All these words refer to the written or verbal account of an occurrence, whether teal or imaginary. Narrative is the most formal and general of these; it can serve to categorize whatever has as its impulse the recounting of events rather than the lyrical expression of felling or the evocation of mood, character or place: forms of narrative in Elizabethan prose. More specifically, it can refer to a recitation or recounting of actual events: a day-by-day narrative telling his personal experiences during the journey. Sometimes it is used humorously for a long-winded telling of grievances or past miseries: a long, rambling narrative of the ways her various husbands had mistreated her. Often, particularly as a generic term, it appears as an adjective narrative poetry; narrative skill in prose fiction.

Story can function as an informal substitute for narrative in many instances: the story of her narrow escape from the Nazis. Often, the word indicates an account of fictional occurrences, clearly understood as such, told for the entertainment of a hearer or reader: He improvised a bedtime story for his daughter. In reference to written fiction, the word serves as a literary category, indicating a compact prose form, the short story , or refers to the narrative element in any writing: reviewers who feel compelled to retell a novel’s story before appraising it. Because of the word’s reference to fictional accounts, it can be used for any explanation, possibly false, such as an alibi: a story she invented to explain why she was late; the suspect’s story .

Tale can relate to this last use of story , applying to any exaggerated version of events, whether told to deceive or amuse: a tall tale about his life as a gigolo. The word can also categorize one kind of literary narrative – a recital by s storyteller, in poetry or prose, of actual, fictional, legendary or allegorical events: The Canterbury Tales . Yarn is the most informal of these words and usually indicates a colourful story or tall tale , whether composed of embroidered truth or outright fiction; the word implies that the story or tale is told orally or imitates such a telling: Mark Twain’s yarn about the Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country. Yarn can also mean an informal exchange of stories or tales among two or more people: They had a long yarn about their old shearing days together. In some circumstances it can be used as a slang term for a serious discussion: Come round tonight and we’ll have a yarn about next year’s advertising appropriation. Anecdote can refer to any compact narrative , spoken or written, true or fictional; the word suggests greater brevity than would be the case for either a story or tale , but it is otherwise very general in its application: an anecdote about something that happened to her daughter at the university; a novel constantly interrupted by pointless anecdotes and other digressions.

Myth indicates a narrative, in whatever form, that recounts the doings of gods, heroes and humans before the dawn of history. The myths of a given culture were usually taken seriously as religious explanations of the supernatural origin of the society, although later writers and artists may elaborate upon these myths or create new ones without ever giving them credence: Greek myths ; Scandinavian myths ; Aboriginal myths . A legend may include elements of myth , but is a more extended recounting in some set form of fabled happenings, whether these are given credence by author and audience or are accepted as fictions. Often, legends , may derive from a period later than the creation of myth and may have an underpinning of historical truth: legends that grew up around the exploits of Richard the Lion-Hearted. Sometimes, the word can refer to present-day stories that have evolved to explain local events or customs: a persistent legend that the vacant house on the hill was haunted. Saga refers to an extended narrative that mixes myth and legend to recount the epic story of demigods or heroes: the Volsunga Saga . Less specifically, the word can refer to any epic chronicle, whether fictional or historical: "The Forsyte Saga "; a saga of the Napoleonic wars. Used even more loosely, the word can refer to any long-winded oral narrative about past experiences.