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The Lost Colony of Roanoke in Today’s Pop Culture: Why Does It Matter?

The legend of the lost colony of Roanoke has been passed on from generation to generation for the last 400 years. If it happened so long ago… why does it still matter? There are many reasons a myth is passed on: they provide valuable life lessons, they are a piece of history and they are extraordinary events that are entertaining to tell. Since the original story of Roanoke has an unsatisfactory ending, people have come up with new ideas in order to fill in the missing puzzle piece that they so desperately seek. The artifacts presented in this exhibit ultimately explain why myths and origin stories are important. One of the many reasons a myth is passed down as time goes on is because it strengthens a community and provides a common understanding. In this case, people want to know about the history and origin of their country. In addition, myths persist in our time period because it is part of our human nature. We are storytellers. Myths are a source of entertainment, especially when today’s media creates their own spin offs of the original story. People are captivated by the unknown and the intense feeling of suspense that never dies. Myths also provide just enough information to make them believable. This aspect contributes to why people find them so compelling.

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Story of Roanoke

One of America’s oldest unsolved mysteries can be traced back to August 1587, where a small colony was founded off the eastern coast of North America. This settlement, on the island known as Roanoke, would have been the first English colony in the New World. Due to an unanticipated and chilling event, the initial plan did not play out as it was intended to. Before getting to the captivating part of the story, there is some background that is worth acknowledging. The colony of Roanoke was an attempt by Queen Elizabeth of England to establish a permanent settlement in the New World. The mayor of Roanoke, John White, established a colony and made contact with the Native American tribes among them, even though they weren’t exactly high-fiving the British for moving in. A few years later, White finally returned to Roanoke with additional resources and manpower only to discover the complete disappearance of the colony and its inhabitants. As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, the only clue that lead to a potential explanation was the word “Croatoan” carved into a tree along the colony’s borders. Ever since, the lost colony of Roanoke has left historians in a state of complete and utter fascination for centuries.

Despite this event happening over 400 years ago, people are still talking about it. Why does this story continue through generations? Why won’t it just die? The answer is simple: the need to find a satisfactory answer. The missing puzzle pieces that create an intense mystery allow for a story to be passed down from generation to generation because people want to know the origin and history of their country, as well as it being a entertaining tale to tell. The fascination surrounding the story of Roanoke has been integrated into today’s pop culture in many ways: horror shows, books, art pieces and more. In fact, as years have passed, new ideas have been generated and people have used different media to express their interpretations of what could have lead to the disappearance of Roanoke.

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“Croatoan was a message left at Roanoke for the others so they could find the lost colony. It is actually a word of dark power and blood magic.”

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The American Horror Story television series isn’t particularly known for being conservative. All the seasons are gory and cause one’s stomach to tie up in knots. Since the story of Roanoke is unexplainable and frighteningly weird, the show’s choice of this theme for the newest season was a perfect fit. The missing pieces of the original story of Roanoke create a perfect gateway for bizarre and fictional explanations. The writers of American Horror Story did just that by creating a story that consists of the lost souls of Roanoke as evil ones that come back to haunt others.

When this poster was released before the new season’s theme was announced, the producers intentionally left their viewers completely in the dark, forcing them to wonder what the significance behind the photograph was. It certainly captured everyone’s attention. Regarding the photograph, I believe the creator is focusing on the spine-chilling aspects of Roanoke’s deep history, as well as creating their own spin-off and adding features that appear in later episodes.

This particular image is executed in the form of an old photograph. The Southern gothic image has many noteworthy details, some which are almost unnoticeable. The woman in the photograph is wearing an early black colonial dress with a high neckline and sleeves that are decorated with teeth. In her hands she is shown holding a rosary made of teeth and a puppet hanging from the bottom. The woman’s hands have teeth growing in place of fingernails as well as an extra finger. Throughout history as we know it, imperfections were seen as some form of evil. Furthermore, the colors in the photograph are dark colors and earth tones, giving it an eerie feeling.

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Season 6: Roanoke

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Author Neil Gaiman took the legend of Roanoke and let his imagination run wild in the Marvel 1602 comic book. In this comic book, Gaiman created a fictional and amusing universe. In this world, the colony of Roanoke never vanished in the 1580s. Instead, the colony is featured prominently. In Gaiman’s alternate universe, Roanoke continued to thrive thanks to a blonde haired and blue eyed Native American man named “Rohjaz.” When the colonists were starving and death was beginning to approach them, Rohjaz convinced his fellow Natives to share food and aid the colony. Although they were reluctant, the simple gesture resulted in saving all 117 lives. In the original story of Roanoke, the first English child born in the New World, Virginia Dare, was thought to have disappeared along with the other colonists. In Marvel 1602, Virginia survives and obtains shape-shifting powers. Leave it to Gaiman to turn a historical figure into one that alters into deer, horses, and occasionally a white griffin. All in all, Marvel 1602 serves as a prime example of how the information that is left out of a story leads one’s imagination to fill in the gaps in bizarre ways. Although it is not historically accurate, Gaiman’s story is extremely entertaining, which allows it to be passed down from generation to generation.

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In the dark fantasy television series, Supernatural, protagonist and fictional character Sam Winchester mentions the lost colony of Roanoke. In Season 2, Sam notices the word “Croatoan” carved into a telephone pole and instantly remembers his father using the word as “a demon of plague and pestilence.” This part of the series is a prime example of how the missing puzzle pieces of the Roanoke myth have generated a new interpretation of the story. Since there is no definite answer as to what happened in Roanoke, it is easy and quite common to let one’s imagination fill in the unknown pieces. In this case, the demonic virus is a hint as to what could have happened. Similar to John White’s reaction when he returned to Roanoke after a long 3 years, Sam Winchester responded in the same way. In this scene, the cloudy and foggy day accompanied by other dark colors gives off a harrowing feel. The main character has a confused and worried look on his face as he tries to figure out what the clue means. Shown by the anxiety in his eyes, even though he doesn’t know the true meaning of the word, he knows that there is an underlying evil.