Each nation has very beautiful and amazing legends that have come down to our time from the epic antiquity of their ancestors. They usually tell fantastic stories about supernatural beings, romantic relationships between people and the miraculous emergence of geographic objects.
First of all, you need to define the concept of "legend". It includes an unreliable story about an event, place, person or entity, which very much resembles an analogue of a myth. However, mythological legends refer exclusively to fictional characters and stories that have never had a real embodiment. But the legendary narrative implies the use of literary hyperbole to embellish reliable events in order to give the artistic form the greatest flavor and ideological intent.
Legends are legends, which are subdivided into the following types:
- oral (spreading from the century through transmission through wandering storytellers);
- written (references of which are still found in scrolls and ancient books);
- religious (historical events directly related to the church order);
- social (all others, other than church ones);
- toponymic (giving explanations on the origin of the names of geographical objects);
- urban (a new form of legends that has appeared at the present time);
- others (heroic, cosmogonic, zootropomorphic, eschatonic, etc., which depend on the storyline of the narrative).
The etymology of the concept of "legend" is associated with Latin roots (legenda is translated as "something to be read"). First, myths appeared in which ancient man tried to understand many natural phenomena. It was they who became the basis for the birth of legendary stories, in which supernatural events were closely intertwined with the wonderful actions of heroic characters.
Legend of Atlantis
One of the most remarkable legends that arose in ancient times and have survived to this day is the story of Atlantis. The stories of epic storytellers boggle the imagination of modern people. Indeed, according to their version of events, a certain large island in ancient times was inhabited by inhabitants who reached incredible heights in scientific and technological progress. They were subject to all the elements, they could easily move under water at any depth, through the air and beyond (outside the stratosphere), and their vehicles looked more like UFOs than current types of mobile technology.
The destruction of the Atlantean civilization occurred due to a very strong earthquake, which completely destroyed this fabulous corner of the Earth, sunk in the ocean. Thanks to the works of the ancient Greek scientist Plato and his compatriot Herodotus, modern mankind has learned the exciting story about Atlantis. It is interesting that even today the scientific community pays great attention to the search for this island, the remains of a civilization of which rest at the bottom of the world's oceans.
The relevance of the search for Atlantis substantially justifies the story of our famous compatriot E. P. Blavatsky, who in her "Secret Doctrine" gave a worthy place to this civilization, describing in detail, among other things, their level of scientific and technological progress. The history of this previous civilization very closely echoes the legend of Troy, which was nevertheless found through the efforts of Heinrich Schliemann. It is this experience, crowned with success, that gives reason to believe that the search for Atlantis can bring the corresponding result.
Legend of Rome
The most interesting legend, known all over the world, is the legend about the emergence of the majestic city of Rome, founded on the banks of the Tiber. The excellent location close to the sea gave it a number of advantageous geographic characteristics related to military security and the possibility of developing trade relations.
The brothers Romulus and Remus, doomed to death by the will of the satrap-ruler, miraculously survived because of the negligence of the servant, who threw a basket with them into the waters of the Tiber. Surprisingly, the twins did not drown in the river, and a she-wolf saved them from starvation, feeding them with her milk. Subsequently, the children were found by a shepherd, who became their adoptive father.
When the brothers grew up, they learned about their high origins and took power from a vile relative. After that, they decided to found a new city, which with its grandeur could overshadow the glory of all settlements that existed at that time. It is noteworthy that during the grandiose construction, a serious quarrel occurred between the brothers, during which Romulus killed Remus. That is why the future capital of the empire was named after the fratricide. This legend is a typical example of toponymic legends.
Legends of the Golden Dragon and Treasures
Among the popular stories of supernatural monsters, it is the legend of the golden dragon that is best known as a Chinese tradition. It tells that above the earth there is a Heavenly Temple, which is the residence of the Lord of the World, which can only be reached by pure souls via a special bridge. It was previously guarded by two golden dragons, which did not allow the unworthy into the temple.
Once one of the dragons angered the Lord of Heaven, and he banished him to earth. There, the rejected one began to multiply by connecting with other creatures that inhabited this land. The story ends with the Lord knowing about everything and destroying all the dragons, freeing only those who were not yet born at that time from their own punishment. Subsequently, he made them his governors on earth.
The ancient Greek legend about the Argonauts, who devoted their lives to the search for the golden fleece, enjoys great fame today. But the legend about the treasure of lord Agamemnon has now begun to be classified as a real story, since Heinrich Schliemann found it at an excavation site in Mycenae.
The legendary story of Kolchak's gold, which is estimated at 700 tons of this precious metal, also attracts a lot of attention. Only the fate of one of the three echelons with Russia's gold reserves, which was returned to the Bolsheviks by the insurgent Czechoslovak corps, is reliably known. Historians are still wondering where such an important and precious cargo went. All opinions are inclined to believe that Kolchak's gold is still buried somewhere between Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk.
Legends about the well to hell and about the library of Ivan the Terrible
The urban legend about a well in hell is associated with the Kola well, which today is considered one of the longest (12,262 meters) man-made depressions. This well was created (drilling started) in 1970 for purely scientific purposes. Subsequently, due to the termination of funding for this project, it was mothballed. However, in 1989, the first rumors appeared that human groans and cries were heard from the depths, which served to form the legend of the Kola well. It was on the air of American television that this sentimental story was first heard. Then some facts were cited that the experimenters lowered acoustic sensors to the very bottom of the well and recorded these characteristic sounds.
Another interesting legend associated with Russian history is the legend about the library of Ivan IV. It is the historical heritage of Sophia Palaeologus (niece of the Byzantine emperor Constantine) that has become the subject of careful study. The fact is that the precious collection of scrolls, manuscripts and books, the last owner of which was Ivan the Terrible, was housed because of the constant danger of fires in wooden Moscow in the basements of the Kremlin. According to some estimates, precious Liberia may contain up to 800 volumes of works by medieval and older authors. It is noteworthy that currently there are more than six dozen versions of the location of this library.
