r/mythology

Does England have myth stories / folk tales akin to the more famous Greek or Norse tales? Can you give some examples?

To keep it simple I'm writing a series book, one of the characters commands an army of monsters and his generals is a mockery to the horseman of the apocalypse by having them represent the same things the horseman do.

I have a lich to represent death.

Thinking about a kijin for war but if any of you got a better idea please tell me.

I just need one for plagues and famine, I don’t mind making original creatures I just prefer going with monsters from actual mythology and fantasy first.

My only real criteria is that the monsters must be somewhat humanoid and can physically ride a horse.

Mythical figures appearing in multiple cultures are not the most common from what I can tell, and when they do they are often kept very similar. Gods seem to have a bit more change, being combined with others or altered to fit new cultures. But what I'm wondering is how many heroes of one culture, or good guys at least, were adopted by a culture that was frequently their enemy as a mythical villain. After all the heroes of one side of a war are the monsters to the other. To the Trojans Hector was their hero and Achilles was the invincible monster. And I know that the Romans had a less positive opinion of Odysseus due to cultural differences. I'm just wondering if that kind of thing extends to separate mythologies having the same figure but in opposite roles. Maybe it's because they saw the hero of the other culture as their enemy, maybe it's just opposing cultural views.

Sorry if I tagged wrong, none of the options seemed broad enough for a general question

So I’m making my own little world building project not for anything big just for the fun of it yknow and I use a lot of myths from mixed mythology and I was wondering if my interpretation of them work with there actual lore or are to much of Stretch with out further a do here they all

Gargoyle

History : gargoyle were discovered 500 years ago by people of France they are found in most European countries they guard buildings for ever a human or sorcerer hires them to or are told to by other gargoyles .

most gargoyles don’t build nest as they are independent from birth but will live there parent for 1 year and will rarely visit there parents tho only occasionally .

The reason they guard buildings is for two reasons they are being paid or they owed you a favor and had nothing better to do .

Gargoyles main past time is drinking smoking and talking about things like who wins shark or a bear or why do people have these things ect .

Whilst guarding things they will guard places and items with minimum effort there good guards they just don’t care to much about stuff in there eyes they can just fine some were new or get something new or don’t care about our stuff .

and they’ll only guard with there life’s one thing alcohol specifically there own .

Phisolgy : gargoyles have smooth skin with featured wings and are about 7 foot but slouch to 6 foot 2 inch body shape is relatively human but have lizard like features with small horns and colors ranging from red blue green and purple .

There diet consist of baisically anything only needing to eat once every four years and even still they only need about one croissant amount food to satisfy them selves but they do enjoy food and drink mainly wine bread and cigarettes to smoke as they can’t get drunk or ill so basically they don’t need to eat but they like to .

They are above average human in strength speed ect to point that there about as strong as the strongest man on earth and as fast as track runner with wide wing span they fly at the speed of a pigeon but there main defense and a reason most people think there made of stone is there able to copy the property’s of solid matter they touch .

Spinx

History : spinx were said to have been crafted by the titans of old as pets but accidentally gave spinx genius level intellect .

Spinx are seen by most humans as conquerors and gate keepers who test the minds of man who in reality are just giant talking cats .

The main thing wild spinx enjoy is ruling over man testing them destroying things not crucial to them but things they enjoy whisky those same people give them food and gifts that they don’t really need or will use Yknow normal cat stuff .

Thoe rare many wizards have tamed spinxes to guard things for them some even have them as familiars .

Despite all this spinx at there core love one thing above all else riddles and puzzles to solve and test other with .

Physiology : they about the same natural size of the spinx but posses a less human face and wings of a falcon .

Spinx abilities consist of super strength speed durability healing factor flight sand storm and tornado creation fire vision a affinity for puzzles / riddle’s telekinesis teleportation ability to inhibit another’s abilities like magic and or vision claws that can cut through steal shrinking the abillty to become a structure and have partial control of there insides mirage creation scorpion creation and destruction .

and are always bound to there word and puzzle so if they say there gonna do something if you beat there puzzle they have to do it even if they don’t want to and his has to be actually accomplishable can’t cheat much .

What do you think what should change and dose all this work for the myths these are based on

I’m not exactly sure where I should ask this as it crosses multiple topics so I’ll ask here first.

Long story short, I’m designing characters based on mythological figures as well as animals. Poseidon is an orca, Hermes is a falcon, Quetzalcoatl is a Quetzalcoatlus, for example. I am both a mythology and biology nerd, though an amateur one. These characters are meant to adhere to the animal they are based on rather than the myth, however. So Poseidon is female as orcas are a matriarchal species.

Lucifer is a viperfish, a type of deep sea fish, in reference to the serpent of Eden and the fall from Heaven. His bioluminescence referencing the “morning star”. And his golden lure in the shape of an apple in reference to the forbidden fruit.

So I’m deciding about the goddess Eris. She’s also associated with the golden apple so I’m wondering if it would be more fitting to:

1. Merge the two characters

2. Make them besties but the same species

3. Make them besties but different species

Hi I’m a student and for my research paper in one of my classes I’m trying to compare and contrast different mythologies and why they might be similar (Mostly from the physiological point of view but any is appreciated). I’m having trouble finding a good website that lists different deities from all kinds of mythologies with like a blurb about them (ie their title, what they have represent and a myth or two about them) the best I found is Wikipedia but for obvious reasons I can’t use that. Does anyone have a website that I can go to for this information.

Edit: people are saying that I am a little to hopeful banking on one website that has all the information. Are there any websites for individual mythologies that y’all think I should look at

I came across the story of King Shibi recently, and honestly, this is one of those stories where you have to stop for a second and think about what you would actually do.
A hawk was chasing a dove.
The dove flew into King Shibi’s lap and asked him for protection.
The king agreed.
Then the hawk came to him and basically said: “That’s my food. If you take the dove away from me, I’ll starve.”
Shibi was stuck.
He couldn’t give the dove back, but he also didn’t think it was right to let the hawk die of hunger.
So he offered the hawk his own flesh instead.
The hawk agreed.
Shibi placed some of his flesh on a scale and put the dove on the other side.
But something strange happened.
No matter how much flesh he cut from himself, it still wasn’t enough to balance the dove.
So eventually, Shibi climbed onto the scale himself.
The story later reveals that the hawk and dove were actually divine beings testing him.
I don’t know if there’s a “correct” way to interpret this story, but I find the dilemma more interesting than the miracle.
The king wasn’t simply choosing between good and evil.
He was trying to find a way where nobody had to lose.
And when he couldn’t find one, he was willing to take the cost himself.
That’s a pretty uncomfortable idea when you actually sit with it.
Would you have done the same?

Hey so I’m writing a story about the dream realm and would like help with research on gods that can rule it.

So far I only have Hypno for the god of sleep but I would like maybe names that could go with the sandman.

I would also like a god who I can use for the name of the boogieman as well one for sleep paralysis demons.

If you have ideas please let me know.

so, you know bigfoot and the yeti, right? very similar, so then saying that earth is bigfoot and cold is the yeti, then what would fire and water be? (this is more of a discussion then a question tbh but theres no flair for that)

It’s always Achilles that, Odysseus this. But no one mentions Diomedes!

Dude was without a doubt the strongest fighter on the field while Achilles was having his temper tantrum. Without him the Greeks would’ve lost ten times over. Lowkey he is more of a protagonist in the Iliad than Achilles.

Achilles is like a one time use nuke that goes off in the very end, but Diomedes was there the whole time doing his best next to Odysseus and Agamemnon trying to keep the Greeks from losing. The dude battled it out with deities when he had to.

He carried.

I’ll go first I love mermaids/merman I find their variations to be quite interesting to say the least. what are your own favorites? if you can’t pick one you can name a top 5!

Yes, huge wall of text, I will leave a TLDR at the end for your to scroll to if you're too busy.

I'm working on a game around world history and world mythologies that categorizes mythological creatures based on their component creatures (e.g. a centaur is considered a human and a horse). Im going about it this way because I believe this allows different cultures to stand on their own while letting the player draw comparisons. Like eastern and Western dragons are very different in terms of design, ability, morality, and intelligence but get lumped together under the same umbrella of "dragon". And dont even get me started on the drake vs. Wyvern vs. Dragon vs. Wyrm debate when ancient societies didn't distinguish them so cleanly, if at all. Mainly I'd like to avoid having 100 different types of monster clades because then I'd have to a) draw an arbitrary line as to what a monster clade is and what is a one-off or like handful or cards under that distinction and b) I'd have to support all of those different clades.

I also wanted to approach it in a quasi-scientific way with Major Clades and Minor Clades (since dividing at the, say, Order and Genus levels didn't provide the level of diversity that I wanted for the game and gives me a lot of flexibility game-design-wise). Of course real-life organisms dont have hybrid species from across entirely different Orders (or higher) so that's why I say "quasi-scientific".

I especially run into issues with the humanoid races. Like are humans, elves, trolls, fairies, goblins, and dwarves all related? Im aware that they have different mythological origins (e.g. I believe I read that dwarves were primordial maggots feasting on the corpse of Ymir and were given a more human appearance) but I dont want to categorize dwarves as an insect, Id like to keep them human-adjacent (although no hate if you want to for your game or story, thats just not what Im setting out to do here).

With all that being said, are there any good existing mythological species evolutionary trees that people have made that would be good research to start with?

TLDR: working on establishing a taxonomy for mythological species using large, broad categories without oversimplifying. Especially for humanoid races. Interbreeding between clades is not only allowed but expected. Looking for advice and research materials for other related projects.

Thanks in advance!

I'd like to share my opinion about Christopher Nolan "The Odyssey"

For me, Troy (2004) remains one of the best films inspired by Greek Mythology because it tries to present the world in the way that feels closer to historical reality, even though it also takes creative liberties.

When adapting legendary stories, I believe historical and cultural accuracy is important. For example, ancient Greek characters such as Helen of Troy should reflect the historical setting in which the story take place. If filmmakers want to tell stories featuring African queens or princesses , history offer many fascinating figures, such as the Queen of Sheba, Andromeda (in some traditions connection to Ethiopia), or rulers of ancient Egypt (Nubia), Persia. Those story deserve to be told on their own merits.

This isn't about racisem- it's about respecting the historical and cultural context of story. Many young people don't read the original myths or historical source. They often learn about these stories through films, so movies can strongly shape their understanding of history and mythology.

I also believe the directors and screenwriters create their stronger work when they make films that genuinely resonate with them - stories connected to their experiences, passion, research, or even their family's influence. No filmmaker can be an expert on every culture, history or subject. Sometimes the most authentic and meaningful films come from creators who have a deep personal connection to material . The history tell us some example Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Coppola, Oliver Stone ect

Of Course, every one is free to interpret stories differently, and this is simply my personal opinion.

In English we can say sisyphian task or tantalizing, but are there others? Are there other greek gods whose names have been put into words or sayings, and are there some we should start saying?

Suppose you are a god and a tribe especially worships you, what would you do?