Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

“Cursed” Medallion

Text:

H: “So when I went to Florida with my family, I got on some sketchy website, there was like a weird like medallion with like snakes on it. And it was like probably like two bucks, um, but I just like got it ’cause I thought it was cute and I started wearing it. And all of a sudden, like I was getting a lot of bad luck … I had a really bad night, like of sleep, and I was like getting really bad nightmares, like very vivid, like as if it was like, I was like put in an alternate reality and it was actually happening to me. Like for example, since we were on vacation, I was sharing a bed with my sister, and like I would turn over, I would think that it’s real life, like we’d be talking and all of a sudden like her eyes would go red and she’d like… I don’t, she wouldn’t even do anything, but like it was just like scary.”

C: “And were you like still wearing the medallion?”

H: “Yeah, yeah. At this point I didn’t attribute it to the medallion. And then I went… And then like for example, like she turned evil at one point and then like I thought I went back to sleep, and then I thought I woke up again, but like it was still a dream and like she, ’cause she went normal and I was crying. I was like in tears and she was like helping me, like patting my head like, ‘Oh, it’s okay.’ And then like all of a sudden she would turn evil again and I’m like I can’t tell what’s real and fake, so I now attribute it to sleep paralysis. At the time I thought I was like possessed, um, and that was just like reoccurring all night. I was so scared. And then like the next day I asked I think my dad what to do and he told me to like get rid of the medallion, but I didn’t want to touch it so I made my brother put it in the sand, like just to like get it off my head, out of my hands … That night I had another awful night of sleep, not as bad as the first one, and I found out the next day that he [brother] didn’t put it in the sand. He like kept it in my room for some reason ’cause he was just being like a little brother. And I was like… I had like another like possession thing. So then we threw it in the ocean and it was gone for real. Everyone was mad at my little brother ’cause it was like I wasn’t kidding. I was like crying all night both nights. So yeah, now I attribute it to sleep paralysis, but I don’t know. It’s kind of weird. Like the second I started wearing it, it, that happened. And then it made it weirder with like the whole sand thing, like that, it was still in my room.”

Context:

H was on vacation in Florida with her family when she bought this medallion necklace with a two snakes on it. After purchasing it, H started to have terribly bad luck. After falling asleep, H started to have terrible night terrors like where her sister was evil with red eyes. She woke up screaming & crying, so she gave the medallion to her little brother and asked his to bury it in the sand at the beach. That night, H continued to have nightmares, but not as extreme as the previous night. She once again woke up crying only to find out that her brother didn’t get rid of the medallion but left it in her room. They then threw the medallion into the ocean, and she stopped having the nightmares and bad luck.

Analysis:

Since this is a story that takes place in the real world and is/could be believable, this narrative would be classified as a legend. To get more specific, this legend could also be defined as a Memorate since it is a personal narrative encounter with legendary “cursed item,” which are widely believed throughout the world.

Scottish Fairy Flag

Text:

S: “Umm, it’s a Scottish legend. Umm, there was this like Lord, I think in Scotland who fell in love with a fairy and uh, I don’t remember all of it, but he fell in love with the fairy. Then the Fairy Kingdom said, fine, you can, the fairy can live with the and be a human with the Lord for a year and then she has to come back. So they lived together for a year and then she had to go back. But before she went back, she gave him this flag and it was like from the Fairy Kingdom or something. And the flag is still there in Scotland today.”

Context:

My sister told me this legend, and after doing additional research on the legend, I found that it was believed that the flag could be used in times of crises to protect the castle or win victory in battle – that the fairies may come to the humans’ aid if the flag was raised.

Analysis:

This is a real flag that can be found in Scotland. I believe this legend of the flag being a gift from a Lord’s somewhat forbidden fairy lover came to be in order to put the minds of the people at ease: that if war or battles came, they had otherworldly help to aid and protect them. I also believe that due to many legends of fairies that circulated in Scotland, a mysterious flag would likely be attributed to these supernatural creatures.

Nigerian Red Handkerchief

Text:

T: “In Nigerian culture, there’s this, like, there’s a significance behind, like, a red handkerchief, right. That’s like if you’re carrying it, it’s kind of like a sign that, like, you have, like, powers, like, certain, like supernatural powers. It’s like, like a charm almost … It’s like a medium to, like, exhibit those powers, you know. And it’s like, and there’s this thing called, they call it, like, juju or jazz where it’s like, it’s just, it’s basically just witchcraft. Like … Yeah, that’s the best term to call it. Just, like, use certain charms and things, like, you know, to, like, do magic.”

Context:

T comes from a Nigerian family and has heard the legend of the “red handkerchief” passed down through the generations. In the culture, it is believed that if someone carried a red handkerchief then they had supernatural or magical powers. It is almost like a Scarlet Letter, in the fact that it symbolizes something else.

Analysis:

The Nigerian Red Handkerchief is a legend because it something believed to be true, based in the real world. This legend seems to be both emic and esoteric as it is an insider’s perspective of the significance of a red handkerchief and it communicates something within the group, not to those outside of the group. It carries cultural significance since it is predominately recognized with the Nigerian community. It also carries familiar significance as it is a legend passed down through generations of a family.

Thunder Explained to a Child

Text:

“The angels are bowling”

Context:

“The angels are bowling,” my mom use to tell me when I was a child. I was so afraid of thunderstorms, so my mom told me that thunder was just the angels in Heaven bowling. I stopped being afraid of thunder then and would just complain that the angels always had to go bowling when I was trying to fall asleep.

Analysis:

In order to help me overcome my fear of thunderstorms, my mother constructed a legend – a story set in the real world and told as if it was true. Now, I asked her if she came up with the legend on her own, and she tells me she’s not sure. She may have heard it from somewhere else or come up with it on the spot. My family and I are Christians, so my mother used emic, or insider’s, language when discussing that thunderstorms are just angels bowling to esoterically communicate to me that I had nothing to fear.

Huntington Beach Cult Legends

Context:

Two years ago, the informant went with her friends to Huntington Beach. When they took a walk on the beach, they noticed something washed up on the sand.

Text:

The informant and her friends noticed that there were dead birds with their heads cut off all along the beach. She cites seeing “at least thirteen dead bodies with their heads cut off” and the birds included doves, roosters, and pigeons. The informant asked the lifeguard on duty about the dead birds and the lifeguard noted that a local satanic cult practices at night. Additionally, the lifeguard admitted that he was not allowed to move or remove the heads since it is a state beach and the birds are presumed to have died naturally.

Analysis:

This account is a memorate, or personal experience narrative about a legendary event. The informant themselves was unsure of how much to believe the legend of satantic cults residing in Huntington, indicating how legends are presented as believable but their truth is ultimately debated. The involvement of the lifeguard adds vernacular authority to the story and reflects how legends help people make sense of disturbing events. As Lindahl examines in the cases of Hurricane Katrina legends, such narratives often act to process uncertainty and assign blame when events lack explanations. The story demonstrates how belief is fundamentally shaped by our interactions and stories that we tell.