---
title: Difference between myth and legend
description: Difference between the concepts of myth and legend. Examples.
author:
  name: Graciela Paula Caldeiro
  url: http://graciela-caldeiro.idoneos.com
canonical: https://mitosyleyendas.idoneos.com/en/diferencia_entre_mito_y_leyenda/
source: en/diferencia_entre_mito_y_leyenda/index.md
---

<h2 id="diferenciando-mitos-de-leyendas">Differentiating myths from legends</h2>

The words myth and legend are often evoked together, because the association of meanings between the two is practically spontaneous.

<figure class="commons-illustration" data-commons-id="2770869">
  <img src="/diferencia_entre_mito_y_leyenda/resources/commons-2770869.jpg" width="931" height="1600" alt="King Arthur in armor raises a crown above his head." loading="lazy" decoding="async">
  <figcaption>King Arthur, Charles Ernest Butler (1903).<br>Source: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Ernest_Butler_-_King_Arthur.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wikimedia Commons</a>. Public domain.</figcaption>
</figure> However, it is possible to draw a distinction between the two:

<h2 id="la-leyenda">Legend</h2>

A legend is generally a wondrous tale that sometimes has its origin in a historical event, but is usually enriched by numerous fantastical elements. It is a literary work of collective creation, of which different versions exist. Many legends have come down to us as genuine literary pieces in their own right.

<h3 id="ejemplos-de-leyendas">Examples of legends:</h3>

[The legend of Tristan and Iseult](https://mitologiacelta.idoneos.com/tristan_e_iseo)

[The legend of King Arthur](https://mitologiacelta.idoneos.com/297445)

<h2 id="el-mito">Myth</h2>

Unlike the **legend**, the **myth** more clearly describes a story that bears a close relationship to the religious. Indeed, it possesses evident allegorical components that refer to a creative or magical force which forms a vital part of the tradition that generates it. Myths thus exert a significant influence on the customs of a society.

Moreover, as Mircea Eliade explains, the **mythic narrative** possesses a circular structure that unfolds during an extra-temporal and a-historical time in which events repeat periodically, frequently symbolizing cyclical occurrences observable in nature. At other times, the myth represents an explanation of the origin of the world and serves as a foundation for a culture's worldview.

<h3 id="ejemplos-de-mitos">Examples of myths:</h3>

The myth of [Isis, Osiris, and Horus](https://mitologiaegipcia.idoneos.com/297427), whose principal theme is death and resurrection, is a clear allegory of the cycles of the harvest and its rebirth from seeds.

The cyclical universe of the Hindu conception is clearly expressed in its [mythic creation narratives](https://mitologiaindia.idoneos.com/303148)