Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

4/20 Folklore

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Residence: Marin County, CA
Primary Language: English

Type: Legend

  1. “There is the holiday 4/20, when everyone smokes week (laughter). So apparently, 4/20 started near me, in San Rafael. A couple kids in San Rafael at San Rafael High School, would smoke everyday at 4:20. After lacrosse practice or something, they would go sit next to some statue, a statue of a person, some famous person I think. Yeah everyday after practice at 4:20, and ever since then 4/20 became a holiday. I don’t know how it became so famous but I heard that in Marin and in other parts of California, especially San Francisco, friends of friends started doing it.”
  2. I obtained this piece of folklore from my cousin Clay. Clay is a year older than me, and grew up in Mill Valley California, which is located in Marin County (just North of San Francisco). Marin County is nationally famous for its breathtaking natural elements (forest, beaches, lakes etc.), as well as being known as a more earthy, “hippie” place, in which San Rafael is also located. Clay heard this legend from friends at school, as well as siblings of friends. San Rafael is only about 20 minutes away from where Clay grew up, and he told me that he hears this legend all the time.
  3. This piece of folklore is usually passed throughout high school groups. I grew up about 45 miles south of San Rafael, and I heard a very similar story in my high school group of friends, as well as my siblings telling me. The legend is most popular on the actual holiday of 4/20, in which many people are curious to how the holiday became a holiday. No one really talks about when the holiday became a holiday, just that kids at San Rafael High School was the origin place.
  4. I have heard this legend numerous times and I firmly believe it is true. Even on Wikipedia it talks about San Rafael High School and some statue. Everyone in Northern California basically knows this piece of folklore, it is very common.

 

The Willow Man

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Residence: Marin County, CA
Primary Language: English

Type: Legend

  1. “In elementary school there was a big urban myth I guess is what I would call it. So near my elementary school there was a willow tree, and there was this whole willow man myth. All the kids were scared of it. Kids were not supposed to go near the tree but we did anyway. There was a forest next to my elementary school and the only way to get in was to go under the willow tree because the grass was too tall. Yeah we weren’t supposed to but we all would, go run around, and explore the forest. There was this urban legend of the willow man, I guess he lived in the forest and if you went into the forest you would see him sometime. It was a creepy thing but there was no explanation, no ‘take you away’ it was just the willow man. He was just there, living in the forest near the willow tree and he just would creep us all out.”
  2. I obtained this piece of folklore from my cousin Clay. Clay is a year older than me, and grew up in Mill Valley California, which is located in Marin County (just North of San Francisco). Marin County is nationally famous for its breathtaking natural elements (forest, beaches, lakes etc.), and all his schools as well as his home is surrounded by forest basically.
  3. This piece of folklore, according to Clay, is incredibly popular among the kids at his elementary school. It is passed down grade to grade and is therefore kept “alive.” Now that he and his friends are older, they no longer believe in the willow man myth, as their age and height allows them to explore the forest and it is no longer scary for him and them. This legend is unique to Clay’s school, and therefore will probably not exists in other schools to this exact detail, but I and he is sure that other schools probably have similar legends.
  4. I never had never heard of any legends like this when I was in elementary school, but in high school I had many legends about teachers and substitute teachers. None of which were scary or frightening like the willow man legend. Either way, I think that these types of legends like the willow man bring students closer, and they establish a unique basis for communication within this specific community.

The Moth Man

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Residence: Marin County, CA
Primary Language: English

Type: Legend

  1. “Well I always was scared of the Moth Man, he’s a legend or myth or something. It’s basically a shadowy figure or silhouette that would appear right before something bad or terrible would happen. The Moth Man, driving or something. So if you’re driving at night and you see the silhouette of a man on a corner, or on a tree, or something, you’ll crash your car. Something like that. I was scared of him as a little kid and still when I go camping or backpacking someone will tell a story about the Moth Man. He is in many different ghost stories/scary stories that you tell around a campfire.”
  2. I obtained this piece of folklore from my cousin Clay. Clay is a year older than me, and grew up in Mill Valley California, which is located in Marin County (just North of San Francisco). Clay spends a lot of his free time outdoors: camping, hiking, backpacking, kayaking etc. Him and I also spent many camping trips together when we were younger, and we told each other ghost stories. Clay said he heard the Moth Man legend from kids at school, and from friends around the campfire.
  3. Clay grew up in a forested, suburban environment, and the legend of the Moth Man seems to be unique to his hometown (but it may not be). Shadow figures in the forest are much more frightening than a shadowy figure in a big city against city sky scrapers. From what Clay told me, this is something that is told around campfires and younger kids, not so much something that is passed around adult communities.
  4. This piece of folklore confuses me but it also intrigues me. I am drawn to the concept of seeing something as a warning, but I am frightened by the silhouette shadowy figure. I have never heard of this before and therefore do not believe it, although, apart of me wants to believe this.

The Origin of Adjorlolo

Nationality: African-American (Ivory Coast/Scottish/Welsh)
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Shoreline, WA
Performance Date: 3/25/17
Primary Language: English

Context: When I told my roommate about how I was collecting folklore, he offered to talk about some of the stories he’d heard over the course of his life.

Background: My roommate comes from a mixed-race family, one side of which originates from the Ivory Coast of Africa.

Dialogue: It is said, that my great-great-grandfather, who lived inn Ghana, who was the first man to be called Adjorlolo, um, had sixteen wives, and… I’ve heard between eighty-four and ninety-six kids.

Analysis: This one is pretty straightforward in terms of being a simple piece of folklore about a family’s origins. I found it interesting that the number of offspring from the first Adjorlolo was debated amongst the family. Also interesting was the fact that this was only the great-great-grandfather, which leads only so far back in time. A really good example of how a family’s history can be lost to time quicker than expected, to the degree that legends of eighty-something children and sixteen wives can spring up and become rooted in the family’s history by the time its fifth generation comes around.

Joshua the Apocalyptic Prophet

Nationality: African-American (Ivory Coast/Scottish/Welsh)
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Shoreline, WA
Performance Date: 3/25/17
Primary Language: English

Context: When I told my roommate about how I was collecting folklore, he offered to talk about some of the stories he’d heard over the course of his life.

Background: This is something my roommate heard in his religious studies class this semester.

Dialogue: (Note: C denotes myself, B denotes my roommate)

B: …And I think especially the Jesus story is folklore.

C: Based on what your professor told you.

B: Yeah, um… He told me — not me personally but he told my class, uh, because we were studying the origins of Christianity at the time — that there was a man living somewhere in the Fertile Crescent, I think, name Joshua bar Joseph, and he [the professor] was like, “Joshua bar Joseph was an apocalyptic prophet,” meaning, he went around saying that the end was near, and that if people didn’t follow him, that they will die, and they would be s— very sad, and their life would be over. BUT— Wait did I say “if?” Sorry. If they didn’t follow him, they would die die, damnation, whatever. But if they DID follow him, uh, they would go to Paradise when they died, y’know. “The Apocalypse is coming, but, if you follow me, you’re gonna go to heaven.” Um, and then he’s [the professor] like, “Does this sound familiar?” and we’re like, “YEAH IT’S JESUS” and he’s like, “EXACTLY, Jesus was just an apocalyptic cult leader!” Um, and I’m like, “Well THAT makes sense.” So, yeah, that’s what my professor told me. But, I guess that means the Bible’s folklore.

Analysis: This is a really good example at how religion is deeply tied with folklore. From my roommate’s perspective and the perspective of the professor who gave him this narrative, the Bible is considered the alternative way of telling their story, where it would be commonly thought of as the “correct” way of telling the stories contained within. The fact that the story of Jesus allows for such variations—I’ve personally also heard the names “Joshua ben Joseph” and “Jeshua ben Joseph” ascribed to Jesus outside of Biblical context—attests to the fact that the Bible can be seen as merely another, more popular form of  a certain folk belief.