The creepiest urban legends that turned out to be true. The most beautiful legends and parables! Legends of humanity

Incredible facts

People have been making up legends and tales ever since they discovered communication. Despite some true facts, most of the terrible legends still remain fiction. However, chilling urban legends can often turn out to be true.

Sometimes turning a tragic event into a legend helps people cope with grief, as well as protect the younger generation from realizing the reality of what is happening.

In this article we have collected for you the creepiest urban legends based on real events.

City's legends

Faceless Charlie

Legend:

Children living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania love to tell the story of Faceless Charlie, also known as the Green Man. It is believed that Charlie was a factory worker who was disfigured in a horrific accident, some say it was caused by acid, some say it was caused by a power line.

Some versions of the story claim that this incident caused his skin to turn green, but all versions have in common that Charlie's face was so disfigured that it lost all features. According to legend, he wanders in the dark through depressing places, such as the old abandoned train tunnel in South Park, also known as the Green Man's Tunnel.

Over the years, curious teenagers have visited this tunnel in search of traces of Faceless Charlie. Many claimed that they felt a slight electrical voltage and had trouble starting their car after calling No-Face. Others said they saw the slight glow of his green skin in a tunnel or along a country road at night.

Reality:

Unfortunately, this tragic story contains the lion's share of truth. The legend of Faceless Charlie appeared due to the fact that he had a very real prototype - Raymond Robinson. In 1919, Robinson, who was 8 years old at the time, was playing with a friend near a bridge that carried high-voltage tram tracks.

Raymond suffered horrific injuries after accidentally touching a power line. As a result of the blow, he lost his nose, both eyes and an arm, but survived. He spent the rest of his long life - 74 years - withdrawn into himself, and only went out for walks at night, but he reciprocated people's friendly calls to him.

Killer in the attic

Legend:

This chilling story appeared many years ago. It tells the story of a family who are unaware that a dangerous intruder has taken up residence in their home and has been secretly living in their attic for weeks. Things are lost or moved, and suspicious objects appear in the trash. They joke sweetly about the brownie until the cruel killer who lives next door kills them in their sleep.

The worst thing about this legend is that it would seem to be quite possible - and this is in fact so.

Reality:

This story begins in March 1922 on a German farm called Hinterkaifeck. The owner, Andreas Gruber, began to notice that things in the house periodically disappeared and were not in their right place. His family heard footsteps in the house at night, and Andreas himself, on the eve of the tragedy, noticed other people’s footprints in the snow, but after examining the house and territory, he found no one.

At the end of March, the man who left these traces came down from the attic and brutally killed six inhabitants of the farm - the owner, his wife, their daughter, her two children aged 2 and 7 and their maid with a hoe. Their bodies were discovered only 4 days later, and it turned out that at that time someone was caring for livestock. The identity of the perpetrator has not yet been established.

Legends

Night doctors

Legend:

Stories about night doctors in the past were often heard from slave owners who used them to intimidate slaves so that they would not escape. The essence of the legend is that there were certain doctors who operated at night, kidnapping black workers to use them in their terrible experiments.

Night doctors caught people on the streets and took them to their medical institutions to torture, kill, dismember and cut out their organs.

Reality:

This terrible story has a very real continuation. Throughout the 19th century, grave robbing was a major problem, and the African American population was unable to protect either their deceased relatives or themselves. Additionally, medical students actually performed surgeries on living members of the African American community.

In 1932, the Alabama State Health Service and Tuskegee University launched a program to study syphilis. No matter how terrible it may sound, 600 African-American men were taken for the experiment. 399 of them already had syphilis, and 201 did not.

They were given free food and a guarantee to protect their grave after death, but the program lost funding without telling participants anything about their terrible illness. The researchers sought to study the mechanisms of the disease and continued to monitor patients. They were told that they were being treated for a minor blood disease.

The patients did not know they had syphilis or that they needed penicillin to treat it. The scientists refused to give any information about the medications or the condition of their patients.

This story, seasoned with slave owners riding horses at night in white clothes, has long instilled fear and awe of the legend in black people.

Alice Murders

Legend:

This is a fairly young urban legend from Japan. It says that between 1999 and 2005, a series of brutal murders occurred in Japan. The victims' bodies were mutilated, their limbs were torn off, and a distinctive feature of all the murders was that next to each corpse the name "Alice" was written in the victim's blood.

Police also found one playing card at each of the grisly crime scenes. The first victim was found in the forest, and parts of her body were strung on the branches of various trees. The second victim's vocal cords were torn out. The third victim, a teenage girl, had her skin severely burned, her mouth cut, her eyes torn out, and a crown sewn to her head. The killer's last victims were two little twins who were given lethal injections while they were sleeping.

It is alleged that in 2005, police arrested a man who was found wearing a jacket from one of the victims, but they were unable to link him to any of the murders. The man claimed that the jacket was given to him as a gift.

Reality:

In fact, such killings have never happened in Japan. However, shortly before the appearance of this legend, a maniac was operating in Spain, who was called the Card Killer. In 2003, all the Madrid police forces were sent to catch the man responsible for 6 brutal murders and 3 attempted murders. Each time he left a playing card on the body of the murdered man. Authorities were at a loss - there was no connection between the victims or an obvious motive.

All that was known was that they were dealing with a psychopath who chose his victims at random. He would never have been caught if one day he himself had not confessed to the police. The card killer turned out to be Alfredo Galan Sotillo. During the trial, Alfredo changed his testimony several times, refusing to confess and claiming that the Nazis forced him to confess to the murders. Despite this, the killer was sentenced to 142 years in prison.

Scary urban legends

The Legend of Cropsy

Legend:

Among the residents of Staten Island, the legend of Corpsey has been circulating for several decades. It's about a crazed ax murderer who escapes from an old hospital and is hiding in the tunnels underneath the abandoned Willbrook Public School. He comes out of hiding at night and hunts children: some say that he has a hook instead of a hand, and some say that he wields an ax. The weapon does not matter to him, what matters to him is the result - to lure the child into the ruins of the old school and cut him into pieces.

Reality:

As it turned out, the crazy killer was very real. Andre Rand was directly responsible for the abduction of two children. He worked as a janitor at this very school until it closed. There, children with disabilities were kept in terrible conditions: they were beaten, insulted, and had neither normal food nor clothing. Homeless Rand returned to the tunnels under the school to continue the atrocities that previously reigned in this school.

Children began to go missing, and the body of 12-year-old Jennifer Schweiger was found in the woods near Rand's camp. He was accused of killing Jennifer and another missing child. It has not been fully proven that these murders were his doing, but the police were able to prove that he was involved in child abductions. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. The whereabouts of the other missing children have still not been revealed.

The nanny and the killer on the second floor

Legend:

The story of the nanny and the killer hiding upstairs is undoubtedly a classic urban horror story. According to this legend, a girl working as a nanny for a rich family receives a creepy call. In almost all versions of the story, the caller asks the nanny if she has checked the children. The nanny calls the police, where it turns out that they are calling from the house where she and the children are. According to most versions, all three are found brutally murdered.

Reality:

The reason for the spread of this terrible story was the very real murder of a 12-year-old girl, Janet Christman, who was looking after three-year-old Gregory Romak. In March 1950, when this brutal crime occurred, there was a terrible thunderstorm in Columbia, Missouri. Janet had just put the child to bed when an unknown person entered the house and brutally raped and killed the girl.

For a long time, the main suspect was a certain Robert Mueller, also accused of another murder. Unfortunately, the evidence against Mueller was only circumstantial, but he was still accused of Janet's murder. After some time, he filed a lawsuit for illegal detention, the charges were dropped, and he left the city forever. After his departure, such crimes stopped.

Legends based on real events

Rabbit Man

Legend:

The story about the rabbit man appeared around the 70s of the last century and, like many urban legends, has several versions. The most common one concerns the events that occurred in 1904, when the local mental institution in Clifton, Virginia, closed and it became necessary to move patients to a new building. According to the classics of the genre, a transport with patients gets into a serious accident, most of them die, and the survivors break free. They are all successfully brought back...except for one - Douglas Griffin, sent to a mental hospital for the murder of his family on Easter Sunday.

Soon after his escape, exhausted and mutilated rabbit carcasses appear on the trees in the area. Some time later, local residents discover the body of Marcus Wallster hanging from the ceiling of a railroad underpass in the same terrible state as the rabbits before. The police tried to drive the madman into a corner, but he ran away and was hit by a train. Now his restless ghost wanders around and still hangs rabbit carcasses in the trees.

Some even claim to have seen the rabbit man himself, standing in the shadow of an underground passage. Locals believe that anyone who dares to enter the passage on Halloween night will be found dead the next morning.

Reality:

Fortunately, this creepy legend is just a legend, and there really was no crazy killer. There was no Douglas Griffin or Marcus Wallster. However, in Fairfax County there lived a man who had an unhealthy obsession with rabbits and terrorized local residents in the 70s of the last century.

He rushed at passers-by and chased them with a small hatchet in his hands. Some claimed that he once threw a hatchet through the window of a passing car. One incident occurred at the home of one of the local residents. The madman took an ax with a long handle and began to chop down the porch of the unfortunate man's house. He ran away before the police arrived and no one still knows who he is or what motivated him.

Hook

Legend:

The legend of Hook is perhaps the most common of all urban horror stories. It has several versions, each more terrible than the previous one, and the most famous one tells about a couple making love in a parked car. The radio broadcast is suddenly interrupted to inform listeners of terrible news - a brutal killer wielding a hook has escaped, and now he is hiding in the very park where the lovers are.

The girl, having heard the news, asks her lover to leave there as quickly as possible. The guy is annoyed by this, but they get ready and he takes her home. When they arrive, they find a bloody hook hanging from the passenger side door handle.

Reality:

Whether the couple makes it home without incident, or the girl is horrified to hear her lover's fingers touching the roof of the car as his bloody body hangs from a tree, the story is not accidental. In the late 1940s, a small and peaceful town was rocked by a series of horrific murders. The culprit was dubbed the Moonlight Killer, but was never found.

At night he killed young people in parked cars. Frightened residents returned home long before the curfew announced by the authorities. The bloody crimes stopped as quickly as they began, and the Moon Killer disappeared into the night.

Dog boy

Legend:

In the town of Quitman, Arkansas, there has long been a legend about Dog Boy. Locals claimed that it was about an evil and very cruel little boy who loved to torture defenseless animals, and then completely turned on his parents. After the boy's death, his ghost haunted the house where he killed his parents, in the form of a half-man, half-dog, instilling horror and fear in people. People often notice his outline in the room where he kept the animals he abused.

Witnesses describe it as a large, furry creature that resembles a dog with glowing cat-like eyes. Those who pass by his house notice that he is closely watching them from the window of the house, and some even claim that an incomprehensible creature on all fours was chasing them down the street.

Reality:

Once upon a time, in an old house at 65 Mulberry Street, there lived an angry and cruel boy named Gerald Bettis. His favorite pastime was catching neighbors' animals. He had a separate room where he brought the unfortunate. There he tortured and brutally killed them. Over time, his cruelty began to manifest itself towards his elderly parents. He was huge and overweight.

They say that it was he who killed his father, but no one has been able to prove that he provoked his fall from the stairs. After his father's death, he continued to abuse his mother, keeping her locked up and starving her. Law enforcement agencies intervened and managed to save the unfortunate mother. Some time later, she testified against him for growing and using marijuana. He was sent to prison, where he died of an overdose.

Legends that turned out to be true

Black water

Legend:

This fairly well-known story begins with an ordinary family buying a new house. Everything is fine with them until they open the tap and black, cloudy, foul-smelling water comes out. After checking the water tank, they discover a rotting body. It is unknown when this legend was born, but a similar story really took place.

Reality:

Elisa Lam's body was found in a water tank at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, California in 2013. Her death remains a mystery and her killer has not been found. By the time guests began complaining about spoiled water and her body was discovered, it had been decomposing in the tank for a week.

The most terrible legends

Bloody Mary

Legend:

According to the creepy folk belief about Bloody Mary, in order to summon her evil spirit, you need to light candles, turn off the lights and whisper her name while looking intently into the mirror. When she comes, she can do a number of harmless things and some terrible things.

Reality:

According to psychologists, if you look closely in the mirror for a long time, you can see someone else looking back at you, so most likely the legend of Bloody Mary did not appear out of nowhere. Italian psychologist Giovanni Caputo calls this phenomenon the “illusion of someone else’s face.”

According to Caputo, if you stare long and hard at your reflection in a mirror, your field of vision will begin to distort and the outlines and edges will become blurred—your face will no longer look the same. The same illusion manifests itself when a person sees images and silhouettes in inanimate objects.

Sphinx

Experts agreed on only a few facts about the Great Sphinx of Giza: it is one of the largest and most ancient statues in the world, as well as a creature with the body of a lion and the head of a man, similar to an Egyptian pharaoh. The rest comes down to speculation and beliefs.

The legend about the prince of Egypt Thutmose, the grandson of Thutmose III, a descendant of Queen Hatshepsut, is a favorite story of admirers of the Sphinx. The young man was a joy to his father, which aroused the jealousy of his relatives. Someone even plotted to kill him.

Due to family troubles, Thutmose spent more and more time away from home - in Upper Egypt and the desert. He was a strong and agile guy and enjoyed hunting and archery. One day, as usual, while away his leisure time tracking a wild beast, the prince left behind his two servants, sweltering from the heat, and went to pray at the pyramids.

He stopped in front of the Sphinx, known in those days as Harmachis - the god of the rising sun. The massive stone statue was covered in sand up to its shoulders. Thutmose looked at the Sphinx, praying to save him from all his problems. Suddenly the huge statue came to life, and a thunderous voice was heard from its mouth.

The Sphinx asked Thutmose to free him from the sand pulling him down. The eyes of the mythical creature burned so brightly that, looking into them, the prince fell unconscious. When he woke up, the day was approaching sunset. Thutmose slowly rose to his feet in front of the Sphinx and swore an oath to him. He promised that he would cleanse the statue of the sand covering it and immortalize the memory of this incident in stone if he became the next pharaoh. And the young man kept his word.

A fairy tale with a good ending or a true story - Thutmose actually became the next ruler of Egypt, and his problems were left far behind. The story gained popularity only 150 years ago, when archaeologists cleared the sand from the Sphinx and discovered a stone tablet between its paws describing the legend of Prince Thutmose and the oath he swore to the Great Sphinx of Giza.

The great Wall of China

The tale of tragic love is just one of many legends of the Great Wall of China. But the story of Meng Jiangniu - perhaps the saddest of them all - can touch you from the very first lines. It talks about the Meng couple who lived next door to another couple with the surname Jiang. Both families were happy, but childless. So, as usual, years passed until the Maines decided to plant a pumpkin vine in their garden. The plant grew quickly and bore fruit outside the Jiangs' fence.

Being good friends, the neighbors agreed to divide the pumpkin equally. Imagine their surprise when, having cut it open, they saw a baby inside. A tiny, beautiful girl. As before, the two amazed couples decided to share the responsibilities of raising the baby, who was named Meng Jiangniu.

Their daughter grew up to be a very beautiful girl. She married a young man named Fan Xiliang. However, the young man was hiding from the authorities, who tried to force him to join the construction of the Great Wall. And, unfortunately, he could not hide forever: just three days after their wedding, Silyan was forced to join other workers.

For a whole year, Meng waited for her husband's return, receiving no news about his health or the progress of construction. One day Fan appeared to her in a disturbing dream, and the girl, unable to bear the silence any longer, went in search of him. She traveled a long way, crossing rivers, hills and mountains, and reached the wall, only to hear that Silyan had died of exhaustion and was resting at its foot.

Meng could not contain her grief and cried for three days in a row, causing part of the structure to collapse. The emperor, who heard about this, thought that the girl should be punished, but as soon as he saw her beautiful face, he immediately changed his anger to mercy and asked for her hand. She agreed, but on the condition that the ruler fulfill her three requests. Meng wished to declare mourning for Xiliang (including for the emperor and his servants). A young widow asked for her husband's funeral and expressed her need to see the sea.

Meng Jiangniu never remarried. After attending Fan's burial ceremony, she committed suicide by throwing herself into the depths of the sea.

Another version of the legend says that the grieving girl cried until the wall collapsed and the remains of the dead workers emerged from the ground. Knowing that her husband lay somewhere below, Meng cut her hand and watched the blood drip onto the bones of the dead. Suddenly, she began to flock around one skeleton, and Meng realized that she had found Silyan. The widow then buried him and committed suicide by jumping into the ocean.

Forbidden City

In the past, an ordinary tourist did not have a chance to get to the Forbidden City. And if he could penetrate the walls, he would leave their heads. Literally. This ancient palace complex is the largest in the world and the only one of its kind. During the reign of the Qing dynasty, it was closed to the public; for more than 500 years, only emperors and their entourage saw the city from the inside.

At least today, guests are allowed to explore the site and listen to the legends associated with it. One of them tells that the four watchtowers of the Forbidden City appeared in a dream.

Allegedly, during the Ming Dynasty, the city was surrounded only by high walls, without a hint of towers. Emperor Yongle, ruling in the 15th century, once had a vivid dream about his residence. He dreamed of fantastic watchtowers decorating the corners of the fortress. Waking up, the ruler immediately ordered his builders to make the dream come true.

According to legend, after the failed attempts of two groups of workers (and their subsequent execution by beheading), the foreman of the third group of builders was very nervous when starting work. But by modeling the tower after the grasshopper cage he had seen, he managed to make the ruler happy.

He also tried to include the number nine, a symbol of nobility, in the design design in order to further please the emperor. They say the old man who sold the cricket cages that inspired the watchtowers was Lu Ban, the mythological patron of all Chinese carpenters.

Niagara Falls

The legend of the Maiden of the Mist may have provided the idea for the name for the river cruise at Niagara Falls. As with most stories, there are different versions.

The most famous one tells the story of an Indian girl named Lelavala, who was sacrificed to the gods. To appease them, she was thrown from Niagara Falls. The original version of the legend says that Lelawala was floating along the river in a canoe, and she was accidentally carried away downstream.

The girl was saved from certain death by Hinum, the god of thunder, who finally taught her how to defeat the huge snake that lived in the river. Lelavala conveyed the message to her fellow tribesmen, and they declared war on the monster. Many believe that Niagara Falls acquired its present form as a result of subsequent battles between people and the monster.

Incorrectly retold versions of this legend have appeared in print since the 17th century, with many attributing some errors to Robert Cavelier de La Salle, a European explorer of North America. He claimed that he visited the Iroquois tribe and witnessed the sacrifice of a virgin daughter of the leader, and at the very last minute the unfortunate father fell victim to his own conscience and fell into the watery abyss after the girl. So Lelavala was named the Maiden of the Mist.

However, Robert's wife spoke out against her husband and accused him of portraying the Iroquois people as ignorant only in order to appropriate their land for himself.

Devil's Peak and Table Mountain

Devil's Peak is an infamous mountainside in South Africa. He saw a lot, could tell so many things: including a wonderful legend about how fog rises from the ocean and envelops the peak along with Table Mountain. Cape Townians and other South Africans still tell this tale to their children and grandchildren.

In the 1700s, a pirate named Jan van Hanks decided to leave his swashbuckling past behind and settled in Cape Town. He got married and built a family nest at the foot of the mountain. Jan loved to smoke a pipe, but his wife hated this habit and drove him out of the house every time he took up tobacco.

Van Hanks got into the habit of going to the mountains to smoke quietly in nature. One completely ordinary day, he climbed the slope as always, but found a stranger in his favorite place. Ian did not see the man’s face, since it was covered by the wide brim of his hat, and he was dressed all in black.

Before the former sailor could say anything, the strange man greeted him by name. Van Hanks sat down next to him and began a conversation that gradually turned to the topic of smoking. Ian often boasted about how much tobacco he could handle, and this conversation was no exception after the stranger asked the pirate for a smoke.

He told van Hanks that he could easily smoke more than him, and they immediately decided to test it - to compete.

Huge clouds of smoke surrounded the men, swallowed the mountains - suddenly the stranger began to cough. The hat fell off his head and Ian gasped. Before him was Satan himself. Angry that a mere mortal had exposed him, the devil was transported along with Van Hanks to an unknown direction, flashed by a flash of lightning.

Now, every time Devil's Peak and Table Mountain are covered in fog, people say that it is Van Hanks and the Prince of Darkness who have taken their places on the slope again and are competing in smoking.

Volcano Etna

Etna is located on the east coast of Sicily, one of the highest active volcanoes in Europe. The first recorded awakening occurred in 1500 BC. e., and since then he has spat fire at least 200 times. During the 1669 eruption, which lasted a full four months, lava covered 12 villages and destroyed surrounding areas.

According to Greek legend, the source of the volcanic activity is none other than a 100-headed monster (similar to a dragon) that spews pillars of flame from one of its mouths when it gets angry. Apparently, this huge monster is Typhon, the son of Gaia, the goddess of the Earth. He was a rather naughty child, and Zeus sent him to live under Mount Etna. Therefore, from time to time, Typhon's wrath takes the form of boiling magma, shooting straight into the heavens.

Another version tells about the terrible one-eyed giant Cyclops, who lived inside the mountain. One day, Odysseus arrived at its foot to fight the mighty creature. The Cyclops tried to pacify the king of Ithaca by throwing huge boulders at him from the top, but the cunning hero managed to reach the giant and defeat him by plunging a spear into his only eye. The defeated big man disappeared into the depths of the mountain. Further, the legend says that the crater of Etna is actually the wounded eye of the Cyclops, and the lava splashing from it is drops of the giant’s blood.

Avenue of the Baobabs

The island of Madagascar resonates with many people around the world, and it's not just about the lemurs. The main local attraction is the delightful Avenue of Baobabs, located on the west coast. "Mother of the Forest" - 25 huge trees lined up on both sides of the dirt road. This is exactly where the indigenous inhabitants of the island are, in all meanings, and the largest representatives of their species! Naturally, their amazing location has given rise to many legends and myths.

One of them says that the baobabs tried to run away while God was creating them, so he decided to plant the plants upside down. This might explain their root-like branches. Others tell a completely different story. Allegedly, the trees were originally unusually beautiful. But they became proud and began to boast of their superiority, for which God immediately turned them upside down so that only their roots became visible. It is said that this is the reason why baobab trees only bloom and produce leaves for a few weeks each year.

Myth or not, six varieties of these plants are found only in Madagascar. However, deforestation poses a serious threat even against the backdrop of all the activities carried out there and the efforts made to protect and restore forest areas. If more is not done to protect them, the protagonists of these legends may disappear, most likely forever.

Giant's Causeway

Unintentionally creating the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland is what can happen if you get into a fight with a giant. At least that's what the legend convinces us of. While scientists believe that the basalt pillars in the shape of regular hexagons are an accumulation of lava aged 60 million years, the legend of Benandonner, a Scottish giant, sounds a little more intriguing.

It tells the story of Irish big man Finn McCool and his long-standing feud with Scottish big man Benandonner. One fine day, two giants started another squabble across the North Channel - Finn became so angry that he grabbed a handful of earth and threw it at his hated neighbor. The lump of mud landed in the water and is now known as the Isle of Man, and the place where McCool rests is called Lough Neagh.

The war was heating up, and Finn McCool decided to build a bridge for Benandonner (the Scottish giant could not swim). In this way they could meet and fight, resolve the old dispute - who is the bigger giant. After building the pavement, tired Finn fell into a deep sleep.

While he was sleeping, his wife heard a deafening roar and realized that it was the sound of Benandonner's approaching footsteps. When he arrived at the couple’s house, Finn’s wife was horrified - her husband’s death had come, because he turned out to be much smaller than his neighbor. Being a resourceful woman, she quickly wrapped a large blanket around McCool and placed the bulkiest cap she could find on his head. Then she opened the front door.

Benandonner shouted into the house for Finn to come out, but the woman shushed him and said he would wake up her “baby.” Legend has it that when the Scotsman saw the size of the “child”, he did not wait for his father to appear. The giant immediately ran back home, destroying the passage through the strait along the way so that no one could follow him.

Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji is a huge volcano in Japan. It is not only a major attraction, but also an important part of Japanese culture - the theme of many songs, films and, of course, myths and legends. The story of the first eruption is considered the oldest legend in the country.

An elderly bamboo collector was performing his daily task when he came across something very unusual. A tiny baby, the size of a thumb, looked up at him from the trunk of the plant he had just cut. Struck by the beauty of the little one, the elder took her home to raise her with his wife as his own daughter.

Soon after the incident, Taketori (that was the name of the collector) began to make other amazing discoveries while working. Every time he cut a bamboo stalk, he found a gold nugget inside. His family became rich very quickly. The little girl grew up to be a young woman of stunning beauty. Her adoptive parents eventually learned that her name was Kaguya-hime and she was sent to Earth from the Moon to protect her from the war raging there.

Because of her beauty, the girl received several marriage proposals, including from the emperor himself, but rejected them all, as she wanted to return home to the Moon. When her people finally came for her, the ruler of Japan was so unhappy at the imminent separation that he sent his army to fight Kaguya's own family. However, the bright moonlight blinded them.

As a parting gift, Kaguya-hime (which means “moon princess”) sent the emperor a letter and an elixir of immortality, which he did not accept. In turn, he wrote her a letter and ordered his servants to climb to the highest mountain peak in Japan and burn it along with the elixir, in the hope that they would reach the moon.

However, the only thing that happened while carrying out the master's order on Fuji was a fire that started that could not be extinguished. So, according to legend, Mount Fuji became a volcano.

Yosemite

Half Dome Rock in the US Yosemite National Park is a real challenge when it comes to climbing, but it is also a favorite among hikers and rock climbers. When Native Americans lived here, they called it Broken Mountain. At some point, as a result of repeated glaciations and thawings of the rock, most of the rock was separated from it - this is how it acquired its present appearance.

The origin of Half Dome was the subject of a wonderful legend, still passed down by word of mouth, all of which are called "The Tales of Tis-sa-ak." The legend also explains the unusual face-shaped silhouette that can be seen on one side of the mountain.

The tale tells of an elderly Indian woman and her husband traveling to the Aouani Valley. Throughout the journey, the lady carried a heavy wicker basket made of reeds, while her husband simply waved his cane. This was the custom in those days, and no one would have thought it strange that a man was in no hurry to help his wife.

By the time they reached the mountain lake, the woman named Tis-sa-ak was thirsty, tired of the heavy burden and the scorching sun. Therefore, without wasting a second, she rushed to the water to drink.

When her husband came there, he was horrified to discover that his wife had drained the entire lake. But then everything only got worse: due to the lack of water, drought struck the area, and all the greenery dried up. The man became so angry that he swung his cane at his wife.

Tis-sa-ak burst into tears and started running with the basket in her hands. At one point, she turned around to throw a basket at her husband who was pursuing her. And when they met their gaze, the Great Spirit who lived in the valley turned them both into stone.

Today the couple is known as Half Dome and Washington Column. They say that if you look closely at the mountainside, you can see the face of a woman, along which tears are silently flowing.

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We are sure that many of you still believe in unicorns. It seems wonderful to imagine that they still exist somewhere, and we just haven’t found them yet. However, even the myth about such a magical creature has a very prosaic and even somewhat frightening explanation.

If you feel like website If you are very skeptical and no longer believe in magic, then at the end of the article a real miracle awaits you!

Great Flood

Scientists believe that the legend of the Great Flood is based on the memory of major flood, the epicenter of which was Mesopotamia. At the beginning of the last century, during excavations of the tombs of Ur, a layer of clay was found that separated two cultural layers. Only a catastrophic flood of the Tigris and Euphrates could lead to the appearance of such a phenomenon.

According to other estimates, 10–15 thousand years BC. e. An incredible flood happened in the Caspian Sea, which spilled over an area of ​​about 1 million square meters. km. The version was confirmed after scientists found sea shells in Western Siberia, the closest distribution area of ​​which is in the Caspian Sea. This flood was so powerful that there was a huge waterfall on the Bosphorus, through which approximately 40 cubic meters were poured per day. km of water (200 times the volume of water passing through Niagara Falls). There was a flow of this power for at least 300 days.

This version seems crazy, but in this case, ancient people cannot be accused of exaggerating events!

Giants

In modern Ireland, legends are still told about people of gigantic stature who can create an island simply by throwing a handful of earth into the sea. Endocrinologist Martha Korbonitz came up with the idea that ancient legends could have a scientific basis. Incredibly, the researchers found what they were looking for. A huge number of people in Ireland have mutations in the AIP gene. It was these mutations that caused the development of acromegaly and gigantism. If in the UK the mutation carrier is 1 in 2,000 people, then in the province of Mid-Ulster it is every 150th.

One of the famous Irish giants was Charles Byrne (1761–1783), his height was over 230 cm.

Legends, of course, endow giants with enormous power, but in reality, not everything is so rosy. People with acromegaly and gigantism often suffer from cardiovascular diseases, vision problems and frequent joint pain. Without treatment, many giants may not live to see 30 years of age.

Werewolves

The legend about werewolves has several origins. Firstly, people's lives have always been connected with the forest. Rock paintings of hybrids of humans and animals have reached us from ancient times. People wanted to be stronger, they chose a totem animal and wore its skin. These beliefs were also the basis for the narcotic drugs that warriors took before battle and imagined themselves to be invincible wolves.

Secondly, the belief in the existence of werewolves was also supported by the presence in people of such a genetic disease as hypertrichosis- excessive growth of hair on the body and face, which was called “werewolf syndrome.” It was only in 1963 that doctor Lee Illis gave the disease a medical basis. In addition to the genetic disease, there was also a mental disease known as lycanthropy, during attacks of which people lose their minds and lose their human qualities, considering themselves wolves. In addition, there is an exacerbation of the disease during certain lunar phases.

By the way, the wolf from the world famous “Little Red Riding Hood”, according to, was none other than a werewolf. And he didn’t eat the grandmother, but fed it to her granddaughter.

Vampires

The theory about the connection between dinosaur and dragon bones is confirmed in Mongolia. There, the word “dragon” is present in various geographical names. This is due to the fact that in some areas of the Gobi Desert, dinosaur bones can be easily found by anyone because they lie on the surface of the earth's layers. There are many of them even now, so much so that excavations are carried out illegally all the time.
An important detail: in Africa there are no such myths, as well as access to dinosaur remains.

However, why do dragons appear in the human mind as reptiles, with scales and claws? This question is explained by the observant nature of people. The appearance of the skeleton is similar to the bones of modern lizards, snakes, crocodiles. These animals were enlarged many times - and the result was a dragon. And, by the way, it is lizards and snakes that sometimes develop not one, but two heads, just like some fairy-tale dragons.

Centaurs

The image of a centaur was known back in the 2nd millennium BC. e. It supposedly originated in Greece as the fruit of the imagination of representatives of civilized peoples who did not yet know horse riding, who first encountered the horse riders of certain northern nomadic tribes: Scythians, Kassites or Taurians. This explains the ferocious temperament of the centaurs. The nomads actually lived in the saddle, skillfully shot with a bow and rode very quickly. The hyperbolic fear of the farmer, who first saw a man who rode so skillfully in the saddle, could well turn into a story about a hybrid of a man and a horse.

According to ancient Greek legend, under the palace of King Minos there was a huge labyrinth in which a formidable monster, the half-bull, half-man Minotaur, was imprisoned. The thirst for blood torments the monster so much that its roar shakes the earth.

The island of Crete, where the monster lived, is very interesting for its seismic activity. Part of the island is on the continent called Aegean plate, and the other part - on oceanic Nubian plate, which moves directly under the island. This geological phenomenon is called a subduction zone. It is in these areas that there is an increased risk of earthquakes. In Crete, the situation is further aggravated by the fact that the African Plate is pressing on the oceanic Nubian Plate (and just imagine how huge it is), and a phenomenal thing happens: under the interaction of the plates, the island is simply pushed to the surface. Since the emergence of civilization, Crete has experienced several such rises, some of them up to 9 meters. It is not surprising that ancient people thought that a furious monster lived in the depths, because every earthquake was accompanied by terrible destruction.

Cyclops

In ancient Greek mythology, the Cyclops are a group of characters; in different versions they are divine beings (children of Gaia and Uranus) or a separate people. The most prominent representative was Poseidon's son Polyphemus, whom Odysseus deprived of his only eye. The Scythian people of the Arimaspians were also considered one-eyed.

As for the scientific basis for these myths, in 1914, paleontologist Otenio Abel suggested that the ancient finds of dwarf elephant skulls became the reason for the birth of the myth of the Cyclops, since the central nasal opening can easily be mistaken for a giant eye socket. It is curious that these elephants were found precisely on the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus, Malta, and Crete.

Sodom and Gomorrah

We don’t know about you, but we always thought that Sodom and Gomorrah are a very large-scale myth and rather some kind of personification of vicious cities. However, this is quite a historical fact.

For a decade now, excavations of an ancient city have been underway in the town of Tell el-Hammam in Jordan. Archaeologists are confident that they have found the biblical Sodom. The approximate location of the city has always been known - the Bible described the “Sodom Pentate City” in the Jordan Valley. However, its exact location has always raised questions.

In 2006, excavations began, and scientists found a large ancient settlement surrounded by a powerful rampart. According to researchers, people lived here between 3500 and 1540 BC. e. There is no other option for the name of the city, otherwise the mention of such a large settlement would have remained in written sources.

Kraken

The Kraken is a legendary mythical sea monster of gigantic size, a cephalopod, known from descriptions of sailors. The first extensive description was made by Eric Pontoppidan - he wrote that the kraken is an animal “the size of a floating island.” According to him, the monster is capable of grabbing a large ship with its tentacles and dragging it to the bottom, but the whirlpool that occurs when the kraken quickly sinks to the bottom is much more dangerous. It turns out that a sad end is inevitable - both when the monster attacks and when it runs away from you. Really creepy!

The rationale for the myth of the “creepy monster” is simple: Giant squids still exist today and reach 16 meters in length.

When it comes to unicorns, we immediately imagine a graceful creature with a rainbow horn in its forehead. Interestingly, they are found in the legends and myths of many cultures. The very first images were found in India and are over 4,000 years old. Later, the myth spread across the continent and reached Ancient Rome, where they were considered absolutely real animals.

The main “candidate” for the role of the prototype of the unicorn is Elasmotherium - rhinoceroses of the Eurasian steppes that lived during the Ice Age. Elasmotherium somewhat resembled a horse (albeit at a stretch) with an extremely long horn in its forehead. It became extinct at the same time as the main megafauna. However, according to the materials of the Swedish Encyclopedia and the arguments of researcher Willie Ley, individual representatives could have existed for quite a long time to become legendary.

Bonus: Moses' Trail

Surely each of us has heard about the story from the Bible, which tells how the sea parted before Moses. But few people know that such a phenomenon can be seen near Jindo Island in South Korea. Here the waters between the islands part for an hour, revealing a wide and long road! Scientists explain this miracle by the difference in the timing of low and high tides.

Of course, many tourists come there - in addition to simple walks, they have the opportunity to see the marine inhabitants who remained on the opened land. The amazing thing about the Moses Trail is that it leads from the mainland to the island.

In the general religious understanding of the ancient Hellenes, there was a variety of cult concepts. All this is confirmed by numerous archaeological excavations and artifacts. It has been proven in which area certain gods were extolled. For example, Apollo - in Delphi and Delos, the capital of Greece was named after Athena, the god of healing Asclepius (son of Apollo) - in Epidaurus, Poseidon was respected by the Ionians in the Peloponnese, and so on.

The shrines of the Greeks were opened in honor of this: Delphi, Dodon and Delos. Almost all of them are shrouded in some kind of mystery, which is deciphered in myths and legends. We will describe the most interesting myths of Ancient Greece (short) below.

Cult of Apollo in Greece and Rome

He was called "four-armed" and "four-eared." Apollo had about a hundred sons. He himself was either five or seven. There are countless monuments in honor of the saint, as well as huge temples named after him, located in Greece, Italy, and Turkey. And this is all about HIM: about Apollo - the mythical hero and god of Hellas.

The ancient gods did not have surnames, but Apollo had several: Delphic, Rhodes, Belvedere, Pythian. This happened in the territories where his cult grew most.

Two millennia have passed since the birth of the cult, but the fairy tale about this handsome man is still believed today. How did he enter into “naive mythology” and why was he invented in the souls and hearts of the Greeks and residents of other countries?

The veneration of the son of Zeus originated in Asia Minor two thousand years BC. Initially, myths depicted Apollo not as a man, but as a zoomorphic creature (the influence of pre-religious totemism) - a ram. A Dorian version of the origin is also possible. But, as before, the important center of the cult is the Sanctuary at Delphi. In it, the soothsayer made all kinds of predictions; according to her instructions, twelve mythical exploits of Apollo’s brother Hercules took place. From the Hellenic colonies in Italy, the cult of the Greek god took hold in Rome.

Myths about Apollo

God is not alone. Archaeological sources provide information about various sources of its origin. Who were Apollos: the son of the guardian of Athens, Corybantus, Zeus the third and several other fathers. Mythology attributes to Apollo the thirty heroes he killed (Achilles), dragons (including Python), and Cyclops. They said about him that he could destroy, but he could also help and predict the future.

Mythology spread about Apollo even before his birth, when the supreme goddess Hera learned that Leto (Laton) was to give birth to a boy (Apollo) from her husband Zeus. With the help of a dragon, she drove the expectant mother onto a deserted island. Both Apollo and his sister Artemis were born there. They grew up on this island (Delos), where he vowed to destroy the dragon for persecuting his mother.

As described in ancient myth, the quickly matured Apollo took his bow and arrows into his hands and flew away to where Python lived. The beast crawled out of the terrible gorge and attacked the young man.

It looked like an octopus with a large scaly body. Even the rocks moved away from him. The alarmed monster attacked the young man. But the arrows did their job.

Python died, Apollo buried him, and the real Temple of Apollo was built here. In its premises there was a real priestess-soothsayer from peasant women. She uttered prophecies allegedly through the lips of Apollo. Questions were written on tablets and handed over to the temple. They were not fictional, but from real earthly people from different centuries of the existence of this temple. Archaeologists found them. No one knows how the priestess commented on the questions.

Narcissus - a mythical hero and a real flower

To paraphrase the ancient sage, we can say: if you have extra money, then do not buy more bread than you can eat; buy a narcissus flower - bread for the body, and it is for the soul.

Thus, the mythical short story about the narcissistic young man Narcissus from Ancient Hellas grew into the name of a beautiful spring flower.

The Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, took cruel revenge on those who rejected her gifts and who did not submit to her authority. Mythology knows several such victims of it. Among these is the young man Narcissus. Proud, he could not love anyone, only himself.

I found anger at the goddess. One spring, while hunting, Narcissus approached a stream; he was simply captivated by the purity of the water, its mirroriness. But the stream was truly special, perhaps also enchanted by Aphrodite. The goddess did not forgive anyone if they did not pay attention to her.

No one drank water from the stream; not even a branch or flower petals could fall into it. So Narcissus looked at himself. He leaned down to kiss his reflection. But there is only cold water there.

He forgot about hunting and the desire to drink water. I admire everything, I forgot about food and sleep. And suddenly he woke up: “Did I really love myself so much, but we can’t be together?” He began to suffer so much that his strength left him. Feels like he will go into the kingdom of darkness. But the young man already believes that death will end his torments of love. He is crying.

Narcissus's head dropped completely to the ground. He died. The nymphs cried in the forest. They dug a grave, went for the body, but he wasn’t there. A flower grew on the grass where the young man's head fell. They named him Narcissus.

And the nymph Echo remained forever to suffer in that forest. And she didn’t respond to anyone else.

Poseidon - Lord of the Seas

Zeus sits in all his divine majesty on Mount Olympus, and his brother Poseidon went into the depths of the sea and from there the water boiled, bringing trouble to the sailors. If he wants to do this, he takes his main weapon in his hand - a club with a trident.

He also has a better palace than his brother on land. And he reigns there with his charming wife Amphitrite, the daughter of the sea god. Together with Poseidon, she rushes across the waters in a chariot harnessed to horses or zoomorphic creatures - tritons.

Poseidon looked for a wife from the waters on the shores of the island of Naxos. But she ran away from him to the handsome Atlas. Poseidon himself could not find the fugitive. He was helped by dolphins, who took her to the palace at the bottom of the sea. For this, the lord of the sea gave the dolphins a constellation in the sky.

Perseus: almost like a good person

Perseus is perhaps one of the few sons of Zeus who did not have negative character traits. Like the drunken Hercules with his attacks of inexplicable anger, or Achilles, who did not take into account the interests of others and admired only his own “I”.

Perseus was handsome, like a god, brave and dexterous. I always tried to achieve success. The mythology of Perseus is like this. His grandfather, one of the kings of the earth, dreamed in a dream that his grandson would bring him death. Therefore, he hid his daughter in a dungeon behind stones, bronze and locks, away from men. But all the obstacles were nothing to Zeus, who liked Danae. He came to her through the roof in the form of rain. And a son was born, named Perseus. But the evil grandfather hammered the mother and child into a box and sent them floating in the box on the sea.

The prisoners still managed to escape on one of the islands, where the waves washed the box to the shore; fishermen arrived in time and rescued the mother and son. But a man reigned on the island, no better than Danae’s father. He began to pester the woman. And so the years passed, and now Perseus could stand up for his mother.

The king decided to get rid of the young man, but so as not to incur the wrath of the god Zeus. He cheated by accusing Perseus of non-divine origin. To do this, it was necessary to perform a heroic act, for example, kill the evil Gorgon jellyfish and drag her head to the king’s palace.

It really was not only a sea monster, but also a flying monster that turned those who looked at it into stone. It was impossible to do without the gods here. The son of Zeus was helped. He was given a magic sword and a mirror shield. In search of the monster, Perseus traveled through many countries and through many obstacles set up by his opponents. The nymphs also gave him things useful for the journey.

Finally, he reached the abandoned country where the sisters of that same Gorgon lived. Only they could lead the young man to her. The sisters had one eye and one tooth out of three. While the younger gorgon with the eye led, the others could not do anything. Further across the sky he flew to the monster. And right away I came across a sleeping jellyfish. Before she woke up, the young man cut off her head and put it in his bag. And set course across the sky to his island. So he proved his destiny to the king and, taking his mother, returned to Argos.

Hercules gets married

Many accomplished feats and slave labor of Queen Omphale took away the strength of Hercules. He wanted a quiet life at home. “It’s not difficult to build a house, but you need a loving wife. So we need to find her,” the hero made plans.

I once remembered a boar hunt near Calydon with a local prince and a meeting with his sister Deianira. And he went to South Aetolia to get married. At this time, Deianira was already being married off, and many suitors arrived.

There was also a river god - a monster whom the world has never seen. Deianira's father said that he would give his daughter to the one who defeats God. Only Hercules remained among the suitors, since the others, seeing their rival, changed their minds about getting married.

Hercules grabbed his opponent with his hands, but he stood like a rock. And so on several times. The result for Hercules was almost ready when the god turned into a snake. The son of Zeus strangled two snakes in the cradle, and did it here too. But the old man became a bull. The hero broke one horn, and it gave up. The bride became the wife of Hercules.

These are the myths of Ancient Greece.

Every nation has beautiful and amazing legends. They are varied in theme: legends about the exploits of heroes, stories about the origin of the names of geographical objects, scary stories about supernatural creatures and novelistic tales about lovers.

Definition of the term

A legend is an unreliable account of an event. It is very similar to the myth and can be considered its approximate analogue. But legend and myth still cannot be called completely identical concepts. If we are talking about myth, then there are fictional heroes who have nothing to do with reality. The legend is based on real events, later supplemented or embellished. Since many fictitious facts are added to them, scientists do not accept legends as reliable.

If we take the classical meaning of the word as a basis, then a legend is a legend presented in artistic form. Such legends exist among almost all nations.

The best legends of the world - they will be discussed in the article.

Types of legends

1. Oral legends are the most ancient type. They spread through wandering storytellers.

2. Written traditions - recorded oral stories.

3. Religious legends - stories about events and persons from church history.

4. Social legends - all other legends that are not related to religion.

5. Toponymic - explaining the origin of the names of geographical objects (rivers, lakes, cities).

6. Urban legends are the newest type that has become widespread these days.

In addition, there are many more varieties of legends, depending on the plot that underlies them - zootropomorphic, cosmogonic, etiological, eschatonic and heroic. There are very short legends and long narratives. The latter are usually associated with a story about the heroic achievements of a person. For example, the legend about the hero Ilya Muromets.

How did legends arise?

Legenda is translated from Latin as “that which must be read.” The history of legends goes back a long way and has the same roots as myth. having no idea about the causes of many natural phenomena occurring around him, he composed myths. Through them he tried to explain his vision of the world. Later, based on mythology, amazing and interesting legends about heroes, gods and supernatural phenomena began to arise. Many of them have been preserved in the traditions of the peoples of the world.

Atlantis - the legend of the lost paradise

The best legends that arose in ancient times have survived to this day. Many of them still captivate the imagination of adventurers with their beauty and realism. The story of Atlantis says that in ancient times there was an island whose inhabitants achieved incredible heights in many sciences. But then it was destroyed by a strong earthquake and sank along with the Atlanteans - its inhabitants.

We must express gratitude to the great ancient Greek philosopher Plato and the no less revered historian Herodotus for the story of Atlantis. An interesting legend excited the minds of these outstanding scientists of ancient Greece during their lifetime. It has not lost its relevance even today. The search for the wonderful island, which sank thousands of years ago, continues to this day.

If the legend of Atlantis turns out to be true, this event will rank among the greatest discoveries of the century. After all, there was an equally interesting legend about the mythical Troy, the existence of which Heinrich Schliemann sincerely believed. In the end, he managed to find this city and prove that there was some truth in the ancient legends.

Founding of Rome

This interesting legend is one of the most famous in the world. The city of Rome arose in ancient times on the banks of the Tiber. The proximity of the sea made it possible to engage in trade, and at the same time the city was well protected from a sudden attack by sea robbers. According to legend, Rome was founded by the brothers Romulus and Remus, who were suckled by a she-wolf. By order of the ruler, they were supposed to be killed, but a careless servant threw the basket with the children into the Tiber, hoping that it would drown. She was picked up by a shepherd and became the foster father for the twins. Having matured and learned about their origin, they rebelled against a relative and took power from him. The brothers decided to found their own city, but during construction they quarreled, and Romulus killed Remus.

He named the built city after himself. The legend about the emergence of Rome belongs to toponymic legends.

The Legend of the Golden Dragon - The Path to the Heavenly Temple

Among the legends, stories about dragons are very popular. Many nations have them, but traditionally it is one of the favorite themes of Chinese folklore.

The legend of the golden dragon says that between heaven and earth there is a bridge that leads to the Heavenly Temple. It belongs to the Lord of the World. Only pure souls can enter it. Two golden dragons stand guard over the shrine. They sense an unworthy soul and can tear it apart when trying to enter the temple. One day one of the dragons angered the Lord, and he expelled him. The dragon descended to earth, met other creatures and dragons of different stripes were born from him. The Lord became angry when he saw them and destroyed everyone except those not yet born. Having been born, they hid for a long time. But the Lord of the World did not destroy the new dragons, but left them on earth as his governors.

Treasures and Treasures

Legends about gold occupy not the last place in the list of popular legends. One of the most famous and beautiful myths of ancient Greece tells about the Argonauts' search for the Golden Fleece. For a long time, the legend about the treasure was considered simply a legend until Heinrich Schliemann found a treasure of pure gold at the excavation site of Mycenae, the capital of the legendary king.

Kolchak's Gold is another famous legend. During the Civil War, most of Russia's gold reserves ended up in hands - about seven hundred tons of gold. It was transported in several trains. Historians know what happened to one train. He was captured by the rebel Czechoslovak Corps and handed over to the authorities (Bolsheviks). But the fate of the remaining two is unknown to this day. The precious cargo could have been dumped into a mine, hidden or buried in the vast area between Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk. All the excavations that have been carried out so far (starting with the security officers) have not yielded any results.

The Well to Hell and the Library of Ivan the Terrible

Russia also has its own interesting legends. One of them, which appeared relatively recently, is one of the so-called urban legends. This is a story about a well to hell. This name was given to one of the deepest man-made wells in the world - Kola. Its drilling began in 1970. The length is 12,262 meters. The well was created exclusively for scientific purposes. Now it is mothballed because there are no funds to maintain it in working condition. The legend appeared in 1989, when a story was heard on American television that sensors lowered to the very depths of the well recorded sounds similar to moans and screams of people.

Another interesting legend, which may well be true, speaks of a library of books, scrolls and manuscripts. The last owner of the precious collection was Ivan IV. It is believed that she was part of the dowry of the niece of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine.

Fearing that the precious books in wooden Moscow might be burned in a fire, she ordered the library to be placed in the basements under the Kremlin. According to the seekers of the famous Liberia, it may contain 800 volumes of priceless works of ancient and medieval authors. Now there are about 60 versions of where the mysterious library may be stored.