Summer of the Monkeys 2017
5 Questions about Legends
1.Why were legends made?
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2.Who was Daniel Boone?
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3.Who were King Arthur and Paul Bunyan
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4.Who was John Henry?
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5.Who was the Old Man of the Mountains?
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Legends Research 2017
"Myths and Legends." About Myths and Legends from E2BN. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2017.
Rawls, Wilson. Summer of the Monkeys. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 2001. Print.
Wickersham, John M. "Daniel Boone." Myths and Legends of the World. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Print.
Wickersham, John M. "King Arthur." Myths and Legends of the World. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Print.
Wickersham, John M. Myths and Legends of the World. 1st ed. Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Print.
Wickersham, John M. "Paul Bunyan." Myths and Legends of the World. 1st ed. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Print.
There are many legends out there, but there are only three in here. There was King Arthur who ruled Great Britain. There was also Daniel Boone who led people through the Appalachian Mountains. Finally there was the great Paul Bunyan, the lumberjack.
These three did many great things. King Arthur was debated on if he was real or not. The first reference was 1,500 years ago. Some think he led the British army against France. Daniel Boone was born in 1734, close to Reading, Pennsylvania. In 1767 he started making trips to Kentucky to help people through the Appalachian Mountains. The Boy Scouts of America was formed after what he had done. It was said that Paul Bunyan made the Grand Canyon with his axe and took seven cannon shots to wake him up.
John Henry, in my opinion, was one of the best American legends. He helped build the Transcontinental railroad. One day, the industry came in with a steam-powered drill and they said that it was better than John. Soon, the drill and John Henry had a contest to see who could dig a tunnel faster through the mountains for the track. While the contest was happening, the audience sang a song that went, “The man invented the steam drill, which was mighty fine. John drove fifteen feet and the drill only nine.” John Henry outstripped the drill and right after the contest he died. John Henry died with his hammer in his hand, just like he wanted to.
The Old Man of the Mountains was a legend from the Summer of the Monkeys. His hair and robe were white and he wore sandals. The Old man is also very rare. He takes care of the hills and the animals in it. If you hurt or mistreat the animals, he can point his stick at you and give you bad luck. If you take care of the animals in the hills, he can also point his stick at you and give you good luck. The Old Man is not always awake. He sleeps in the winter and is a wake all the other months.
These legends usually start with a real incident that people want to tell. Each time the story is told, it is changed a little, so when the story has been told thousands of times, its words have morphed into something way more different than the original version. Some legends are made to strengthen a community or explain the world. Some might even be to guide lost people.