leggenda

Leggenda is the Italian term for a narrative tradition that centers on persons, places, or events, often rooted in a real setting but embellished with miraculous or extraordinary elements. Legends are typically transmitted through oral storytelling and later written texts, making them part of local or regional memory. The word derives from Latin legenda, meaning "things to be read," reflecting their historical role as material to be read aloud or recited. In addition to telling stories, the term leggenda can also refer to the explanatory caption or list of symbols accompanying a map, diagram, or chart.

Leggende are commonly distinguished from myths and fairy tales. Myths usually address fundamental questions of origin and exist in a distant past; fairy tales are invented narratives with fantastical events. Legends, by contrast, are anchored in recognizable places or people and are presented as plausible or testimony-like, even when they include miraculous elements. They may serve to explain local customs, historical memory, or moral lessons. Subtypes include leggende locali, about a town or landscape; leggende religiose, about saints or holy figures; and leggende metropolitane, urban legends spread through contemporary folklore.

Historically leggende played a central role in medieval religious culture and local lore; compilations such as the Legenda aurea helped disseminate saints' lives and moral narratives. In folklore studies, scholars analyze motifs, transmission pathways, and social functions, including identity-building and the transmission of norms. With modern media, leggende continue to circulate in oral form, in books, and online.