Does mythology inspire some of your fantasy writing? If so, what type of mythology?

Hirvan · Sep 25, 2011

Hello fellow fantasy writers.

It seems that alot of fantasy novels, films or even video games are based on different types of mythology (mainly Norse Mythology, I find.)

Now my question for YOU. Do you add races or cultures to your fantasy world based on mythology? Are certain heroes, villains, gods or demons from your stories based on those in myths? What culture of mythology are they based on (Norse, Greek, Egyptian etc.)

I do have a race in a novel I'm writing based on the Kalevala and Finnish mythology. The simplest way to describe them is elk-men, and the name of the race is Hirvan (like my username), coming from the Finnsh word for Elk. I don't completely rip off Finnish paganism when describing their religion, but it's heavily based on the Kalevala (I suggest reading the Kalevala if you haven't, I find Finnish mythology even more interesting than the more famous mythologys of Norse, Greek and Egyptian) and they have special guardians with powers granted by thier gods called Rune Guardians, who protect their religion and scribe runes on runestones telling prayers to the gods in the Runic Language.

How about you, are you inspired by mythology in your fantasy writing?

sol_ · Sep 25, 2011

Slavic!

DeleyanLee · Sep 25, 2011

I don't base on any one culture or history, but I tend to mix and match. When I use mythology, I am more likely to use the form of how stories are told from one tradition with the focus/point of stories of another culture's tradition mixed with whatever my story requires.

I also use legends (the stories of heroes--mythology being the stories of gods) and folklore (stories of common people) the same way.

As far as cultures of inspiration, I like Egyptian, Celtic (Welsh, Irish and Gaul), Mesopotamian primarily, though I've also used Romany, some African and Native American traditions, Norse, Indian, and Inuit.

Zelenka · Sep 25, 2011

Also Slavic (for one WIP) with little bits of Celtic mixed in.
For the other, Egyptian, bit of Sumerian / Akkadian, little bit of Greek I suppose and some Celtic again (but it's historical fantasy - alternate history so kind of cheating to say it's based on that mythology).
For my other one that's in its fourth draft and on hold for a while, there's a little bit of Norse in there, but again, historical fantasy.
The rest tend to be made up, though there may be little influences here and there.

CheG · Sep 25, 2011

I like to steal bits and pieces from whatever. I know that's not super specific... But in my just completed novella I have a naga character, werewolves, skinwalkers, and a bunch of other stuff. But as a gleaner I don't always (or often) research heavily! LOL! I guess I'm a bit of a mythological magpie.

Kitty Pryde · Sep 25, 2011

You left out all the good ones! For me, mostly Indian (Hindu particularly), Polynesian, Chinese, Japanese, as well as modern mythology (urban myths I guess?).

Kweei · Sep 25, 2011

I study mythology so pretty much everything

JSDR · Sep 25, 2011

Chinese, Indian, and Japanese mythology.

Jstwatchin · Sep 25, 2011

Another vote for Indian here. Along with pre-Zoroastrian central asia. There's a heavy helping of urban lore there too.

fadeaccompli · Sep 25, 2011

A hell of a lot of my writing is based on Christian mythology, or classic Western European folktales. (Which I'm not sure precisely counts as mythology, but in the sense of traditional stories of supernatural events...)

Friendly Frog · Sep 25, 2011

I adore mythology, so I try to read on all I can find. But it doesn't always translate into stories of my own. Celtic or Norse mythology tends to inspire me most. But if I look at the stories I've actually have written so far, Chinese mythology plays a significant role.

defcon6000 · Sep 25, 2011

I'm really into Malaysian and Japanese mythology at the moment. I also enjoy Indian (Hindu), and Celtic mythos.

RainShadow · Sep 25, 2011

Christian and Western European most directly. I'm very interested in mythology in general, tho, so I'm pretty sure it more subtly influences my work in a lot of ways. The ones I have the most familiarity with are Greek, and then to a far lesser extent, Celtic, Japanese and Norse. Also big into folktales, not sure if that counts. For that mainly European, African, and Native American.

I really love reading mythology based fantasy too. Something about new takes on old characters and situations.

Arcadia Divine · Sep 25, 2011

Every culture's mythology inspires me almost equally

feather · Sep 26, 2011

Right now I'm writing an Urban Fantasy story set in Oslo, Noway, so it's natural to me to bring in creatures and monsters from Norse and Sami mythology and folklore. Both have been my favourite stories as a kid, so I think it's fun to bring it into what I'm writing myself (plus, it gives me an excuse to read more about it!)

Samovar · Sep 26, 2011

Absolutely. As far as which type of mythology, it depends on the project for me. My last book used bits from American Indian and eastern European mythology. The next one will rely heavily on the Chinese Tao/Buddhist demonomy.

ChaosTitan · Sep 26, 2011

My instinct is always to go straight to Greek mythology, because that's what we studied in school. It's familiar. At the same time, it's getting a tad overused, so I've been expanding my research into all manner of world mythologies. It's been crazy fun and educational, and I like finding that one little detail that just makes everything else in a story fall into place.

RemusShepherd · Sep 26, 2011

I don't write a lot of fantasy, but my science fiction stories are often influenced by myths. I have one story in the works that depends on Norse myths, and another that refers to Inuit stories. I've worked with Native American, Phillipine, and Roman myths in the past.

uscgbyron · Sep 26, 2011

Though I haven't read it so much lately, I grew up reading Greek, Norse, Roman (I know, it's really Greek) and Egyptian Mythology. I also read a lot of Celtic and Authorian legends and a lot of Western European folklore/legends/fairytales. Then there's a lot of Christianity mixed in as well. I'd say it definitely influences my writing, especially my fantasy writing, but I tend to mix and match whatever I find cool in whatever way that I can.
The more eastern cultures, I've never really been exposed to... hmmm, maybe it's time to put that reading cap back on.

Hirvan · Sep 26, 2011

ChaosTitan said:
My instinct is always to go straight to Greek mythology, because that's what we studied in school. It's familiar. At the same time, it's getting a tad overused, so I've been expanding my research into all manner of world mythologies. It's been crazy fun and educational, and I like finding that one little detail that just makes everything else in a story fall into place.

I guess you could say it's overused, but recently suprisngly I can spot less and less Greek influences in fantasy novels from Greek mythology.

However, Norse is probably the most overused from what I can see so I recommend to anybody that you avoid that and if you like Norse try finding mytholgies similar not the same. If any of you are looking for a new mythology like that, I recommend a Baltic Mythology. My personally favourite, as you've probably seen in the OP, is Finnish, so you may want to search Finnish Mythology on Wikipedia.

Dave Hardy · Sep 26, 2011

I've written a tale that borrowed from Greek myth, another that used Egyptian legends, still others based on Norse. I first tried writing fantasy set in 5th c Britain & pulling from Arthurian & Celtic legends. I used the city of Ys for one tale. I've shamelessly plundered the Ramayana for motifs & dote on Rakshasas (I read Lord of Light when I was a kid). I co-wrote a couple of tales that had an Aztec background and another that featured Taoist sorcery in Han China. Got another where I had a Dutch colonial troops v. a Dayak wizard & Malay demon. I just shopped a novel based on Christian motifs from 16th c art.

I guess I'm in it for the variety.

FurryNovelist88 · Sep 26, 2011

Native American mythology is my greatest influence but I've heavily read up on Egyptian and other African mythologies for stories that are rumbling around.

Anne Lyle · Sep 26, 2011

The non-humans in my book weren't inspired by mythology as such, but I took Native American (and Norse) folklore into account when working out how they fitted into the historical setting.

areteus · Sep 27, 2011

The trick is to pick and choose what elements you want and blend them seamlessly together in a way which makes it look unique. And your list above misses quite a few options:

Celtic
Roman (I've lost count of the number of things based off the myth of the Ninth Legion)
Eastern European (Where do you think Dracula came from?)
Russian (The Prince Ivan stories plus many fairy tales)
Jewish (anything based on angels or demons is rooted in the Jewish stories from the Old Testement)
Islamic (anything based on Djinn and the Thousand and One Nights stories).

The problem is that many do not know exactly where some influences come from. Dwarves and Trolls are based on Norse myths while Elves are more linked to the Sidhe from Celtic myth, for example. There are many influences on our culture it is sometimes hard to pick apart the individual elements.

Anne Lyle · Sep 27, 2011

areteus said:
The problem is that many do not know exactly where some influences come from. Dwarves and Trolls are based on Norse myths while Elves are more linked to the Sidhe from Celtic myth, for example.

Depends if your "elves" are faeries (Celtic) or ljosalfar (Norse)

Does mythology inspire some of your fantasy writing? If so, what type of mythology?

What mytholgies inspire parts of your fantasy world (if any)?

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Egyptian

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