still an odd question, &cthat is a bit different than basic genre identification. However, it's
If I understand James' objection correctly I think it's a very proper
question. To the best of my recollection the traditional definitions
distinguish legend from myth not on the basis of origin in some sort of
historical actuality (which is the definition George advanced) but in what
we might term historical 'virtuality': legend is located **by its narrators
and audiences** in historical time. The Matter of Britain and the Trojan
War are legendary rather than mythical not because Arthur and Odysseus have
the same sort of documented historical actuality as Charlemagne (they do
not) but because his epos is securely placed by the narrative tradition in
'historical' time.
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