Tag Archives: legend

Hitler Tree – Legend

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Geological Spaces Major Student at the University of Southern California
Residence: Gateway Apartments at the University of Southern California
Language: English

Text:

There is a tree on the USC campus known as the “Hitler Tree” notorious as being the tree that was gifted by Hitler after the Olympics.

Context:

The performer is a Geological Spaces major at the University of Southern California who was required to take an archictecture tour of the University of Southern California for his class. Along this class, he walked by the courtyard near the bookstore. The tour guide/professor stood in front of one of the great trees and said that the gift was a present from Germany (specifically under Hitler’s Regime) because Hitler was so impressed by one of the USA Olympic Champions (who was from USC), that he gifted the school a tree. The tree is no longer called the Hitler Tree for politically correct reasons, but is still in the yard to this day, and an integral part of USC lore because he feels as though one is not a true USC student until they know the lore.

Analysis:

USC is a very proud school with a tight-knit gated campus, 30k+ students valiantly wearing gold and crimson, and low acceptance rate. People take pride in knowing hidden gems along the USC campus because it proves how legit of a student one is.

There’s a lot of speculation behind whether or not the Hitler Tree is real and/or still exists. While some people claim it is that very tree in the yard, others claim it died years ago, but honestly it doesn’t matter whether the tree is still alive or not because it is the notoriety of the story being related to the infamous Hitler and the badge of honor of whether or not someone knows this story exists that is the true testiment to how “hardcore” of a USC student you are. Similar to how German folklore unified people politically and gave rise to modern-day Germany, USC stories (even the taboo “Hitler Tree”) are proof that USC students belong to their tight-knit folk group.

Dokkaebi (도깨비) – Legend

Nationality: Korean
Age: 20
Occupation: Film & TV Production Major Student and University of Southern California
Residence: Orion Housing at the University of Southern California
Language: English

Text: 

Dokkaebi (도깨비) translates to Goblin from Korean to English.

Context: 

“There are these creatures popular in Korean media known as ‘goblins,’ which are mischievous creatures that are essentially fairies. There’s a very famous K-drama by the same title. They usually carry these big, magical clubs which can grant wishes, and they wear outfits that look as if you were to skin a tiger and wear its skin.”

The performer heard about this legend when he was 18 and read Omniscient Viewpoint, a manhwa popular among teenagers in 2023.  He later learned it was popular to use the “Goblin” trope in various types of Korean media, ranging from horror to kids’ shows. 

Analysis: 

Dokkaebi are supernatural beings recorded in Korean Literature since medieval Korea (about 918–1392). However, the oral folktelling of the trope has evolved and remains popular into modern times, often tied to people, places, events, or dreams. For example, older renditions of the Dokkaebi are traditionally adorned in animalistic tiger skin, but in modern retellings (such as with K-pop merchandise or the K-drama Goblin (Guardian: The Lonely and Great God)), the Dokkaebi are portrayed to be at the forefront of fashion trends. This is because in the past, a tiger skin would’ve symbolized wealth and power, but now, that symbol is replaced by expensive suits. Despite physical changes to accommodate the advancing Korean folk, Dokkaebi adhere to Korean values of ethics and morals.

Oftentimes, Dokkaebi figures take on the role of playing with a karmic law: punishing the bad and rewarding the good. They’re considered neither demon nor ghost, taking on a neutral presence within Korean folklore as a figure that teaches humans lessons. Because of this, they are often considered tricksters. They emphasize that good and mischief can coexist as there is a balance and order to the way life plays out. This balance is commonly seen within Korean culture as many subscribe to concepts from Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and shamanism – all of which emphasize duality and harmony.

Dokkaebi plays well into Korean folk beliefs of shamanism and animism as Dokkaebi are often derived from nature and the spiritual imbuing of objects. In some tales of Dokkaebi, the Goblins arise from normal objects turned sacred (such as old brooms or keepsakes) which gain a spirit over time (animism). If the sacred objects were cast aside carelessly, this could result in the rise of a Dokkaebi.

La Llorona

Text:

“Lla Lorona is a weeping ghost who can be found next to bodies of water, like lakes or rivers. She’s constantly crying because she can’t find her children who drowned years ago. If a child walks by the body of water she’s in, she’ll mistake them for her dead children and drag them into the body of water with her.”

Context:

The informant heard this story from their parents, as well as family members from Mexico, when they were a young child.

Analysis:

At its core, La Llorona seems to serves as both a moral warning and a cultural reflection: it reinforces traditional roles by portraying the ultimate punishment for failing in one’s duties as a mother, which is a theme that is shared between many cultures. However, this legend also symbolizes deeper historical and emotional wounds. One possible interpretation is that she represents the collective trauma of colonization—her cries echoing the pain of indigenous peoples who lost their families, land, and identity, serving as a metaphor for cultural loss. She is implied to be a woman of Latin heritage in a time of colonialism, where white men held all the power, and her tragic fate is directly tied to the racist system she existed in. Therefore, she represents the “bane” of an elite, white male demographic in a society where their power and influence finds its foundations in the oppression of those deemed “other”.

The Legend of La Llorona

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 24
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

Legend:

“The most popular legend in Mexico is “The Legend of La Llorona.” That of a lower class woman who fell in love with a wealthy man, who was already married. This woman had two children with him, and hoping he would leave his wife, she lost control one day. Filled with despair, she decided to drown her children in a river, and, since then, her soul wanders in sorrow through the streets every dawn, mourning the murder of her children. La Llorona walks each night with disturbing cries of regret, saying “Ay mis hijos!” which means “Oh, my children!” Dressed in a white gown that covers her entire body, down to her bare feet. There are those who say they have seen her: according to them, the ghost also has long hair, and her face resembles a skull. Many have also claimed that this woman also attacks midwives, doctors, and nurses who help pregnant women end the lives of their unborn babies.”

Context:

My informant told me that many Mexican legends are passed down from generation to generation, taught in class, or even shared from neighbor to neighbor on the street. She had heard this legend on the playground when she was 6-7 years old. She said that children would share this legend with each other as a way to frighten other children.

Analysis:

In class, we read an article and talked about the legend of La Llorona. In the article “The Politics of Taking: La Llorona in the Cultural Mainstream,” Domino Renee Perez writes that La Llorona “wails at night as she wanders dark roads searching for her children or any other potential victims” (154). We had talked about La Llorona mainly targeting children, so this variation of the legend is interesting because it instead is about the spirit of La Llorona going after people who terminate their pregnancies/their unborn children. One can argue, that instead of La Llorona attacking children, she is going after people who are making the same choice she did to end (by ending their unborn babies’ lives) that doomed her to haunt the streets. This view/belief depends on one’s own view of terminating a pregnancy, but it is interesting to think about the different interpretations of the La Llorona legend. I find this variation between different versions of the legend of La Llorona fascinating.

Ijapa the Tortoise Legend/Tale

Nationality: Nigerian
Age: 21
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

Legend:

“Ijapa is a tortoise in the village and every year, the birds have a festival in the sky to celebrate some type of feast. And this festival is super coveted, like there’s lots of food and everything, and [it’s] in the trees and high up. Ijapa, who’s a tortoise, obviously can’t get to the trees, so he starts picking feathers from every bird and makes a set of wings for himself, and he flies up to this festival disguised as a bird with all these feathers that he’s gathered and goes to this banquet. At the banquet, he’s eating all their food, and somehow, someone discovers he’s not a bird and so they go around telling everyone he’s not a bird and he’s infiltrated the banquet. As each of them leave, they take one feather [from Ijapa’s set of wings] and fly away. So, because Ijapa is so big-backed [informant’s words], hungry, and greedy, he’s staying late and doesn’t realize [the birds] are taking his feathers. By the time the last guest has gone, he realizes that he no longer has his set of wings. So, he shouts down from the tree to [get] someone to tell his wife, who, I can’t remember what creature it is, but it’s another animal, that hears him shouting from the tree. He [Ijapa] tells the animal to tell his wife to come and arrange, like a bed of soft things, so that when he jumps from the tree height, he lands on the soft things. But this animal, who also does not like Ijapa because Ijapa is greedy, arranges stones instead, and mimics the voice of his [Ijapa’s] wife, saying, “Jump down! I’ve arranged the bed of soft things” and Ijapa jumps down and cracks his shell.

That’s why tortoises’ shells are cracked.”

Context:

My informant told me that Ijapa (“tortoise” in Yoruba) is a character that shows up in a lot of Yoruba stories/tales that parents share with their children. Many of the Ijapa stories are didactic and usually have some sort of moral lesson: why you shouldn’t lie, why you shouldn’t be arrogant, etc. He compared this story to the tale of the Tortoise and the Hare, explaining that there are different variations of these stories in different regions. This is the version he remembers hearing from his parents.

Analysis:

This story is very interesting because not only is it a legend about why tortoises’ shells are cracked, but it is also a tale that has a moral lesson for children. Is it likely that a tortoise was able to gather loose feathers to create wings and fly up into the trees? I think that it is highly unlikely; but the fact that the phrase “That’s why tortoises’ shells are cracked” is included after the story transforms this tale into a seemingly legendary story. This story could be true, because tortoises’ shells can be cracked. Had it been described as a story of why someone should never lie or be greedy, then this would not be considered a legend. In my opinion, this story does not necessarily clearly fit in to one category of a legend or a tale. There is the part about why the tortoises’ shell is cracked, which shifts the story into the legend category, but then there is the moral lesson of why someone should not lie or be greedy, as well as the tortoise flying into the tree, which is more commonly found in tales.