Mystical National Heroes

[Dijas]

I've always liked to admire different cultures and its legends.

Does your nation have legendary national heroes? Why are they mystical?

 

I'm from Portugal. There are two huge legendary heroes:

 

- Viriatus, the Celtiber Lusitan shepherd who led the Lusitani against the Romans and defeated them until he died within the hands of a treacherous hybrid Celtiber. He's still connected with Portugal's identity.

 

 

- El-Rey D. Sebastião, a young passioned king who loved the ethic of crusaders and knights. He died in battle, when portuguese were trying to defeat the Sarracen kingdom in Alcacer Quibir (Northern Africa/ Morocco). His death cost Portugal's independence for 60 years (1580-1640). Paysans said he would return someday covered by nebula and fight the invaders and the corrupts. This myth is still used as a topic to the majority of the great poets in Portugal - Sebastianism.

[ohGr]

im not into all they legendary grim and frostbitten national legends mythical legendary stuff...but uhh...since im from australia, i guess im excused (i hope)

 

all i know of...and this guy was a criminal, yet the retards in our museums decide to charish the thought of a guy wearing a tin helmet and robbing banks was great, we like to call him Ned Kelly. <_<

[Reborn87]

I'm also from Australia, and while Ned Kelly was regarded as a criminal by the police, at the time Ned Kelly was standing up against the injustices of the state and fighting for the rights of the public. This was demonstrated everywhere he went, as in almost every situation the public endeavoured to aid Ned and his gang and to stop the police. Were it not for the controversy surrounding him at the time, and his supsequent trial, Australia and specifically Victoria would not be the places we know today. Ned Kelly was and will always be a hero of the people.

[loveme4whoiam]

inflated_ego_due_to_nation_historymode 1 :lol:

 

Coming from the empire of all time (England), i've got a few to chose from. I'd say King Arthur is pretty mystical, since he might not even has existed and theres all the Excalibur stuff. The Duke of Wellington would get my vote, since i'm a military history student and he whooped Napoleon's behind. Nelson closely follows, for the same reason. Churchill would be pretty high up because of his "We will fight them on the beaches" speech.

 

I could go on for quite some time, but i'm tired of typing. I don't think many of these are mystical, but they are national heroes at least in the minds of people who can remember more history than what they have done in the last ten minutes.

[Malchik]

Come now, loveme, surely our greatest folk myth must be Robin Hood? He who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. Touch of the Bal Molagmer, eh what?

[ohGr]

king arthur and excalibur are related right?

 

i recall a friend of mine doing king arthur for the night of the notables at my school, every year, the year 8's pick someone famous in history and study him, do a bloody huge project on him, then act as him for the night, displaying the information you have of him

(since your from the UK malchik, you might know who Jack The Ripper was, i acted as him :mellow: ...some of the books went into too much detail about his style...)

 

and as usual...we always had confusious...yep...he stank the whole building up with his insence.

 

oh yeah

 

many people thought i was charlie chaplin without the moustache.

[Malchik]

An actor indeed!

 

There is some doubt as to whether King Arthur and all of that was set in Cornwall UK or Cornouaille (not sure of spelling) in Brittany France. It is certainly Celtic and may have perhaps encompassed both countries (in the story of Tristan and Iseult for instance where even Ireland gets a look in). There is a strong Arthurian following in Brittany and Lancelot was known as Lancelot du Lac even in the English stories. Perhaps the Isle of Avelon was in between the two?

 

Now where are all the Romanian players? Vlad Tepes is a folk hero with a vengeance!

[Darnoc]

In Switzerland there are a few mystical heroes.

 

- The most famous one is probably Willhelm Tell, who killed the Austrian governour Gessler (he is famous because of the play by Friedrich Schiller) and with this started the uprising of the Swiss against the Austrians

 

- Then there are "Die drei Schweizer" (the three guys which sworn the oath on the Rütli: Arnold von Melchthal, Werner Stauffacher and Walter Fürst)

 

After the uprising of the three Kantons Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, several battles against the Austrians, which tried to reclaim their lands, followed:

 

- 1315 Battle of Morgarten: The farmers of the three Kantons fight of a huge army of knights from the house of Habsburg with throwing stones and trees from above on them (the knights were in a narrow gorge)

 

- 1339 Battle of Laupen at Bern: Bern, later on one of the Kantons of Switzerland, fights with the help of the Kantons (now four, Luzern joined 1332) against nobles of France and defeats them.

 

- 1386 Battle of Sempach: Duke Leopold from Habsburg tries to reconquer the rebellious cantons (now 8: Zurich, Zug, Bern and Glarus joined) and meets the army of the Swiss in Sempach. Arnold von Winkelried throws himself into the spears of the Habsburgians and with these creates a gap in which the Swiss fighters can attack the austrian knights in close combat. There they don't stand a chance because of their heavy armor.

 

- 1481 Niklaus von der Flüh, a eremit, united the Swiss people again with his wise words (he did exist, but his words are a legend) and prevents a civil war.

 

- Adrian von Bubenberg, who was one of the most famous Schultheiss (kind of mayor) of Bern and who lead the battle of Murten 1474 against Duke Charles the Bold from Burgundia (OK, he really existed, but some of his actions are mystical; two famous statues are standing in Bern and in Spiez, where he had his castle and also a famous book by the dialect writer Arnold von Tavel was written about him "Ring i dr Chetti", but you probably don't know this book, so don't bother)

[Jesugandalf]

Some legendary heroes here in Spain as well. Perhaps the famousest of them (as Samwise would say) are two:

 

- Don Pelayo: a king who is said to have fought an army of moors invading Spain with just some hundreds of men in the rocky slopes of the Cordillera Cantabrica, in the North of Spain, thus beginning the Spanish Reconquering for the Christian people. He managed to disband them by shouting from different points, so that the enemy thought they were many more people than they really were, and throwing big stones from the heights.

 

- Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar "El Cid": he is the Spanish Hero, the most important and the most legendary. He lived in the 11th century. He fought the islam armies all his life, although the king of Castille banned him from the kingdom. He died in battle, but the Spanish troops, fearing a moral boom in the moorish troops, tied him up a horse and sent him to the battlefield. The moor armies, believing him dead and seeing him riding a horse again and going to battle, fled, and the Spanish won the battle.

 

Two nice fireside stories... :)