Dido, Medea and other such women.

     Legends are the part of folklore. Folklore is any of the beliefs customs and traditions that people pass from generation to generation. Much folklore consists of folk-stories legends like myth. Stories told us 

 

     

     that they were true. But legend are set in the real world and relatively recent times.

     American folklore includes many heroes. David Crockett was a famous American frontiersman   who was elected to the US Congress from Tennessee in 1827. After Crockett died in the battle in the Alamo in 1836 he became a popular figure in American folklore.

     John Chapman, better known as Johny  Applesead planted apple trees from Massachusetts to the Midwest during the early 1800's. He was the hero of a number of legends by the time he died in 1840's.

     John Henry was the black hero of the  many legends  in the South. A famous ballad described how he completed against a steam drill in a race to see whether a man or a machine could dig a funnel faster. Using only a hammer John Henry won, but he died of exhaustion.

     Many legends are from ancient civilizations. For example, there are legends about the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome, India, Egypt, China and Mexico.

     The ancient stories are often about great events and great people and about the origins of the world. There are also many stories about powerful gods and about important people such as kings and queens. In some countries there are stories about magic and about animals and monsters. Many legends tell about human beings who meet supernatural creatures, such as fairies, ghosts, vampires and witches. Number of legends are associated with famous people who have died. Other tell of  holy persons and religious leaders. Some legends describe how saints work miracles.

     The auction of many legends has not been completed by the story's end. For example, a legend about a hurried treasure man end by saying that the treasure has not yet been found. A legend about a haunted house may suggest that the house is still haunted. 
 

 

                                                PART 1 
 
 
 

       There are many examples of old legends from different countries.

     The most popular English stories are about two legendary heroes, King Arthur and Robin Hood.

                               English legends about Robin Hood

     1. Robin Hood is a legendary hero who lived in Sherwood Forest, in Nottingham, with his band of followers. Stories about him and his adventures began to appear in the fourteenth century, but the facts behind the legend are uncertain. One writer thinks Robin was born in 1160, at a time when there were many robbers living in the woods, stealing from the rich but only killing in self - defence.

     Everyone knows that Robin Hood robbed the rich to give to the poor. He chose to be an outlaw, that is, someone who lives 'outside the law', but he had his own ideas of right and wrong. He fought against injustice, and tried ordinary people a share of the riches owned by people in authority and the Church. He had many qualities - he was very good sportsman, a brave fighter, and was very good with his bow and arrow.

     He dressed in green, lived in the forest with his wife, Maid Marion, and his men, among them Friar Tuck, Allen a Dale, Will Scarlet, and little John. For food, they killed the King's deer, and many days were spent eating, drinking, and playing games. He robbed the rich by capturing them as they travelled through the forest and inviting them to eat with him. During the supper, someone looked in their bags to see how much money they had. When it was finished, Robin asked them to pay for the meal, and of course, he knew how much to ask for!

     His main enemy was the Sheriff of   Nottingham, who was always trying to capture Robin but never managed to do it. Some stories say that he killed Robin by poisoning him. In his doing moments, he shot a final arrow from his famous bow, and asked little John to bury him where the arrow landed.

 

     

                                                King Arthur – a legendary hero

     2. The legends of King Arthur began to appear in the twelfth century, and it is possible that they are based on a Celtic leader in the fifth or sixth century who defended his country against Saxon invasion. King Arthur was the son of   Pendragon, and was born in Tintagel in Cornwall. He was brought by Merlin, an old Celtic magician, and became king of   Britain when he was fifteen. He proved   his  right to be king when he managed to pull a sword   from a rock. He had to fight many lords,   and   when, with  Merlin's help, he defeated them, he received the magic sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. He married   Guinevere and lived in a castle at Camelot. His knights sad at a round table so that   they   were   all equal - nobody was sitting at the head of the table. Many of the stories in the legends are about the adventures of   the knights, among them Lancelot, Perceval, Gawain, and Galahad. They spent   their   time hunting wild pigs, having feasts,   and singing ballads. They often had to kill dragons and   giants. At all time they behaved very correctly, with respect, honour, and compassion.

     Arthur went to Rome to fight the emperor, Lucius , and he left his kingdom in the hands of his nephew, Modred . As he was entering Rome, Arthur learned that Modred had taken control of the kingdom and had captured Guinevere. He came back to England and defeated his nephew, but in the battle was seriously wounded. Arthur told Sir Belvedere, the last surviving knight, to throw Excalibur into the water of the lake. He did this, and the sword was caught by a hand which  came out of the water and then took the sword below the surface.

     Arthur was then taken to the Isle of Avalon to get better. We   understand that he did not die, but lives on and will return when his country  needs him The  legend says that the following verse is written on his tomb:

                                                     

                                                  HIC  LACET ARTHURUS,

                                                         REX  QUONDAM

                                                     REXQUE FUTURUS

(HERE LIES ARTHUR, THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING.)

                                    The legend about Lady Godiva

     3. Another famous English legend is about Lady Godiva from the town of Coventry.

     Many hundred years ago, in 1040, every city and town of England had its lord. The men and women of the town had to work for the  lord. The lord also took money from the people, to pay his soldiers and to buy what he needed for his wars.

     Lord Leofric was lord of the town of Coventry. He was a very bad man and the  people of Coventry had to pay him very much money. Lord Leofric had a wife, Lady Godiva, a kind and beautiful woman. She always spoke kindly to the   people and   the people loved her.

     Lady Godiva often asked her husband not to take so much money from the people, but he only laughed at her. But she asked him again and again and at last he said:

     "All right, I'll do it, but for this you must ride naked on horseback through the streets of the town."

     "She won't do it", he said to himself. But she did.

     There are two stories about how she did it. The first says that she rode on horseback and that her hair was so long that it covered her naked body. The other story says that the kind people of Coventr y did not come out of their houses that day, and did not look out of their windows, till she finished her ride. Only one young man, whose name was Tom, looked out. He saw the naked woman and become blind.

     There is a statue to Lady Godiva on horseback in the centre of the Coventry. 

                         An old Indian legend about Dagomba

     4. There is an example of an old Indian legend called "The  Fire  Festival".

     Long, long ago the chief of the Dagomba people had a son. He loved the boy so much that he could not sleep if the boy was not near him at night. One evening the chief sat under a big tree near his house. Some Dagombas sat around him. That night was warm and there was no rain. One could hear the tom-tom of the drums. Children sang and danced near them

     "Life is good," the chief said. And the people clapped their hands. The Dagomba people always clap their hands when they agree with somebody or something.

     Then the chief’s wife came up to the chief and said: "Oh, Chief, it is time for our boy to sleep."

     "But he is with you, in the house," the chief said.

     "Isn't he here, with you?" the woman asked.

     " Woman, I tell you, he is not with me. Go and look for him"

     " Oh, my dear Chief," the wife said sadly." He is not in our house."

     The chief stood up quickly and cried. "Stop the dance! Let the drummers go and drum asking  for my son." In a minute the drums began their talk." The Chief’s child is lost," they said. " Who find the child must bring him to the Chief.

     All the people looked and looked for the boy. They were looking for the boy for many hours. Then the man cried out:" Here he it! "The chief came up to the man. There, under a tree of a grass, the boy was sleeping. "Get up, my dear," the chief said to his little son. But the boy did not hear him." Get up," said his father again. Then the boy opened his eyes.

    "Farther," he said and got up. And they walked off together. The chief was very happy.

     Then the chief looked back angrily at the tree: " Bum that tree! It hid my son from me." And the chief’s servants put their torches to its trunk and branches. The tree began to burn and soon fell on the grass.

   At the same time the happy father went home with his son. The people ran after them with songs and dances.

   From that day on every year in July, the Dagomba people have their Fire Festival. The chief goes out of their house and the people light their torches. They begin to dance and put their torches to three trunks. But today they bum only two or three brunches, and not the whole tree.