1. (n.) A fictitious story presented as historical, usually containing a hero and a moral\; a story of great but unknown age which originally embodied a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are personified; an ancient legend of a god, a hero, the origin of a race, etc.; a wonder story of prehistoric origin; a popular fable which is, or has been, received as historical.

2. (n.) A person or thing existing only in imagination, or whose actual existence is not verifiable.

Marchen Mishnah Spiritus Mundi Sunna Talmud Western Western story Westerner adventure story allegory ancient wisdom apologue apparition archetypal myth archetypal pattern bedtime story brainchild bubble canard chimera cock-and-bull story common law concoction creation custom delirium detective story eidolon epic extravaganza fable fabliau fabrication fairy tale falsehood fancy fantasque fantasy fib fiction figment folk motif folk story folklore folktale forgery gest ghost story hallucination history horse opera idle fancy illusion imagery imagination imagining immemorial usage insubstantial image invention legend lie lore love story maggot make-believe mystery mystery story mythology mythos nursery tale parable phantasm phantom prevarication racial memory romance saga science fiction shocker sick fancy space fiction space opera story suspense story tall tale thick-coming fancies thriller tradition traditionalism traditionality trip untruth vapor vision whim whimsy whodunit whopper wildest dreams work of fiction