List of folk heroes

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This is a list of

mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; and with modern trope
status in literature, art and films.

Historically documented

Antiquity (up to 450 AD)

Middle Ages (450–1500)

Early modern period (1500–1800)

  • Dulla Bhatti – A 16th century folk hero from Punjab, known for rebelling against the Mughal authorities due to their unfair taxation system.
  • Toungoo Dynasty
    , assembled what was probably the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia.
  • Yuan Chonghuan – China, Ming general best known for defending Liaoning from Jurchen invaders during the Later Jin invasion of the Ming and defeated Nurhaci.
  • Khmelnytsky uprising and the Deluge
    .
  • Nils Dacke – Sweden, leader of a 16th-century peasant revolt.
  • Ahmad Shah Durrani – Afghanistan, founder of the Afghan Durrani Empire.
  • Guy Fawkes – England, Roman Catholic restorationist from England who planned the Gunpowder Plot.
  • Wojciech Bartosz Głowacki – Poland, he became a Polish national hero during the battle of Racławice on 4 April 1794, when he captured a Russian cannon by putting out the fuse with his hat
  • Ishikawa Goemon – Japan, bandit hero famous for robbing the rich and giving to the poor, though some accounts suggest he may have kept much of his ill-gotten gains. Before being boiled in oil, he saved his infant son at the cost of his own life.
  • Nathan Hale – United States, a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
  • Piet Hein – Netherlands, captured the Spanish treasure fleet.
  • Juraj Jánošík – Slovak outlaw living in the Tatra mountains, defending Carpathian peasants from the tyranny of Hungarian landlords.
  • Formosa
    .
  • Shivaji – India, founder of the Maratha empire and leader of resistance to Mughal rule.
  • Lapulapu – Philippines, best known for the Battle of Mactan that happened at dawn on 27 April 1521, where he and his soldiers defeated Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.
  • Blas de Lezo – Colombia, was a Spanish navy officer best remembered for the Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1741) in modern-day Colombia, where Spanish imperial forces under his command decisively defeated a large British invasion.
  • Lempira – Honduras, was a leader of the revolution against the Spaniards.
  • Louis Mandrin – France, bandit of the 18th century liked by the population because he attacked the tax collectors.
  • Maharana Pratap – India, a 16th-century Hindu ruler and Rajput hero.
  • Redmond O'Hanlon – Irish, rapparee of the 17th century.
  • Daniel Shays – American farmer who led Shays' Rebellion in the late 18th century over debt and taxes.
  • Ivan Susanin – Russia, Russian peasant who saved the tsar in the early 17th century Time of Troubles.
  • Yermak Timofeyevich – Russia, Russian Cossack leader who began the Russian conquest of Siberia.
  • George Washington – United States, first president and Revolutionary War commander.
  • Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette – United States, was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, commanding American troops in several battles, including the Siege of Yorktown
  • Giovanni Maria Angioy – Sardinia, leader of Sardinian revolution against House of Savoy in 1794.
  • Polish invasion in the early-17th century together with Dmitry Pozharsky
  • Lin Zexu – China, patriotic Qing official who advocated the harmfulness of opium which led to the Destruction of opium at Humen
  • PocahontasNative American princess who saved the life of John Smith
  • Polish invasion in the early-17th century together with Kuzma Minin
  • Betsy Ross – Sewed the 1st American flag for George Washington
  • Miyamoto Musashi – Japan, a skilled swordsman, soldier, philosopher and author
  • Taungoo Empire
  • Kutch
    region. Introduced European crafts in the region
  • Taksin – Thailand, king of the Thonburi Kingdom, liberation of Siam from Burmese occupation after the Second Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, and the subsequent unification of Siam
  • executed by firing squad.[16]
  • Muhammad Thakurufaanu - Maldives, led a successful rebellion against the Portuguese occupation and ended their colonization and genocide of the Maldives. The rebellion was caused when Portugal forcefully imposed Christianity on the Muslim islands with the threat of death.[17]

Modern period (1800–present)

Possibly apocryphal

  • judges
    , who became a legend due to his superhuman strength.
  • King Arthur – Britain, legendary British warlord said to have united the Britons against the Germanic invaders, with the support of the Knights of Camelot.
  • Beowulf – Scandinavia, legendary Geatish hero later turned king
  • Cúchulainn
    – Ireland, folk legend and the pre-eminent hero of Ulaid in the Ulster Cycle.
  • Ife
  • Till Eulenspiegel or Tijl Uilenspiegel – Germany and the Low Countries, trickster and jester.
  • Fionn mac Cumhaill – Ireland, warrior, leader of the Fianna. Primary figure in the Oisin cycle.
  • Fong Sai-Yuk
    – China, martial arts folk hero.
  • Yamato Takeru – Japanese prince and legendary warrior.
  • Grettir the Strong
    – Icelandic outlaw.
  • John Henry – United States, mighty steel-driving African-American.
  • Heracles – Greece, strongman and demigod.
  • The Odyssey
    .
  • Robin Hood – England, outlaw usually associated with the motto "Steal from the rich, give to the poor".
  • The Three Musketeers – France, some highly skilled musketeers particularly fictionalized by Alexandre Dumas.
  • Hua Mulan – China, heroine who disguised herself as a man to join an army.
  • Hung Hei-Gun
    – China, martial arts folk hero.
  • Maui (mythology) – Great culture hero and trickster in Polynesian mythology
    .
  • Ilya MurometsKievan Rus', heroic knight from the Russian bylinas.
  • Merlin – Britain, the greatest Mage to have ever existed, it's unknown if he was real and if he was an alchemist or a priest.
  • Nai Khanom Tom – Thailand, master of Muay Thai
    .
  • Nasreddin Hodja – Seljuk Empire, Muslim philosopher and wise man.
  • Miloš Obilić – Serbian knight, assassin of Ottoman sultan Murad I.
  • Odysseus – Greece, legendary king of Ithaca.
  • Ragnar Lodbrok or Lothbrok – Sweden and Denmark, legendary Viking king.
  • Rummu Jüri – Estonia, outlaw who stole from the rich to give to the poor.
  • Molly Pitcher – American, Military woman who carried water pitchers for American soldiers in the Revolutionary war
  • Siegfried – Germany, the legendary dragon-slaying hero in Nibelungenlied.
  • Sundiata Keita – Mali, founder of the Mali Empire and king of the Mandinke people.
  • Tardanak [ru] – Altaic peoples, cunning boy-knight and opponent of giants.[33]
  • William Tell – Switzerland, hunter who began the rebellion against the Austrians.
  • Twm Siôn Cati – Wales, robber and trickster nicknamed the Welsh Wizard.
  • Achilles – Greece, hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors

Fictional

  • Pecos Bill – United States, giant cowboy who "tamed the Wild West".
  • Paul Bunyan – United States and Canada, giant lumberjack of the North Woods.
  • Chen Zhen – China, martial artist who fought against Japanese aggression in pre-World War II China.
  • Febold Feboldson – United States, farmer who could fight a drought.
  • Martín Fierro – Argentina, hero of the eponymous poem by Jose Hernandez.
  • Koba
    – Georgia, folk hero whose legend bears a resemblance to Robin Hood.
  • Joe Magarac – United States, steelworker made of steel.
  • Kintarō – Japan, legendary figure often depicted as a very young boy with superhuman strength.
  • Momotarō – Japan, legendary figure from the Edo period who defeated a band of ogres.
  • Baron Münchausen
    – Germany, "Baron of lies", rode cannonball and went to the moon.
  • Juan Bobo – Puerto Rico, trickster folk hero.
  • Alfred Bulltop Stormalong – United States, immense sailor whose ship was so big it scraped the moon.
  • Väinämöinen – Finland, described as an old and wise man with potent magical powers.
  • ZorroSpanish California/Mexico-United States, a masked vigilante.

References

  1. ^ Smith, William (1867). "Ambiorix". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 138–139. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Queen Boudica, A Life in Legend | History Today". www.historytoday.com. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  3. ^ Lucian Boia Myth in Romanian Consciousness, Central European University Press, Budapest, 2001, p.89
  4. ^ Lucian Boia Myth in Romanian Consciousness, Central European University Press, Budapest, 2001, p.89
  5. ^ Lucian Boia Myth in Romanian Consciousness, Central European University Press, Budapest, 2001, p.209.
  6. .
  7. ^ "Hannibal: The Last Hero of The Free World of Antiquity". Carthage Magazine. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
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  9. ^ "Majapahit Story : The History of Gajah Mada". Memory of Majapahit. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
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  16. ^ "Bħal-lum Dun Mikiel Xerri u sħabu nqatlu mill-Franċiżi fil-Belt - ONE". 17 January 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Maldives: Qaumee Dhuvas". National Day. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  18. ^ Seal, 2001. Page 34.
  19. ^ Seal, 2001. Page 49.
  20. ^ Seal, 2001. Page 50.
  21. ^ Seal, 2001. Page 77.
  22. ^ Seal, 2001. Page 107.
  23. ^ Seal, 2001. Page 125.
  24. ^ Appalachia Appalachian Mountain Club, 1964.
  25. ^ Monahan, Robert. "Jigger Johnson", New Hampshire Profiles magazine, Northeast Publications, Concord, New Hampshire, April 1957.
  26. ^ Seal, 2001. Page 132.
  27. ^ About Kaluaiko'olau Archived 27 November 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  28. .
  29. .
  30. ^ ISRAELY, JEFF (24 October 2006). "Giovanni Falcone & Paolo Borsellino". Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018 – via content.time.com.
  31. ^ "Ludvík Svoboda - Vláda ČR". www.vlada.cz. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  32. ^ Brabec, Jan (25 January 2021). "Mezinárodní konference provede veřejnost životem Ludvíka Svobody". Boleslavský deník (in Czech). Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  33. ^ Wollheim da Fonseca, Anton Eduard, ed. (1873). "Die tatar-mongolischen Stamme: Teleuten unnd Altaier". Die National-Literatur sämtlicher Völker des Orients: eine prosaische und poetische Anthologie. Die Classiker aller Zeiten und Nationen (volume 4) (in German). Vol. 2. Berlin: Verlag von Gustav Hempel. pp. 611–613. Retrieved 1 March 2024.