Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LEGEND

A genre of narrative whose content and structure typically emphasize the virtue of the protagonist. The goal of the legend is to edify its audience. “Legend” stems from legenda, the Latin term for “things to be read,” used for the medieval Christian stories about the lives of saints. Although in popular usage today the term has come to mean an “untrue or exaggerated story” about historical events or persons, the established use of the term in scholarship does not presume either historical accuracy or inaccuracy.

The legend takes place in a real human time frame, the recent past, and is believed to be historical by those who transmit it. Legend uses static narration, i.e., the plot does not exhibit an ever increasing tension culminating in a resolution point. Rather, the plot explores the virtue of the righteous hero from all angles in order to present various examples for emulation. The hero remains one-dimensional and undeveloped, addressed only in terms of the virtue possessed. In addition, the outcome of the plot is never in doubt; God will invariably ensure a good end for the virtuous hero. For example, in Dan. 1–6 Daniel and his pious friends predictably emerge victorious in every conflict or contest in the courts of foreign kings. Their faith is the central focus of the narratives and is to be emulated.

Legends in the OT may also be about a holy place; these tend to be concerned with an explanation of the origin and history of the sacredness of a place and the customs observed there. Such legends are termed “cult legend” or “cultic aetiology” (e.g., the story of Jacob at Bethel, Gen. 28:10-22).

Legend must be distinguished from other genres with which it often overlaps. It is different from myth in that it takes place in real time and not in the long distant past at the beginning of time. It differs from tale and from the German Märchen, “fairy-tale,” in that it is not presumed to have taken place in an unreal world beyond human experience. Finally, legend can be seen as a sub-genre of Sage, the German term for “folk-” or “popular-story,” but it emphasizes the virtue of a great hero above any other element.

Bibliography. R. M. Hals, “Legend,” CBQ 34 (1972): 166-76; repr. in Saga, Legend, Tale, Novella, Fable, ed. G. W. Coats, JSOTSup 35 (Sheffield, 1985), 45-55; J. J. Scullion, “Märchen, Sage, Legende: Towards a Clarification of Some Literary Terms Used by Old Testament Scholars,” VT 34 (1984): 321-36.

Tawny L. Holm

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LEGEND

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)