Children’s Folklore Recent Titles in Greenwood Folklore Handbooks Myth: a handbook

Ralph and Rudy
They [Ralph and Rudy] were brothers and they worked as hired hands on the farm. And 
they both were really hard workers and really good people to have around, but they were 
like day and night. Ralph was an alcoholic, he drank a lot, went on benders and came 
home, and every time they’d come home they’d have a big fight. Besides, when Ralph 
wasn’t on one of his drunks, they worked real hard and they would bring vegetables and 
stuff up from the yard.
One time Ralph was out on one of his drunks and he came home all drunked up and 
Rudy was waiting for him. And—which usually happened—they’d get in a big fight, 
every time he comes home they get in a big fight. So they got in a 
real 
big fight. And they 
really tore up the house, rolled out into the yard, and in the yard they—they were farmers 
and you know if you’re a farmer or any kind of a skilled craftsman or anything you keep 
your tools in excellent condition. It’s something that—you know you just don’t—like 
our
houses [at the camp], you don’t have anything in it that isn’t as sharp as it should be or 
anything. But these guys really kept their tools—they sharpened their shovels and took 
really good care of things.
So they roll out in the yard and in the yard was a chopping block, and in it was a 
double-edged axe. OK, and they rolled around and they were fighting and Ralph picked 
up the axe and tried to swing it at Rudy but it slipped out of his hands and flew out into 
the yard. So they’re really, 
really
fighting, it’s a good fight, they’re really hitting each other 
and there’s a lot of cuts and bruises and they’re rolling around. But the story takes a turn 
for the worse now because they roll near the double-edged axe. And Ralph picks up the 
axe and swings it and cuts Rudy’s head off at the neck with just one big swipe ‘cause it’s 
so sharp.
Now you know what happens, like the two veins going up your neck that carries all 
the blood about every minute or two to your head and back to your body? So when that 
is severed all of a sudden like that, the heart keeps pumping, it keeps pumping it out like 
a fi re hose. Well, this stuff pumped out and hit Ralph right in the face, through Rudy’s 
head, just really splattered his face.
This part of the legend “Ralph and Rudy” was narrated by camp counselor 
Bill Henry at Longview Riding Camp near Georgetown, Kentucky, during the 
summer of 1972. The legend continued to be told at Hiram House Camp near 
Cleveland, Ohio, from 1973 to 1978. Bill Ellis published his transcription of 
Henry’s legend in “ ‘Ralph and Rudy’: The Audience’s Role in Re-creating a 
Camp Legend” (173–74).
Ellis explains that the key narrators of camp legends are adult counselors who 
shape the stories through interaction with their campers. He notes that “Ralph 
and Rudy” fits the pattern of the “Dismembered Hermit” legend often told at 
children’s camps. This legend has three parts: an explanation of how Rudy turned 
into a maniac, a confrontation between Rudy and the camp owner’s wife, and a 
warning to campers.

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88 Children’s 
Folklore