“There are these creatures supposedly in Fairfield County in Connecticut called ‘Melon Heads’.  Apparently they were escaped inmates or insane asylum patients and they are rumored to have big bulbous heads.  There is this insane asylum in Fairfield that shut down a long time ago and supposedly the patients there kept inbreeding with one another until they became mutants of a sort.  They’re also kind of yellowish in color.”

Tanner told me that he learned this legend from one of his fellow students who lived down the hall from him in his dorm this year.  He even said that they drove to the insane asylum and found a large system of underground tunnels that had been abandoned years ago but no Melon Heads.  Tanner said that these creatures also are rumored to exist in other portions of southwestern and central Connecticut as well as some other midwestern state that he believed to be Ohio.  He also said that the student down the hall heard the story from another group of his friends from high school.   Tanner said that they are creatures that are feared for their mysteriousness and for the mere fact that nobody knows much about them.  As for the legitimacy of actual Melon Heads existing, he told me that he wasn’t sure whether to believe in them or not, but that he never actually saw one so he seems skeptical.

However, there is other evidence pointing to the existence of Melon Heads.  In the book Weird U.S. – Your Travel Guide to America’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets it mentions that Melon Heads supposedly exist in Connecticut, Ohio, and Michigan.  The book goes on to say that many of these Melon Heads were the result of science experiments gone wrong and radiation testing, leaving them mentally retarded and continuing to mutate on their own.  Supposedly, the Melon Heads then moved into the woods, where generations of inbreeding occurred, resulting in even more mutations.

I think that part of the reason that people fear the Melon Heads so much is because during their creation, it supposedly was regular humans that turned them into the way that they are, thus giving them an inherent hatred towards the common man.  There are other examples of creatures similar to Melon Heads that can be seen in such movies as “The Hills Have Eyes” in which creatures that have been inbreeding live in the hills of a western state such as Arizona.  This could be a variation to the legend, but it could also be the writer’s interpretation of the creatures themselves.

Annotation: Moran, Mark and Mark Sceurman.  Weird U.S. – Your Travel Guide to America’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets.   New York.  Sterling            Publishing Company. 2004.  pp 60-63.

“So the legend goes that a long time ago, probably like around the 1920’s or so, there was a kid that was really stressed out about school and finals were coming up.  A few days later the kid decides that he’s had enough and he jumps off of this local suspension bridge into the gorges and kills himself.  People say that you can still hear screams from the bridge and some people say that they’ve seen him especially on the day that he died.”

This legend holds a lot of truth in the Cornell community due to the fact that many people actually have committed suicide by jumping into the gorges in Ithaca, New York.  What Matt told me is that although there have been many suicides in the past, but this one is the one that was supposedly most traumatic and is still talked about today.  Matt also said that he and a few of his friends have listened for the screams on the day that the student died, but they didn’t hear anything or see anyone.  Matt told me that he heard the story from an older student who was a part of his fraternity, and that it was a big deal when it happened because it was so long ago.

Elizabeth Tucker also lists this story in the book Campus Legends– A Handbook.  The legend is very similar, and it involves a male student who commits suicide by jumping off of the same suspension bridge.  The book said that typically the story is told that the student was under academic stress, had family problems, or was involved in a fraternity initiation that “shatters the student’s peace of mind and makes him decide that life’s not worth living.”

What can be seen in each situation is that there is a student who is undergoing a lot of stress and decides that the easiest way out is to jump into the gorges of Cornell to escape his troubles.  The fact that students at Cornell have jumped into the gorges to commit suicide is indeed a fact, however the reality of whether or not the suspension bridge legend is true is questionable.  A legend is something that could be true, is set in the real world, and invites discussions about belief.  This legend definitely has each of these factors.  Because Cornell is such a difficult school and finals week is often very stressful, it is clear why students continue to speak of it today as if it really has happened and is probably the reason the legend will live on in the future.

Annotation:  Tucker, Elizabeth.  Campus Legends – A Handbook. Westport, CT:             Greenwood Press:  2005.  pp. 78-80.

“There is this legend that Robert Johnson desired to be the greatest blues player of all time on the guitar.  So one night he went down to the crossroads in Mississippi at midnight and made a deal with the devil that if he gave the devil his soul he would be able to play anything he wanted on the guitar.”

Riley told me that he heard this legend a long time ago before he can really remember.  He said that his family is very musically oriented being of Irish descent and that his father was probably the one who told him this story.  His father plays guitar, violin, banjo, mandolin and a variety of other stringed instruments that are all associated with blues and the bluegrass of the South.  He said that his family is also very centered on telling legends such as these and that he knew many other music related legends as well.  Typically a legend such as this would be told in a manner that is as if to make the person believe that Robert Johnson gained his great guitar playing abilities from the devil himself and that the devil is the reason that he is such a talented player.  Robert Johnson was indeed a legendary guitar player who lived from the 1910s to the 1930s and unfortunately died at a young age.

Notwithstanding, the devil is often referenced to in other legends and myths.  The devil is regularly viewed as a supernatural being that has the power to make sinful deals with people and hence give them powers in exchange for something, quite often their soul.  Examples of this can be seen in such modern films as “Little Nicky” in which Nicky’s (Adam Sandler) father is the devil and he gives Nicky the power to capture people’s soul in a flask.  Also the well-known song “Crossroads” performed by Eric Clapton and Cream actually came from Robert Johnson in reference to this legend.

Regardless of the truth behind the proverb, I believe that it shows religious power that the south held at this time in history.  It is also possible that the reference of the devil and Robert Johnson making a deal could have been impacted by the amount of racism that existed during the 1930s in the southern United States.  Robert Johnson was a black man who was clearly successful at something, and in the 1930s a black man in the south was typically seen as inferior by white folk in general.  Due to this reason I believe a possible conclusion of Robert Johnson’s ordeal with the devil could have been a rumor that was spread by a jealous white person in order to show that even though he was successful, it was because he had made a deal with the devil.

Story of Hammurabi

Hammurabi created laws one day on a stone tablet and he called them his code of conduct and then one boy talked back to the king and had his tongue, leg, and arms cut off. And he couldn’t do anything so he stayed home. They were about to him out but then his father went to talk to the king and murdered the king. (* At this point, Mahfous said that he didn’t know how the man had killed Hammurabi because his mother would never tell him because she did not want him to know the details.) And then he became the new king and destroyed this code of conduct and he created a surgery for his and gave him all of his body parts back. Like stitches basically.

Mahfous said that his mother has shared this legend with him on different occasions, mostly when they have an opportunity to just sit or talk or maybe she will squeeze in a tale or two when they have a moment together. Mahfous said that she always emphasizes Hammurabi’s strictness and the fact that everyone hated him. She always ends by saying that if Mahfous ever wants to be a king, he shouldn’t be strict like Hammurabi because otherwise the people will kill him. Mahfous also said that his mom wants him to move to Persia one day and perhaps even become king…

This incredible legend has obvious historical significance, although this exact storyline may not have necessarily occurred in this way or even at all. Nevertheless, it is rooted in the very real history of King Hammurabi and his famous, or infamous, code of laws. The true significance and what I believe is probably most meaningful to Mahfous’s mother, is the lesson of how King Hammurabi chose to treat his people and the terrible consequences of that decision embodied in his code of conduct. It speaks to what a good leader must be like and how he should treat his people; with dignity and respect regardless of their position within society. It also speaks to the political turbulence and uncertainty of contemporary times that may continue to affirm the significance of this legend and its relevance. It may seem that now more than ever we are in need of a just ruler who does not treat his citizens as Hammurabi did, whether it is Mahfous as his mom hopes so or someone else.