Urban Legends

10
Incubus and Succubus

An incubus is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially
women, in order to have sexual intercourse with them, according to a number of
mythological and legendary traditions. Its female counterpart is the succubus.
An incubus may pursue sexual relations with a woman in order to father a child,
as in the legend of Merlin, and some sources indicate that it may be identified
by its unnaturally cold penis. Religious tradition holds that repeated
intercourse with an incubus or succubus may result in the deterioration of
health, or even death. A number of secular explanations have been offered for
the origin of the incubus legends. They involve the medieval preoccupation with
sin, especially sexual sins of women. Victims may have been experiencing waking
dreams or sleep paralysis.

9 The Lost Tribes

The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel refers to the ancient Tribes of Israel that
disappeared from the Biblical account after the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed,
enslaved and exiled by ancient Assyria. Many groups of Jews have doctrines
concerning the continued hidden existence or future public return of these
tribes. This is a subject that is partially based upon authenticated and
documented historical fact, partially upon written religious tradition and
partially upon speculation. There is a vast amount of literature on the Lost
Tribes and no specific source can be relied upon for a complete answer. Some
scientists have researched the topic, and at various times some have made claims
of empirical evidence of the Ten Lost Tribes. However, religious and scriptural
sources remain the main sources of the belief that the Ten Lost Tribes have some
continuing, though hidden, identity somewhere. It should be noted that the Book
of Mormon suggests that the Native Americans are from two of the lost
tribes.

8 Fountain of Youth

The Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth
of anyone who drinks of its waters. Florida (ironically) is often said to be its
location, and stories of the fountain are some of the most persistent associated
with the state. Eternal youth is a gift frequently sought in myth and legend,
and stories of things such as the philosopher’s stone, universal panaceas, and
the elixir of life are common throughout Eurasia and elsewhere. Unfortunately,
earlier native versions of the legend (from before the Old World became old) are
not known outside of what snippets Spanish chroniclers managed to preserve of
what is sure to have been a rich tradition.

7 The Wandering Jew

The Wandering Jew is a figure from medieval Christian folklore whose legend
began to spread in Europe in the thirteenth century and became a fixture of
Christian mythology, and, later, of Romanticism. The legend concerns a Jew who
taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion and was then cursed to walk the
earth until the Second Coming. The exact nature of the wanderer’s indiscretion
varies in different versions of the tale, as do aspects of his character;
sometimes he is said to be a shoemaker or other tradesman, sometimes he is the
doorman at Pontius Pilate’s estate. The origins of the legend are debatable;
perhaps one element is the story in Genesis of Cain, who is issued with a
similar punishment — to wander over the earth, never reaping a harvest again,
but scavenging.

6 Pope Joan

Pope Joan (also called La Papessa) is the name of a legendary female pope who
supposedly reigned for less than three years in the 850s, between the papacies
of Leo IV and Benedict III (though there were only two months between the two
reigns). She is known primarily from a legend that circulated in the Middle
Ages. Pope Joan is regarded by most modern historians and religious scholars as
fictitious, possibly originating as an anti-papal satire. The story of Pope Joan
is known mainly from the 13th century chronicler Martin of Opava - writing 500
years after the alleged Popess. Most scholars dismiss Pope Joan as a medieval
legend. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes acknowledges that this legend was widely
believed for centuries, even among Catholic circles, but declares that there is
“no contemporary evidence for a female pope at any of the dates suggested for
her reign,” and goes on to say that “the known facts of the respective periods
make it impossible to fit [a female pope] in”. For those who are wondering what
would happen if this were true (or were to ever be true): nothing; a female is
not able to be a priest and a Pope cannot be crowned unless he is a priest
first.

5 Robin Hood

Robin Hood is an archetypal figure in English folklore, whose story
originates from medieval times, but who remains significant in popular culture
where he is known for “stealing from the rich and giving to the poor” and
fighting against injustice and tyranny. His band includes a “three score” group
of fellow outlawed yeomen – called his “Merry Men.” The origin of the legend is
claimed by some to have stemmed from actual outlaws, or from tales of outlaws,
such as Hereward the Wake, Eustace the Monk, Fulk FitzWarin, and William
Wallace. There are a number of theories that attempt to identify a historical
Robin Hood, but for various reasons (such as the popularity of the name in the
Middle Ages), it is unlikely to ever come up with any evidence that suggests he
is not just a legend.

4 The Holy Grail

According to Christian mythology, the Holy Grail was the dish, plate, or cup
used by Jesus at the Last Supper, said to possess miraculous powers. The
connection of Joseph of Arimathea with the Grail legend dates from Robert de
Boron’s Joseph d’Arimathie (late 12th century) in which Joseph receives the
Grail from an apparition of Jesus and sends it with his followers to Great
Britain. The development of the Grail legend has been traced in detail by
cultural historians: It is a legend which first came together in the form of
written romances, deriving perhaps from some pre-Christian folklore hints, in
the later 12th and early 13th centuries. The early Grail romances centered on
Percival and were woven into the more general Arthurian fabric. Some of the
Grail legend is interwoven with legends of the Holy Chalice.

3 King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval
histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against the Saxon invaders in
the early 6th century. The details of Arthur’s story are mainly composed of
folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and
disputed by modern historians. The historical basis for the King Arthur legend
has long been debated by scholars. One school of thought, citing entries in the
Historia Brittonum (History of the Britons) and Annales Cambriae (Welsh Annals),
sees Arthur as a genuine historical figure, a Romano-British leader who fought
against the invading Anglo-Saxons sometime in the late 5th to early 6th century,
but the lack of convincing early evidence is the reason many recent historians
exclude Arthur from their accounts of post-Roman Britain.

2 The Children’s Crusade

The Children’s Crusade is the name given to a variety of fictional and
factual events which happened in 1212 that combine some or all of these
elements: visions by a French or German boy; an intention to peacefully convert
Muslims in the Holy Land to Christianity; bands of children marching to Italy;
and children being sold into slavery. A study published in 1977 cast doubt on
the existence of these events and many historians now believe that they were not
(or not primarily) children but multiple bands of “wandering poor” in Germany
and France, some of whom tried to reach the Holy Land and others who never
intended to do so. Early versions of events, of which there are many variations
told over the centuries, are largely apocryphal. Recent research suggests the
participants were not children, at least not the very young. The confusion
started because later chroniclers, who were not witness to the events of 1212
and who were writing 30 years or more later, began to translate the original
accounts and misunderstood the Latin word pueri, meaning “boys”, to mean
literally “children”. The original accounts did use the term pueri but it had a
slang meaning, similar to how the term “country bumpkins” is used as a
derogatory term in the rural United States.

1 Prester John

The legends of Prester John, popular in Europe from the 12th through the 17th
centuries, told of a Christian patriarch and king said to rule over a Christian
nation lost amidst the Muslims and pagans in the Orient. Written accounts of
this kingdom are variegated collections of medieval popular fantasy. Reportedly
a descendant of one of the Three Magi, Prester John was said to be a generous
ruler and a virtuous man, presiding over a realm full of riches and strange
creatures, in which the Patriarch of the Saint Thomas Christians resided. His
kingdom contained such marvels as the Gates of Alexander and the Fountain of
Youth, and even bordered the Earthly Paradise. Among his treasures was a mirror
through which every province could be seen, the fabled original from which
derived the “speculum literature” of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, in
which the prince’s realms were surveyed and his duties laid out. Despite the
non-existence of Prester John, the medieval belief in the legend affected
several hundred years of European and world history, directly and indirectly, by
encouraging Europe’s explorers, missionaries, scholars and treasure hunters.

Nice job Wayne!

Excellent! Thanks for sharing!

Somebody has either been bored or totally absorbed into the entertainment of legend and myth and fact. Loved the read. Thank you Wayne!