Legends

1. Robin Hood

People have told stories about Robin Hood for more than 700 years. Nobody knows if he was a real person or an invented character. In the legends, Robin was extremely intelligent and had a playful sense of humour. He loved playing tricks on people.

‘Pick a card, any card!’

The stories say that Robin Hood was a skilled archer and he always carried a bow and arrow.

‘Ha ha, too easy!’

He wore green clothes and a hat with a green feather. He lived in Sherwood Forest with a group of outlaws, or criminals, known as his ‘Merry Men’. The group included Friar Tuck, ‘Mmm, yummy!’, Little John, who was unusually tall, ‘Little is just my nickname!’, and Robin’s true love, Maid Marian. ‘Take that!’

Sherwood Forest was a royal hunting forest near Nottingham in England. Most people thought that forests were dangerous places to go. People travelling through the forests were often robbed by outlaws.

‘Your money, please, my Lord!’

‘Oh no, it’s Robin Hood!’

The stories say that Robin Hood only took money from rich people so that he could give it to people who needed it. So he became famous for ‘robbing from the rich and giving to the poor’.

‘Here you are, my dear.’

‘Oh, thank you, Robin!’

The Sheriff of Nottingham was Robin’s arch-enemy. It was the sheriff’s job to keep the woods safe and to make sure that nobody stole the king’s deer.

‘What’s that? Is that Robin Hood?’

The Sheriff of Nottingham tried to catch Robin Hood, but never succeeded. ‘Oh no, not again!’

Centuries ago people loved to tell each other stories of Robin Hood. Later he became a famous character in books, and nowadays Robin is still a well-loved hero in literature, theatre, TV and films.

2. King Arthur

Many hundreds of years ago, King Uther of the Britons had a son called Arthur. Because of the many wars with the Saxons, Uther gave his son to Merlin so that he could be raised in safety.

When King Uther died, nobody knew that he had a son. Therefore, there was much arguing about who should be the next High King of the Britons.

At this time, a mysterious stone appeared in London. A sword was sticking out of the stone with a message on it. The message said that whoever pulled the sword out of the stone was the rightful High King of the Britons. No one, however, could pull the sword from the stone.

Aged fifteen, Arthur came to visit London. When he saw the stone, he approached it and pulled the sword out easily! Soon after, Arthur was crowned High King of Britain. Merlin, his father’s old wizard, helped him rule.

Merlin took Arthur to see the Lady of the Lake who gave Arthur a sword named ‘Excalibur’. With the help of Excalibur, and his loyal knights, Arthur was able to defeat his enemies and Britain became a peaceful land.

3. Sindbad

Once there lived a young man. His name was Sindbad. He was a good merchant. He sailed around the world and sold his goods. On each voyage he had some wonderful and thrilling adventures.

On one of the voyages he went to China by a ship with dates from Arabia. When he was returning home, he was caught in a storm and his ship was swallowed by the waves. But to his luck, he saw a broken wood from the wrecked ship near him. He held on to the wood and got fainted. When he woke up he was in a strange land. On all sides of him. there were huge white colored rocks, smooth and shiny. He wondered and went near the stones. He examined and found that they were the eggs of giant eagles.

Suddenly a huge eagle landed near him. He was only the size of its toes. He was frightened and wondered how he could he escape from the huge bird. Just then some more birds also alighted near the eggs. He saw some birds flying away. So he found an idea to escape. He slowly went near a bird and tied himself to the toes of a bird by a rope.

Soon the huge bird carried him away After sometime later it landed in a valley. It was the valley of diamonds. He quickly released himself from the bird.

He saw diamonds and other precious stones all around. Just then a piece of meat fell beside him. Soon a huge bird picked the meat with Its beak. Sindbad then remembered the story of the valley. People used to throw meat pieces in to the valley.

The precious stones got stuck on them. Then the birds carried the meat to their nest. The people frightened the birds by beating drums. The people collected the diamonds from its nest and became rich.

Sindbad packed up as many diamonds as he could. Then he waited for another eagle. As soon as it landed he tied himself to its toes. Then the bird flew its nest. Soon he freed himself. The people were frightened to see him in the birds nest. Sindbad told what had happened to him.

When they heard the story of his adventure they brought him to their chief. He was honoured by the chief. Sindbad boarded a ship passing by. He went to Arabia and made arrangements for his next voyage.

4. The Kraken 

The kraken is a legendary cephalopod-like sea monster of giant size in Scandinavian folklore. According to the Norse sagas, the kraken dwells off the coasts of Norway and Greenland and terrorizes nearby sailors.

Authors over the years have suggested that the legend may have originated from sightings of giant squids that may grow to 13–15 meters (40–50 feet) in length. The size and fearsome appearance given to the kraken have made it a common ocean-dwelling monster in various fictional works.

The kraken has been the focus of many superstitious sailors passing the North Atlanticand especially sailors from the Nordic countries. Throughout the centuries the kraken has been a staple part of sailors' superstitions and mythos being heavily linked to sailors ability of telling a tall tale.

Since the late 18th century, kraken have been shown in a number of ways, mainly as large octopus-like creatures. The kraken is also said to have spikes on its suckers. In the earliest descriptions, however, the creatures were more crab-like than octopus-like, and generally possessed traits that are associated with large whales rather than with giant squid.

Some traits of kraken resemble undersea volcanic activity occurring in the Iceland region, including bubbles of water; sudden, dangerous currents; and appearance of new islets.

5. Loch Ness Monster

Have you heard of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster? Loch Ness is a very large, deep lake in Scotland. Many people think a monster lives in it.

The first report of Nessie was back in the sixth century. A man called St Columba reported seeing a monster in the water, but he told the monster to go back, and he was safe.

‘Go back!’

‘OK, if you insist.’

Then, in 1933, Nessie was seen again by George Spicer and his wife – she crossed the road in front of their car.

‘What a beautiful day for a picnic.’

‘Arghhh!’

The next year, a photo was taken of Nessie, which became very famous. It was taken by a doctor – but the photo turned out to be fake.

Since then, there have been several more sightings of Nessie. Some people have tried to take photos and videos, but Nessie is very shy and the pictures are not very clear.

‘The paparazzi are everywhere!’

People have also tried exploring the lake, but it is very deep and very dark. Some people watched the lake, while other people used equipment like underwater cameras, microphones and sonar to scan the lake carefully.

People have even explored the lake in submersibles. No one has found anything definite.

There are lots of possible explanations for what people have seen in Loch Ness. Maybe the monster is just a giant eel, a large bird, a tree or a seal. A few people even think it could be a plesiosaur, which is a type of dinosaur.

‘Or maybe I’m just unique!’

So, what do you think? Do you believe that Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, really exists?