The legend of David and Goliath is a very familiar one to many people. It is an oral legend that has been told from one generation to the next. It has been mostly assumed to be a fictional story. The question is how do we know it is fiction. This is the problem historians have when using the tool of oral bards or legends. The story may have changed drastically in the years it has taken to be told and retold over many years. We do not know if the story had any truth to it in the first place. It is difficult to isolate the actual historical data from everything else.

Some of the things that the legend of David tells us are that David was a person who had many followers and eventually overcame some type of forces to ascend to be king. So we know that David was a prominent figure. We also can take from the legend that battles were decided between two people at a time, one from each side, in some cases. The person or force David defeated had much more power than he did and he won with cunning instead of strength. The fact that the story of David is a legend tells us that written communication possibly has not become the most prominent form of communication.

We also do not know, however, if any of the information from the legend is true. Subtle changes that may have occurred when the legend started may have transformed the legend into complete fiction. The time it took place is unknown as is the location of his defeat of Goliath. The legend could throw off a historian completely from the facts. Also, who was Goliath? It is doubtful that he was as big as the legend now says he was.

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