What are myths, legends and folk tales

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived some really great storytellers. Their stories have been passed down, retold, translated, adapted and, more recently, written down, because everyone loves a good stories. These stories probably include, myths and folktales.

A legend is usually based on a true event in the past. Legend usually have a real hero  at the centre of the story and they are often set in fantastic place. The story will have been passed on from person to person, sometimes over a very long period of time.

A myth is not quite the same as a legend. Sometimes a myth is loosely based on a real event but, more often than not, it is a story that has been created to teach people about something very important and meaningful. Myths are often used to explain the world and major events, which, at the time, people were not able to understand- earthquakes, floods, volcanic, eruptions, the rising and setting of the sun, illness and death.

Folktales are usually stories that have been passed down from generation to generation in spoken from. Often we do not know who was the original author and it is possible that some stories might have been concocted author a campfire by a whole group of people. It is quite normal to discover that are many version of the tale, some very similar but others may have only one or two characters in common and take place in totally different settings.