The collection of tales, "Kokon chomon shu" (Collected Stories of Ancient and Modern Times), written in the mid-Kamakura period, mentioned several conversations with ABE no Muneto, who was captured after the Earlier Nine Years' War and became a servant (though this was not true), that portrayed Yoshiie as a supernatural warrior who excelled in archery, was kind to not unnecessarily kill animals, and was bold in the way that he turned to his back to his one-time enemy, ABE no Muneto, and let him insert arrows into the arrow holder.
鎌倉時代中期の説話集『古今著聞集』には前九年の役の後、捕虜となったのち、家来とした（事実ではないが）安部宗任との話がいくつかあり、射芸に秀で、意味もなく動物を殺そうとしない優しさ、更に射た矢を取ってきたかつての敵・安部宗任に背中を向け、背負った矢入れに入れさせた剛胆さ、更には神通力まで備えた超人的な武士として描かれている。