ABSTRACT
One of Nicolaisen’s primary interests is the way narrative shapes the past, the present and the future for those who share it (see, for example his “The Past as Place: Names, Stories, and the Remembered Self “ Folklore 102 [1991]:3–15). It is not surprising, therefore, that, in contrast to scholars who define legend in terms of propositions for belief, Nicolaisen has consistently maintained that legends are first and foremost narratives. Consequently, the essay below provides a balance to the assumptions and methods of many of the other authors in this volume. He argues that, however preoccupied scholars and students may be with problems of the messages, meanings, structures and contexts of legends, they should never lose sight of the fact that legends are stories—”artisan communications,” transactions shared by teller and listener involving negotiated motivations and interests. The fundamental questions, therefore, are: what is the nature and function of legends as stories? and what is the role of “the artisan world of story” in human knowledge and experience? This essay is reprinted from Perspectives on Contemporary Legend, ed. Paul Smith. 167–78. Sheffield: CECTAL, 1984.
