|
A legend is a story that has probable historical roots but has been told and retold, embellished and personalized to the individual and their culture. The hero in a legend is generally larger than life. Legends are often narrative and present a theme or problem that was central to the development of the time period. Heroic tradition is, simply stated, the ages old pattern of story that begins with a hero in unusual circumstances, the search or quest, the transformation of the Hero and a resolution. Beowulf, an epic poem of Old English origins, and The Poem of the Cid, an eleventh-century epic poem from Spain, are both considered legends from the oral tradition that mirror the developmental stages of their culture. This 5 page paper explores the tale of Beowulf and the Poem of the Cid with an emphasis on their status as legend based on the shared concepts of a hero on a quest and the theme as reflective of the stage of development of feudalism. No additional sources are listed.
|