Legend
Overview
Legend (전설, legend) is a narrative, transmitted orally or recorded, that is believed to be true about a specific person, event, place, or natural object from the past. Unlike myth, which deals with a sacred and transcendent world, legend is regarded as something that actually happened on the concrete coordinates of the real world and often accompanies evidentiary objects (rocks, graves, place names, etc.). Thus legend functions as a cultural asset that contains the identity and worldview of a local community and a people, as both a 'story one wants to believe' and a 'story that is believed.'
Main Content
Definition and Etymology
The word '전설' is a Sino-Korean term, 傳說, combining 傳 'to be transmitted' and 說 'speech/tale.' The English word legend comes from Latin legenda ('things to be read'), and in medieval Europe it was used to refer to religious and edifying stories, as in the Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend), which recorded the deeds of saints. Later, in modern folklore and literary studies, it became established as the name of an independent narrative genre distinct from myth and folktale.
Distinction from Myth and Folktale
- Myth: Set in a sacred and transcendent time-space, it explains the origin and order of the universe. It is an object of belief but does not require realistic evidence.
- Folktale: It does not specify a particular time-space and begins with 'Once upon a time,' and it aims at entertainment and instruction.
- Legend: Specific place names and people appear, as in 'Once in a certain village,' and the narrator takes the attitude of conveying it as fact. This 'demand for factuality' is the greatest genre marker of legend.
Classification
Academic circles generally divide legends as follows.
1. Personal legends: Stories about the birth, death, and extraordinary deeds of historical figures (generals, kings, eminent monks, righteous men). In Korea, Kim Yushin (김유신), Jeong Do-jeon (정도전), Samyeongdang (사명당), and Im Gyeong-eop (임경업) are representative.
2. Place-name and topographical legends: They explain the origins of mountains, rivers, rocks, islands, and passes.
3. Natural object, animal, and plant legends: They unfold the ecological characteristics of particular animals or plants through story.
4. Faith and religious legends: Stories about temple sites, shrine houses, shamanic deities, and holy sites.
5. Custom and mores legends: They explain the origins of customs such as seasonal customs, funerals, and marriage.
6. Treasure and secret lore legends: Stories about hidden wealth, secret methods, prophecies, and the like.
Korean Legends
Korean legends have been collected on a vast scale through Samguk yusa (삼국유사) and Samguk sagi (삼국사기), local town gazetteers (邑誌) and privately compiled documents, and field surveys after the twentieth century. Representative examples distributed by region include the Dangun-related Wanggeom-seong (왕검성) and Mani-san (마니산) legends, the Gyeon Hwon (견훤) and Later Baekje (후백제) legends, the Baby General (Agijangsu, 아기장수) legend, the Jangjamot (장자못) legend (Daughter-in-Law Rock), Yeono and Seonyeo (연오랑세오녀), and Ureonggaksi (우렁각시). In particular, the 'Jangjamot' type contains the reward of good and punishment of evil and family ethics through the conflict between a good daughter-in-law and a greedy mother-in-law. Through the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War, legends also became a medium of resistance and collective memory.
World Legends
Europe's King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Robin Hood, Dracula (Vlad III, 블라드 3세), and Faust are legends formed by the combination of historically real figures and regional tales. Japan has the legend of the fall of the Heike (헤이케) and legends of yokai (요괴) and ghosts; China has the Legend of the White Snake (백사전) and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (양산백·축영대). In the Americas, pioneer legends such as Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed developed, while Africa and Oceania are rich in legends related to ancestor deities and totems.
Function and Meaning
First, legends serve an explanatory function for natural and historical phenomena. Second, they provide a local community with shared memory and a sense of belonging. Third, they naturally internalize moral norms and taboos. Fourth, they also perform a resistant function by indirectly preserving the voices of minorities or the defeated. For this reason, legends are core materials for research in history, folklore, anthropology, literature, and oral literature.
Modern Transformations
Legends are constantly reproduced as major material for films, dramas, games, webtoons, and novels. The urban legend is a transformed legend that reflects the anxieties of modern society (technology, disease, crime) and spreads rapidly through social media. In addition, legends are actively used as storytelling resources in local festivals and tourism content.
Recent Trends
In 2024–2025, generative AI and digital archiving technologies are bringing major changes to the study and enjoyment of legends. The National Folk Museum of Korea, the Academy of Korean Studies, and others are digitizing oral literature materials and building audio and video archives to increase accessibility. Through AI-based translation and summarization tools, cases of Korean legends being introduced in multiple languages have increased, and in short-form content and podcasts, 'ghost story and mystery' content adapted from local legends is gaining popularity. At the same time, as plausible fictional stories created by AI are circulated as if they were fact, the concept of legend's 'factuality' and the problem of verification are being newly discussed. In games and the metaverse, worldbuilding using local legends is active, and local governments are seeking to revitalize local economies through tourism branding and festival planning that use legends. In academia, legends are being reexamined from postcolonial and digital folklore perspectives, and new research methodologies that reflect the phenomenon of oral channels moving to YouTube and TikTok are being proposed.
Related Topics
- [[Myth]]
- [[Folktale]]
- [[Oral literature]]
- [[Urban legend]]
- [[Folklore]]
- [[Samguk yusa]]
- [[Tale]]