Meaning of legends (copy in your notebook)

​A legend in literature is a traditional story or group of stories told about a particular person or place. Formerly the term legend meant a tale about a saint. Some legends are the unique property of the place or person that they depict.

​The 4 main elements of the legends

• Characters

• ​Plot

• ​Argument

• ​Environment

​

​Characters

​The legends are usually led by a hero who manages to overcome adversity or threats with the help of several extraordinary companions or divine characters.

Usually these heroes are based on real beings whose exploits have been exaggerated by people over time.

​Plot

​The plot of the legends usually reflects the beliefs, customs and values ​​of a community. In this sense, they try to portray the strengths, virtues, weaknesses and human defects.

So it is not uncommon for them to work as a story with a moral focus or to allow the transmission of a moral.

Argument​

​The story of the legends has to be full of many exciting and surprising events.

Its main intention is to take the characters by adverse situations so that they overcome them.

The hero must face all kinds of setbacks to overcome them and thus meet their inexorable fate. There is no fixed structure and it allows it to change over time.

​Setting

​The legends are located to a specific place. Although you can find common stories from different places, geography defines the hero and proposes a way to explain his actions.

In the case of time, legends are always set in the past, a glorious and prosperous past.

​Examples

• ​Lempira

• ​Robin hood

• ​The round table

• ​King Arthur

• ​Etc