I liked how Breath of the wild and Tears of the kingdom re-contextualize old Hyrule myths
In real life, real events get warped a little with every retelling. Its sort of like evolution. Its the big fish effect. Someone catches a big fish, and every time the story is retold, the fish is a liiiittle bigger. Now imagine in ancient times, some animal is menacing the local village. Finally someone gets fed up and heads out with a sword and kills the animal. He's a hero. The story is told over and over again, the animal gradually evolving into a mighty supernatural beast, and the hero, who in reality was just some guy who was brave or dumb enough to get in a fight with a wild animal, has become this mythical figure. Surely one who could defeat such a beast wasn't even a normal human! He must have been the son of a god! (Many such stories.)
A completely normal event or place can be mythologized into magical nonsense.
We see a lot of this in Zelda, and their "real world" inspirations in Tears of the Kingdom.
The dark world, a different dimension, an evil, dangerous, warped reflection of Hyrule
Many ancient legends in Hyrule (Minish cap, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword) make mention of islands in the sky, and an ancient people who live there. In one story, that ancient people even founded the kingdom of Hyrule.
And those examples are all fine and dandy. But lets look at something a little more controversial. Lets look at how ancient beliefs, and a certain someone's appearance, were warped into traditional Hylian iconography.
Power, Wisdom, and courage. the 3 virtues that are held above all in Hyrule. The ancient legends say that when one has these three virtues in perfect balance, the triforce will respond to them. But in ancient times, these virtues weren't just abstract concepts. They had entities attached to them.
The Boar, The Owl, and The Dragon
We've learned that these three creatures held symbolism to the Zonai and ancient Hylians. The Boar represented power. The Owl represented wisdom, and the Dragon represented courage.
We also know that at least one ancient warrior wore these symbols on his body, and doing so likely represented that he had mastered all three of these virtues. A wise, courageous, and powerful warrior
3 objects representing Power, Wisdom, and Courage, worn together as a whole
Over time, the animals that these virtues were associated with would have likely fallen to the wayside, but the virtues themselves would remain. And so, over the centuries, the 3 piece symbol was gradually simplified until...
The hero himself. A male who wielded the master sword, who had greenish skin and blue eyes. Legends told and retold would likely change his appearance over time, as tends to happen. Eventually, that green skin became green clothes, and the his very race, likely forgotten altogether, changed to Hylian. Over time, green became the color of heroes in Hyrule, and simple aspects of the ancient hero's appearance, altered beyond recognition through countless legends, became important hylian iconography that represented a hero. A blue eyed boy, garbed in green, wielding a magic sword
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