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What is a legend? A legend is...
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What is a legend? A legend is a traditional story rooted in history, often involving real events or people, embellished with imaginative or supernatural elements.
Like myths, legends aim to explain the origin of certain things. However, legends are usually smaller in scale than myths. More often, they cover a short time span — such as a hero’s journey or feat, the founding of a city, the appearance or transformation of a landscape, and so on.
Legends also usually describe events that take place in real, identifiable locations. Additionally, they may mention actual historical figures. All of this sets legends apart from fairy tales and other genres, giving them a distinctive charm — where it’s difficult to distinguish fiction from fact.