Mixing Mythological Creatures

[Vanya]

Is it ok to have various mythological creatures from different countries in one story as long as you don't overload the reader with info? Such as having Greek, Scandinavian, and Scottish creatures? Any species that has significance to the story has its history explained, those that don't either aren't explained or given a brief overview. I wanted to make sure I'm not ruining the story by having so many different sources for the creatures.

 

[Queshire]

nah, toss in whatever you want, personally I hate it when authors just limit themselves to one mythology, I mean, if THAT particular culture's myths and legends are true, WHY aren't any other culture's myths true?

Really, that was one of my biggest beefs with the Percy Jackson series of books.

 

[Vanya]

Glad I'm on the right track. Thanks.

 

[TWErvin2]

It all depends on the world you're creating. My most recent novel had centaurs in it as well as a sphinx.

Do what's right for the story, and if there is a logic to it within the context of the world/story, the reader will suspend disbelief.

 

[ThinkerX]

There is a general rule of sorts.

Unless its a 'road' type story involving a lot of traveling, or unless the story is meant to be less than clear on certain points, then limiting the total number of races/creatures is a pretty good idea.

Consider Tolkien: For good guys, he has humans, hobbits, elves, dwarves, and ents, each introduced and detailed in turn.
For bad guys, he had more humans, orcs (split into feuding tribes), trolls (really tough bad guys), and then really nasty buggers like the ring wraiths, plus a few individual monsters like dragons, giant spiders, and the like.

Limiting things like this makes it easier for the reader to keep track of who is who.

Another example would be Feists 'Magician' series (original). He has humans, elves, and dwarves for good guys - though the last two spend a lot of time off stage. For not so good guys he has more humans, dark elves, goblins, and trolls - all with a defined place in his world. (there are also his other worlds, notably Kelewan, but even there he limits things). Like Tolkien he does have some very rare and nasty critters - but the reader is made aware of these - dragons, wraiths, and like things.

Alot of the newer fantasy writers - particularly the TSR ones - didn't quite grasp this: they would drop in race after race of beasties with little or no explanation as to how they fit together or even what they looked like. Like - Kobold, Orc, Gnoll, Goblin, ect all in one bunch. Plus they'd be dropping in apparently random beasties from the monster manuals - Beholders, Manticores, and more, all just sort of thrown together, all identified by name, without really explaining what the name meant.

That said, introducing an unknown tentacled thing in some dank pit is acceptable.

 

[mirrorrorrim]

There is a general rule of sorts.

Unless its a 'road' type story involving a lot of traveling, or unless the story is meant to be less than clear on certain points, then limiting the total number of races/creatures is a pretty good idea.

Consider Tolkien: For good guys, he has humans, hobbits, elves, dwarves, and ents, each introduced and detailed in turn.
For bad guys, he had more humans, orcs (split into feuding tribes), trolls (really tough bad guys), and then really nasty buggers like the ring wraiths, plus a few individual monsters like dragons, giant spiders, and the like.

Limiting things like this makes it easier for the reader to keep track of who is who.

Another example would be Feists 'Magician' series (original). He has humans, elves, and dwarves for good guys - though the last two spend a lot of time off stage. For not so good guys he has more humans, dark elves, goblins, and trolls - all with a defined place in his world. (there are also his other worlds, notably Kelewan, but even there he limits things). Like Tolkien he does have some very rare and nasty critters - but the reader is made aware of these - dragons, wraiths, and like things.

Alot of the newer fantasy writers - particularly the TSR ones - didn't quite grasp this: they would drop in race after race of beasties with little or no explanation as to how they fit together or even what they looked like. Like - Kobold, Orc, Gnoll, Goblin, ect all in one bunch. Plus they'd be dropping in apparently random beasties from the monster manuals - Beholders, Manticores, and more, all just sort of thrown together, all identified by name, without really explaining what the name meant.

That said, introducing an unknown tentacled thing in some dank pit is acceptable.

I'm not sure I'd consider 7+ different races (including multiple nations for each race) small. But I think you make a good point—every creature should be described in enough detail for the reader to have a good grasp of just what your heroes are looking at. If they're not going to be able to tell the distinction between a manticore, a griffin, and a chimera without having done some outside reading, and all you need is some terrifying creature that's a combination of two or three normal animals, it makes a lot more sense to choose just one to use, instead of all three.

As far as where each creature comes from mythologically, I wouldn't worry about it unless it's important to your story (i. e. the story is set in the real world, and you specifically call the reader's attention to which group of myths each creature hails from). I can guarantee that less than 95% of your readers will know a mythical creature's source without you telling them, and of that 5% remaining, you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone that will be upset about it. If anything, your more knowledgeable readers will probably appreciate your diversification.

 

[ThinkerX]

I'm not sure I'd consider 7+ different races (including multiple nations for each race) small.

I should have pointed out that both 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Magician' are lengthy works (1500 pages or better), with space enough to adequately describe such a collection of creatures.

Introducing seven plus races in a seven (or even seventy) page story without confusing the reader...well, you'd have to be very good at descriptive writing to pull that off.

 

[Anders Ämting]

I wouldn't worry: Most people can't tell a chimera from a manticore anyway, much less be aware that they are from different mythologies.

Just make sure it makes sense to have them in your story.

 

[rachelwrites527]

If it fits with your story, who cares where the mythical creatures are coming from? Don't look so much at where they came from, just whether or not they work with the rest of your world.

 

[Jess A]

Mix what you like.

I agree with the above, though; LOTR, Magician and also Sara Douglass' Axis Trilogy novels had quite well-defined creatures. Sara Douglass had a forest species, humans and people with bird wings called the Icarii. She also had some creepy evil creatures called Skraelings which were very intriguing. She introduced more with time. All of them matched their environments beautifully. the Skraelings were at home in the ice. The Icarii lived in high dwellings (flight making it possible to be closer to the stars). Humans cut the forests down and lived in big land structures. The writers described these characters without too much info-dump.

I tend to ensure that my creatures also suit their environments. They have evolved in that environment and are hence built for it. This is whether they are a monster in a pit which features briefly in the story, as was mentioned above, or a species which is consistent and part of the major plot line.

 

[Corvus]

Hy all!
Interesting thread. I haw never given it much thought just threw in what I needed.
In my world all the mythological creatures are basically big dangerous man-eating (sometimes ) animals like lions and tigers.
I just try to pout them in their "natural" environment. A Sphinx goes in the desert a Phoenix in the forest, etc.
I think it gives the story diversity.

 

[Androxine Vortex]

The Divine Comedy which is one of the most celebrated epic poems had combined Christian faith with Greek and other similar mythologies. I think it shouldn't matter because most creatures in fantasy stories aren't all from the same source. try to even invent your own, maybe making a spin-off of some.

Good Luck!