Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

Mothman

Age: 19


Date of performance: 4/5/25


Language: English


Nationality: British American


Occupation: Full-Time Student


Primary Language: English


Residence: United States

Text:

The Mothman is a cryptid described to be dark and significantly big winged figure.

Context:

Located in West Virginia, there was a bridge built that the people adored, the Silver bridge in Mason County to be exact. So when the bridge collapsed into the river, theories begun to spur. Individuals, speculated that a cryptid known as the Mothman was to blame, claiming to have seen and heard the creature moments before the incident. Some even claimed to have been told by the Mothman himself that he was gonna take down the bridge.

Growing up, my informant heard a joke about Mothman, unaware of the cryptid until he asked his dad about the legend.

My informant doesn’t inherently believe the Mothman exists, but is intrigued about the amount of stories brought forth by the community that made it feel so real and almost believable.

Analysis:

I believe that the Mothman sightings are an interesting concept that can be perceived as real to those mislead by some of the stories spread around by it. The abundance of it all can be seen as overwhelming to those new to the cryptid, which I would be inevitable due to all of the person statements declaring his presence

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Ox

Age: 19


Date of performance: 4/5/25


Language: English


Nationality: British American


Occupation: Full-Time Student


Primary Language: English


Residence: United States

Text:

Paul Bunyan is a 40 foot tall man. He is known to have an exponential amount of strength and work alongside hid ox, babe the blue ox.

Context:

One of the stories my informant brought up was one where Paul Bunyan was asked to cut a bunch of trees down alongside Babe the blue ox. This took place in the Midwest which Paul Bunyan and Babe the ox is used to explain the amount of trees cut down in flat land.

Informant grew up in the Midwest to where he had a book about Paul Bunyan filled with stories about his involvement in the Midwest. Furthermore, they researched more about it after discovering some of the statues commemorated to the Folk Legend in Wisconsin.

They interpreted Paul Bunyan’s story to just be a story rung around by lumberjacks back in the day to pass the time and explain some of the oddities of the forests and landmarks.

Analysis:

Personally, I’d have to agree, much like some of the stories past down amongst workers during long periods of time, there stories were made out of pure entertainment. They really expressed this medium through the more fictional attributes added to Paul Bunyan, much like his height and exponential strength and sometimes magical abilities.

‘El Cadejo’

Age: 48


Date of performance: 4/5/25


Language: Spanish


Nationality: Latino/a


Occupation: Caregiver


Primary Language: Spanish


Residence: United States

Text:

‘El Cadejo’ are two huge dogs, one white, the other black, one representing good and the other evil.

Context:

My informant heard the story of ‘El Cadejo’ from their father who encountered one of the two dogs returning from work at night. According to their father, upon walking back home from a long day of work, he encountered the huge white Cadejo. Aware of the tales of the creature, he remained calm upon its presence, turning away from it and walking forth home as it guided him back through the night.

Deriving from their father’s story of ‘El Cadejo,’ my informant interprets the white Cadejo to reveal themselves to people in place of their spiritual animal companion, there to guide them through difficult times. On the other hand, they interpret the black Cadejo to reveal themselves to those who do wrong in the world, present to punish them for their actions.

Analysis:

I agree with my informants interpretation, as I’ve personally heard the Cadejo were sent down to manage and help balance the world from the malice accumulating from peoples actions. Nevertheless, I believe it is also another folktale about being careful at night and to avoid at all wandering at night from factors that can be unavoidable.

‘El Cipitio’

Age: 48


Date of performance: 4/5/25


Language: Spanish


Nationality: Latino/a


Occupation: Caregiver


Primary Language: Spanish


Residence: United States

Text:

  • El Cipitio is a legendary character from Salvadoran folklore portrayed as a 8-10 year old boy with a large conical hat and a pot-belly.

Context:

  • ‘El Cipitio’s’ name is derived from the Salvadoran word for child, “cipote” translating‘El Cipitio’ to ‘The boy’. Cursed by the god Teotl, Cipitio was condemned to live eternity as a small boy with backwards feet. He is known to be a trickster, wandering into farmers fields, throwing pebbles at beautiful ladies, hiding in bushes to scare people, and eating ashes leftover in rural kitchens.

Growing up in the rural parts of El Salvador, my informant has heard various stories about the Cipitio. Considering their family always cooked in lumber fueled stoves, when ashes laid scattered the day after cooking, the fault would always lay to ‘El Cipitio.’ Or whenever foot prints would lead to no suspecting figure, it would be perceived as a trick from ‘El Cipitio’ and his backwards feet.

My informant interpreted these stories from ‘El Cipitio’ to explain some of the oddities of life, or some of the things children would do but would never explicitly take fault for.

Analysis:

I interpret ‘El Cipitio’ as a legendary character who is just meant to be an entertaining factor in life. Made to make light of some oddities and serve as a easy cop out for things we just aren’t able to explain. I find that he is made to represent childish wonder and all that makes up being a kid growing up. In term, I believe that he is meant to represent the literal sense of a child, a boy to be exact as he is described to do some of the ‘stereotypical’ actions of a boy at his age.

La Mujer Mula

“Érase una vez una joven mujer la cual trabajaba en un restaurante en Caracas. Un día, la madre de la muchacha, una anciana, acudió al restaurante a pedir un plato de comida. Su propia hija le negó el plato y posteriormente la expulsó del local.

Una vez fuera, dolida, la anciana mujer se encontró con un hombre que le regaló una moneda con una cruz de San Andrés. El hombre le dio instrucciones de que volviera al restaurante y comiera con ese dinero, pero que cuando su hija le diera la vuelta le dijera que se quedara al cambio para comprar malojo.

La anciana hizo lo que el hombre le dijo, algo que provocó que la hija que la había expulsada se transformara parcialmente en mula, relinchando y coceando hasta que huyó del lugar. Desde entonces la mujer mula se tapa con un manto blanco y se aparece en las iglesias, rezando”.

Translation;

“Once upon a time, there was a young woman who worked in a restaurant in Caracas. One day, the girl’s mother, an elderly woman, came to the restaurant to ask for a plate of food. Her own daughter refused her the plate and subsequently expelled her from the establishment.

Once outside, hurt, the elderly woman met a man who gave her a coin with a St. Andrew’s cross on it. The man instructed her to return to the restaurant and eat with the money, but when her daughter gave her the change, she was to tell him to keep the change to buy malojo.

The elderly woman did as the man told her, causing the daughter who had expelled her to partially transform into a mule, neighing and kicking until she fled the scene. Since then, the Mule Woman covers herself with a white cloak and appears in churches, praying.”

Analysis: A Venezuelan legend that tells us about the price and punishment of ingratitude, as well as the return of the wrongs done to others. It is difficult to pinpoint the origins of this story, but it became popular in Caracas, where most of the high-end restaurants are. This is the capital of Venezuela, which made the story grow at a faster rate because of the high number of people who live in Caracas who shared the story with their relatives/friends. This legend also reflects the Venezuelan national religion, which is Catholicism. It is represented by how the end of the story plays out, with the mule woman appearing in churches. In Venezuelan culture, heavily influenced by Catholicism, the best thing to do if you have sinned is to go to the church, which is what the women do.