Although earlier accounts had mentioned a gigantic ox that had been rescued from the Winter of Blue Snow, and which had been so frozen that the ox himself turned blue, the mighty ox was named Babe by the author of publicity pamphlets for a lumber company. However, as the stories were retold for a juvenile audience in the early 20 th Century, Bunyan became more of a giant, and the amusement of the stories focused on hyperbole. The first stories told among the loggers themselves were more ribald and less larger-than-life, mainly based in Bunyan’s prowess with an axe and emphasizing the extreme rugged nature of the lumberjacks. Here, in no particular order, are the top 5 American Folktales.Ī North American lumberjack of humorously exaggerated size and superhuman skill, Paul Bunyan stories originated in the logging camps and foresting industries along the border between the United States and Canada, most often set in the wilderness of the Dakotas. They also tell us something intrinsic about our enthusiastic spirit, wild heart, flair for invention, and sense of humor as a culture as only tales passed from generation to generation truly can. However, the ones that have cropped up over the last few centuries show remarkable popularity and staying power. As a relatively young country, the United States of America hasn’t had the same amount of time as older civilizations to develop, standardize, and compile compendiums of folktales arising from grassroots myths and legends.
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