"I am a legend" vs. "I am legend"

Which sentence makes sense, the first or the second?

1. I am      legend.
2. I am  a  legend.

Solution 1:

Either works, but they have different meanings, and I am a legend is probably the one you want.

Legend (Dictionary.com) means:

1. a nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.

6. a collection of stories about an admirable person.

7. a person who is the center of such stories
"She became a legend in her own lifetime."

I am a legend would use definition 7 above, meaning that I am an amazing person.

I am legend would use definition 1 or 6 above, and would mean that I embody unverifiable history or myth, that my whole existence is shrouded in fable. This isn't a normal thing to say. While this concept is too stilted or dramatic for usual speech, there is a 1954 novel and a 2007 movie called I Am Legend, along these very lines.

It's confusing whether you meant to ask about a vs. an, since the question doesn't include this debate, but you should never say I am an legend, as a is always used before a consonantal sound.

Solution 2:

The phrase

I am legend

is a case of the use of legend as a collective noun.

• Legend has it that your orgasm lasts an hour.
• You are legend, in office-talk about your record.
• She is orgasm, because she makes every man in the office get an instant boner.
• She is honey, delectable and sweet.
• I am furniture to my boss. He uses the electronic roster to tell me what to do, without telling me what to do.
• Soil is essential to the growth of plants - well irrigated, aerated and nutrient-absorbent soil.
• I am Revolution, Evolution, Convolution and Truth. No one comes to the gods but by me.

Sorry for the pornographic phrases, with which many might be familiar, to tickle your mind.