The 15 best and surprising short legends for children and adults

The leyends They are popular stories that explain a real or fabulous event., usually adorned with elements of folklore. Originally, they were transmitted mainly orally, although many of them are already captured in texts and even in films. In this article we bring you the 15 best short legends.

Legends from all over the world, disturbing, curious, funny, enigmatic… An article for the most curious, that you cannot miss.

The 15 best short legends

What short legends do we bring you? All types: from mysterious and disturbing to others full of history and curiosities. Legends of Spain, Latin America, China…

1. The werewolf

The wolf shoulder is one of the short legends that has inspired many stories and films in Europe. Its origin is not entirely clear, since many European countries and cultures talk about this legendary creature. In fact, It is considered one of the most universal myths.

According to popular wisdom, The first recognized werewolf was King Lycaon of Arcadia (Greece), according to the Roman poet Ovid in his work The Metamorphoses In the year 1 BC Lycaon was a religious and cultured man who performed sacrifices in which he ate human flesh, taking his devotion to the extreme. For that and other reasons, the gods punished him by turning him into a werewolf.

Another story that at the end of the 19th century, a man with lycanthropy (the person believes himself to be a wolf and behaves like one) murdered 17 people. The reasons were that at night he transformed into a man and he felt a great need to kill. Hence the hypothesis that in ancient times the term werewolves was used to refer to serious killers.

There are more versions, for example, one of Guaraní origin, which explains that a bad-looking man transforms into a wolf at night, when the full moon arises, and dedicates himself to attacking farms.

Be that as it may, as of today, there is no information that can prove the veracity of these stories, although it is somewhat curious that in different parts of the world there are some coincidences.

2. The Llorona

One of the most famous short legends is that of The crybaby. Its origin is Latin American, and it is well known in Mexico. Although it is true that there are different versions about The crybaby.

At a general level, the story is the following: a woman who has suffered rejection from her husband murders her children as a sign of spite. Furthermore, she decides to return every morning in the form of a ghost, due to her feeling of guilt, shouting: “Oh, my children!”

3. The red thread

The legend of the red thread comes from China. She tells that many years ago, an emperor asked an important witch to go to her palace to show him the woman he should marry.

The witch was able to see a long red thread tied to the emperor’s little finger; At the end, there should be the little finger of his future wife, because according to this legend, We are all tied with an invisible red thread to those people who must stay in our lives.with which we are “predestined”.

4. Krampus

Another short legend is that of Krampus, a popular character in Eastern Europe. He is described as half-demon, half-goat, with a pair of giant horns, a hairy body, and large paws.

Krampus appears to punish children who have misbehaved every Christmas. He is a character linked to the religious culture prior to Christianity.

5. The Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness monster is perhaps one of the best-known short legends and has inspired several thriller films. It is part of Scottish folklore. The story stars a giant creature that It first appeared in the 16th century in this lake in the Scottish Highlands, according to legend.

6. Jiang Shi

A legend that is part of the popular folklore of Chinese culture. According to legend, the Jiang Shi are “undead”, or type vampires. zombies, with a limited instinct, which To move they need to detect the breath of living creatures. That breath gave them vital energy.

Jiang Shi means ‘stiff corpse’; They are the deceased who come back to life to rest with their families or to take revenge on those who have not buried them well.

7. The girl on the curve

A disturbing short legend, well known throughout the world. In Sweden, for example, the girl on the curve is known as “Vita Frun”; in Italy, as “Dama Bianca”, in the Czech Republic, “Bílá Paní”, etc.

But who is the girl on the curve? According to legend, a girl appears in thick fog on some roads, wearing a white dress. Sometimes motionless, sometimes doing hitch-hiking. When he gets into a car, he stays behind without moving, until he says “be careful with the curve, that’s where I died.” But suddenly, there is no one in the back seat.

8. The Curse of Ochate

Ochate is an already depopulated town in Burgos; for many, a cursed town. Legend has it that numerous paranormal phenomena have occurred in Ochate after three tragedies: the first, the smallpox epidemic of 1869; the second, the typhus epidemic, and the third, the cholera epidemic that wiped out the last inhabitants of the town.

9. The mosque of Córdoba

But not all short legends are horror, some have a lot of history. One of them arises in Córdoba, Andalusia. Legend has it that a young Christian bought flowers for his lover, a beautiful young woman of Muslim origin. When he asks her to marry him, she accepts and decides to convert to Christianity. However, She cannot fulfill her wish because some soldiers kill her on the same day she is going to be baptized..

The soldiers chain the young man to the pillars of the Córdoba mosque; While chained, the young man shapes a small cross with his fingernail. To this day, you can see that small cross on the marble column where the young man remained for the rest of his days.

10. The legend of Robin Hood

Another of the best short legends, also quite well known, is that of Robin Hood. Robin Hood, or “the prince of thieves,” is an English character from Western culture. It was about a young man who stood up to the rich to defend the poor.. She dressed in green, always with her arrows and her bow.

11. Lake Banyoles

Banyoles is located in the province of Girona (Catalonia). He has a tobacconist, Banyoles pondwhich is the largest in the entire community, as well as one of the largest in Spain.

Legend has it that In this lake there is a monster in the shape of a dragon (similar to Loch Ness). Charlemagne tried to find and kill him, as did an emperor with the help of the French minister Saint Emeterio.

12. Atlantis

A legend of the West. There is evidence of it thanks to the Iliad and the Odyssey, poetic works written by Homer. According to legend, before the appearance of Ancient Greece, there was Atlantis, a land mass somewhere in the ocean.

It was a small island whose inhabitants had a very advanced cultural and scientific level.. According to the writings of Homer, Atlantis suffered a storm so great that it was submerged at the bottom of the ocean.

13. The Abominable Snowman

Also known as the Yeti, another of the best-known short legends. The Yeti is a large humanoid creature that has been seen many times in the Himalayas, according to legend. It even ensures having seen enormous footprints of the same in the snow, at more than 6,000 kilometers altitude.

14. Yamashita’s Treasure

Also called Yamashita’s gold, it is a legend with only a few years of history, really. Its origin is located at the end of the Second World War, in the Philippines. The country (and Southeast Asia) was under Japanese rule in 1942.

But American forces took control of the region two years later, and the Japanese had to leave hastily. According to legend, a large amount of gold was hidden somewhere in the jungle. In fact, there are already many people interested in finding it, who at the time carried out expeditions to find it.

15. El Dorado

The last of the short legends that we bring you is that of The Golden, very popular in Latin America. El Dorado was a city believed to be located in what was formerly New Granada (between Colombia and Venezuela). The place was searched by many missionariessince it was believed that large quantities of gold were found there, as in the previous legend.

But many people died looking for it, and today there is no scientific evidence to ensure that this place exists. That’s what legends have!

Legends allow us to know part of the history of a country, a city, a town… Some have some truth, since they have been embellished with events that did occur. Others are born from the purest imagination… whatever the case, many of them will not leave you indifferent.

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