| Summary: | By examining the songs, media, and material culture associated with the legendary monster Mothman, this paper shows how folklore can become commodified and what issues may arise as a result. By using Paredes’ theory of “folklorization” and McDowell’s concept of “commemoration,” legend scholars can track historical developments across space and time to understand the metamorphoses a legend undergoes and why. Ultimately, this paper uses the term “narrative hijacking” to describe the process in which a historical event such as the Silver Bridge collapse of 1976 is overshadowed by its association with a legend, which in this case, is the story of the Mothman.
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