Item:

“One night um our counselors (it was an overnight camp) took us out at like midnight or one o’clock um so really really late for like when you’re an eight year old you know. Um and they took us to um this giant area in the forest which was totally silent…um it was like a clearing within the forest, um and they told us this story about how um Good and Evil would battle each other, and Evil, which was represented by the devil, um was eventually beaten out by Good. And so anyways the Devil um was like on this rampage and he had just lost this giant battle with Good, um and the devil’s roaming and roaming and roaming around causing mayhem and chaos wherever he was and eventually he was locked up inside of a rock forever and um to this day they say that he is still inside of this rock. And of course as eight year olds sitting on the rock, it’s this giant giant boulder, um and they say that if you put your ear really close to the rock, you could still hear the devil inside.”

Context:

The informant heard this story while attending a camp in North Kingstown, Rhode Island when he was eight years old. He says that while at camp, the campers and counselors would always go on late-night hikes and hear stories “about life in general, things that happened in the vicinity of the camp, things that like were actually personal to us [the campers].”

Analysis:

This story clearly classifies as a legend in that it is a story that takes place in real life that may or may not be true. Although the factual basis of this story may seem incredulous at best, the kids, at some level, must have believed it, made evident by the informant’s claims that he and his fellow campers all believed that they could hear a noise coming from the rock. That the story told by the counselors deals with such big themes as good and evil and Satan make it seem to me that the camp was a religious camp.