heroic tale
- noun
- /hɪˈroʊɪk teɪl/
- Literature
- In the ancient tradition, a bard would sing a heroic tale of heroes who triumphed over great challenges.
Examples
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Koch was a great admirer of Ossian, and his works are filled with images from the bard's heroic tales.
Academic text (1998) -
Just like regression, when everybody's Nelson or Elizabeth I, we like to assume we hail from 'good stock' with a few juicy and heroic tales in the mix.
Blog text (29) -
The book describes each of the dog's heroic tales.
Blog text (12) -
Perhaps you could join us for dinner tomorrow evening to regale our group with your heroic tale.
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A heroic tale of love, death, and Musketeers.
Fiction book (1993) -
Some of the more idealizing and heroic tales claim he died trying to cut his way out of the battle after having slain the traitor Mehmet Beg in single combat.
Blog text (32) -
For example, one reader—okay, it was my mother—described "Valhalla" as an "opus" and "heroic tale" that is full of action, laughter, and fun.
Blog text (7) -
The book includes a captivating heroic tale of a knight who battled dragons to save his kingdom.
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Children love to listen to a heroic tale about brave warriors and their adventures in faraway lands.
Synonyms
An account of events told to entertain or inform
A story that tells about events, often imaginary, in books or by people
An old story about the past that may include magic or gods
A long story about brave people or family history
A long poem that tells of a hero's great journeys and actions
A story with exciting, risky events about travel and danger
A long story about heroes and their great adventures
A story about exciting, often dangerous journeys where people do brave things
A story passed down about gods, heroes, or magic
A story about brave adventures of heroes from long ago
A long old poem that tells of a hero's brave deeds
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a story about a hero's adventures' is directly and transparently derived from 'heroic' (relating to heroes or heroic deeds) combined with 'tale' (a story). This straightforward noun phrase composition is common cross-linguistically and would be easily inferred by a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
The phrase heroic tale comes from old storytellers who told tales about a hero, a person who did 'brave deeds' and went on dangerous 'adventures'. So, it now means 'a story about a hero's brave actions'.