8 Legends that Will Never Fade From mythical woodland creatures to ancient
giant humans, here are 8 legends that will never fade.
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Number 8 Unicorns Even today the unicorn holds a significant
place in the world’s imagination as a symbol of fantasy or rarity.
The mythical creature is described as a beast, typically a horse, with a single large, spiraling
horn that protrudes from its forehead.
The unicorn has been depicted since antiquity, on seals from the Indus Valley Civilization.
Greek historians were convinced that the creature truly existed but that it lived in a distant
land.
Medieval writings claimed that its horn could purify water and heal diseases.
During that time, the unicorn represented purity and grace.
In heraldry, the unicorn is famous as a symbol of Scotland.
It was chosen as metaphor for the indomitable Scottish spirit, since it was seen as a beast
that would rather die than be captured.
Number 7 Fountain of Youth Legends of a spring that can grant youth when
one drinks from it or bathes in its waters have been circulating for thousands of years.
A fountain of youth was mentioned in the writings of Herodotus, during the 5th century BC.
According to him, the fountain gave the Macrobians, a legendary people living around the Horn
of Africa, their incredible longevity.
Perhaps the best known fountain of youth legend is connected to 16th century Spanish explorer
Juan Ponce de Leon.
He travelled to what is now Florida, where Native American tribes told him about the
Fountain of Youth.
The search for youth-restoring waters has diminished in modern times.
People instead have turned to science in their search for ways to slow down, stop or even
reverse the aging process.
Before we move on, answer this question.
Legendary Greek hero Achilles was invulnerable with the exception of a single body part.
What was it? a.
Heart b.
Knee c.
Heel d.
Neck Let us know what you think in the comments
section bellow and stay tuned to find out the right answer.
Number 6 Ghosts While refuted by conventional science, reports
of ghosts have been around for millennia and unlikely to ever fade.
The belief in life after death and the spirits of the dead goes back to pre-literate cultures.
As time went by, these spirits were known under many names including apparitions, spectres
or poltergeists.
Descriptions varied from an invisible presence to realistic forms of people or animals.
They're usually regarded as troubled spirits that haunt the places they once inhabited.
Various religious rites, such as exorcisms or funerals rituals are practiced as specific
means of resting the spirits of the dead.
Some people claim they have the ability to contact these spirts.
There’s also a practice of tracking down ghost-related phenomena, called ghost hunting,
which has been classified as pseudoscience.
Number 5 Loch Ness Monster If one was to believe the legend, this creature
inhabits Loch Ness, in the Scottish Highlands.
The Loch Ness Monster’s existence has been the subject of much debate.
Much of the evidence that supports its presence in the lake has been disputed.
For decades, many pointed to the “surgeon’s photograph” from 1934 as reliable evidence.
However, it was ultimately dismissed as a hoax.
Since then, there’ve been sonar readings of large moving objects in the lake’s depths.
The latest report about Nessie can be traced back to 2014.
A satellite image on Apple Maps showed what appeared to be a 98-foot-long creature just
below the surface.
Skeptics suggested either ripples in the water or floating wood.
The earliest mention of the creature goes back to the 6th century AD.
It was an account of the life of Saint Columba detailing how he encountered a monstrous creature
by the River Ness.
In this account, the creature goes back in the water when Columba makes the sign of the
cross.
Believers sometimes point to this story as confirmation of the monster’s existence.
Real or not, Nessie’s legend will likely continue to captivate us for years to come.
Number 4 Bigfoot By many accounts, the search continues for
Bigfoot, the supposed missing link between modern humans and our ape ancestors.
Legends of large, bipedal, ape-like creatures were known among various North American native
tribes.
In time, reported sightings of such beings found a place in folklore under the name Bigfoot
or Sasquatch.
Between 1818 and 1980, there’ve been over 1,000 sightings.
A 2014 poll revealed that more Americans believed in Bigfoot than they did in the Big Bang Theory.
Most mainstream scientists have discounted Bigfoot’s existence as a real animal and
attributed the reports to hoaxes or misidentification.
The closest creature in natural history is the Gigantopithecus, the largest known primate
species, which was up to 10 feet tall.
It went extinct approximately 100,000 years ago as a result of climate change.
There still isn’t any credible evidence to support its existence in modern times despite
the fact that sightings keep being reported to this day.
Number 3 Mermaids These legendary creatures have been described
since ancient times, both as beneficent and malevolent towards sailors exploring often
uncharted waters.
In their most common depictions, mermaids have the upper body of a woman and the lower
body of a fish.
In some mythological versions their otherworldly song would lure sailors to their doom.
Entranced by the music, they would steer their ships towards jagged cliffs or jump in raging
waters.
At their worst, mermaids have been associated with storms, floods, drowning and shipwrecks.
In other myths, however, mermaids fall in love with humans or bestow boons upon them.
The origin of their legend can be traced back to ancient Assyria and then to the Hellenic
period in Ancient Greece.
Even explorer Christopher Columbus reported seeing mermaids during his voyage in the Caribbean.
Natural explanations proposed for the mermaid legends include misidentification of manatees
or other aquatic mammals.
So, what was Achilles’ single physical weakness?
The right answer was c, the heel.
When the warrior was a baby, his mother dipped his body in the River Styx, the river that
separates the Earth from the Underworld.
This made his body indestructible.
However, since his mother held him by the heel, it was the only body part unaffected
by the river’s magical properties.
This legend is the source for the term “Achilles Heel”, often used in reference to a single
vulnerable point, in spite of overall strength.
Number 2 Vampires While Bram Stoker’s 19th century novel “Dracula”
is credited for igniting the modern vampire fascination, these supernatural beings have
been described in many cultures.
Stoker’s titular character was actually inspired by Vlad the Impaler, a prince of
the medieval kingdom of Wallachia.
Some sources claim that he loved the sight of blood and, much like his name indicates,
chose impalement as the most common method of execution.
In Eastern European and Balkan folklore vampires were described as undead entities that haunted
the places they once inhabited.
These grotesque-looking beings caused mischief and drank the blood of their victims.
The legends caused mass-hysteria in the 18th century, with some people even being executed
for vampirism.
Subsequent works of vampire fiction romanticized the concept, presenting vampires as charismatic
and sophisticated.
This formed the basis of the modern vampire which maintains a dominant role in 21st century
films, TV series, comic books, video games and other works of fiction.
Number 1 Ancient Giant Humans Giant humans are present in the legends and
folk tales of cultures from all-over the world.
In Greek mythology they waged war against the Olympian gods and were defeated when the
hero Heracles joined the battle.
Poet Hesiod described them as the offspring of Gaia, the spirit of the earth, and Uranus,
the spirit of the sky.
Greek historians mention in their writings the discovery of giant ancient bodies.
Examples include the body of Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, who was 3 meters tall, and the
hero Ajax, whose kneecaps were about the size of an Olympian discus.
This would mean that he stood at roughly 14 feet.
Abrahamic Biblical writings mention the Nephilim, who were the offspring of God and mortal women.
Regular humans supposedly looked like grasshoppers in comparison to these giant beings.
A genesis myth of Scandinavian origin claims that the world of men was born from the flesh
of Ymir, a giant of cosmic proportions.
Depending on the culture, giants may be kind and benevolent or vile and bloodthirsty.
They may be oafish or exhibit great wisdom.
Whatever depiction they take, giants have been an object of human fascination for millennia
and will most likely never fade.
Thanks for watching!
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