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Come gather round, a story I have to tell
It should be familiar, you ought know well
Of things past, I give life anew
Of things to come, I know not false from true
Who am I you say, I ask you the same
Speak my name right, the answer you shall claim
Hint 1:
While some call them unoriginal, many would be lost without my tales.
Bouncing off the earlier comments, are you an
echo
This spectre is
quite familiar and repeats past (not future) sounds anew. The last two lines refer to the echo repeating what you say, even the word echo itself.
Hint:
Bats, dolphins and whales use echoes for navigation.
Is it
MEMORY?
Come gather round, a story I have to tell
Memories tell a story.
It should be familiar, you ought know well
When we retain memories of something, it's familiar to us.
Of things past, I give life anew
Reliving the past ...
Of things to come, I know not false from true
... but no knowledge of the future.
Who am I you say, I ask you the same
Speak my name right, the answer you shall claim
I think I remember this answer ...
Are you:
HISTORY?
Come gather round, a story I have to tell.
It should be familiar, you ought know well
History - which has (i.e. contains) the word 'story' within it - is something you study in school, hence it is familiar and something everybody who has ever been to school should be aware of.
Of things past, I give life anew
History concerns things that have already happened - it is the study of the past. Talking of history can metaphorically make you feel like you are bringing events from long ago back to life.
Of things to come, I know not false from true
It is not - and cannot be - the study of the future; it knows nothing about things that have not happned yet...
Who am I you say, I ask you the same
If you want to know who someone from the past was, you can generally find out as the things they did, where they lived, etc. are all preserved by history - books, encyclopedias, census records, birth/death/marriage registers, the Internet... History asks 'who was this person?' and also knows the answer!
Speak my name right, the answer you shall claim
The word 'history' sounds like 'his story', which is precisely what the narrator is telling us!
As for the title:
'The spectre of history' is a common phrase, often used with 'looms large' when somebody has a lot to live up to because of their predecessors' past achievements or when things that happened in the past continue to haunt them and appear to prevent them achieving something... (Think every Manchester United manager after Alex Ferguson!)
Is it:
Folklore
Come gather round, a story I have to tell
It's literally a story to tell
It should be familiar, you ought know well
Well it's a traditional stories, you ought to know some
Of things past, I give life anew
Of things to come, I know not false from true
It's about things of the past, but been retold over time true or not
Who am I you say, I ask you the same
It varies depending on your understanding
Speak my name right, the answer you shall claim
Not sure if this is a hint or not, but well Folklore is a combination of 2 specific words
Update hint 1:
Some can say many folklore tales have so many variation that lost it originality. It can be use to pass beliefs so people don't lost.
