POEM:

A Legend of The Northland

About the poet:

Questions and Answers (Notebook- 1,2,3 &4)

1. What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend?

Answer: A legend is a story from ancient times about people and events. The title of the
poem tells that it is a legend. The poet himself says that ‘I don’t believe it is true’.
.
2. Why was Saint Peter tired and hungry?
Answer: Saint Peter was a holy man. He used to preach to people. For his preaching, he often
made a long journey. During the course of his journey, sometimes, he did not take food and
water. Besides, he had to observe fasts also. Fasts and journeys were an essential part of his
life. Hence, he was tired and hungry.

3. What happened to the old lady when Saint Peter cursed her?
Answer: Saint Peter became angry at her greed because she did not give him a piece of cake to
Saint Peter to satiate his hunger. When he cursed the lady, she turned into a bird. She flew
through the chimney. Finally, she became a woodpecker. She wore a red cap and her body was
black. Besides, she was bound to live in the forest with scanty food.

4. Why did the little old woman have to struggle for her scanty food after she was cursed to be
a woodpecker?
Answer: The greedy little woman denied hungry St Peter even a small piece of cake. She made a
very small piece of cake but it seemed too large to her to be given away. She went on making it
still small and smaller. She was cursed by St. Peter to be a woodpecker. She was made to
struggle even for her scanty food. As a woodpecker, she went on boring to get a small morsel of
food.

5. What does the poet tell us about the story she is about to narrate? Why does she want to tell
the tale?
Answer:
The poet says that she is going to tell a strange tale told by the people of Northlands. She
admits that though the story may not be true, still she wants to tell the story because it
contains a lesson in generosity and philanthropy. She wants the readers to learn a lesson from
the poem.

6. What happened to the cakes the woman baked for Saint Peter?
Answer:
The woman was greedy. When Saint Peter, tired and hungry, after his travels arrived at her
cottage and asked for a cake from her large store, she had no desire to share anything with him.
The woman tried time and again to bake a smaller and smaller cake for Saint Peter. But even
when the cake was as thin as water, the woman felt the cake was too big to be given away to
Saint Peter and she put it on her shelf.
7. How is the woman seen by the people of Northland?
Answer:
Boys going to the forest have seen the woman, as a woodpecker in the wood. She lives in a nest
in the tree and bores into the hard dry wood for her food.
8. What is a ballad? Is this poem a ballad?
Answer:
A ballad is a song narrating a story in short stanzas. Ballads are part of the folk culture and are
passed on orally from one generation to another. The poem ‘A Legend of the Northland’ is also
a ballad as it contains the story of an old selfish woman and has been passed on from
generation to generation, “They tell them a curious story”.