Underrated and Inspiring Folklore and Mythologies

[SkaldAndRaven]

As is obvious, a great deal of modern fantasy takes heavy inspiration from mythologies and stories from around the world. Nearly all of us know the big ones like Norse, Celtic, Greek, and Egyptian mythologies. These hardly scratch the surface though. There are so many different faiths, stories, folktales, and mythologies from around the globe. I often find myself looking for different mythologies to research as I find them enjoyable to read about and highly inspiring in my own work.

A few of my personal favorites are:

1. Sumerian
2. Carthaginian
3. Iroquois
4. Slavic

What are some of the myths, tales, folklore, etc. that you enjoy reading about and/or that give you inspiration in your own work?

 

[pmmg]

I will take any... ATM, I find myself interested in Hindu and Finnish, and the Incan's.

In my current story, there is a culture loosely based on the Finnish culture, and a little bit on the French. There is a rainforest culture, based on the low contact tribes in the amazon. And another on a more Native American Culture, but...it is a fantasy world. I am not trying to mimic any of them directly. But there are also other cultures as well.

 

[Insolent Lad]

I recently fooled about with a mix of Slavic and Turkic culture and myth, as many of my folk's ancestors passed through a portal in the Urals—and in their new home, they are able to have a much more personal relationship to their deities and other mythical entities. To be sure, Slavic often parallels the other Indo-European mythologies, with analogs for Odin, Zeus, Faunus, etc. Their is a wealth of mythology to be explored from central Asia, Turkish, Mongol, and that of the peoples in the northern regions of Siberia.

 

[Finchbearer]

I’m definitely going to be reading more of the old folktales, and currently reading botanical and woodland ones, probably with a Celtic and Nordic history, there’s so much to explore. Want to read more Nordic, Germanic and Russo folktales too.

Have previously read lots of Japanese folk tales/ghost stories.

I find them so interesting because it’s usually a mixture of history, tradition, different religion and lore/storytelling.

 

[BearBear]

Nordic, Celtic, pagan traditions, Allfather, Odin, Hugin and Munin, Samhain etc. I have tried to incorporate many of these.

 

[skip.knox]

I'm curious about folk tales from Carthage. Can you provide specifics?

 

[Mad Swede]

No, we think we know these mythologies and folk tales. Except that we only know some of them. There's a lot more to Norse mythology and folklore than just Odin and the rest of the gods. Trolls I hear you ask? Well, yes, but there's even more than that. If we as authors are going to be serious about using mythology and folklore as a source of inspiration then we need to do the research properly.

Being Swedish and having a grandmother (and other older relatives) who told a lot of folk tales I have a fairly deep knowledge of Swedish mythology and folklore. Quite a lot of that inspires my own writing.

But if you want some other interesting mythologies, how about Welsh mythology (NB, not Celtic)?

 

[SkaldAndRaven]

No, we think we know these mythologies and folk tales. Except that we only know some of them. There's a lot more to Norse mythology and folklore than just Odin and the rest of the gods. Trolls I hear you ask? Well, yes, but there's even more than that. If we as authors are going to be serious about using mythology and folklore as a source of inspiration then we need to do the research properly.

Being Swedish and having a grandmother (and other older relatives) who told a lot of folk tales I have a fairly deep knowledge of Swedish mythology and folklore. Quite a lot of that inspires my own writing.

But if you want some other interesting mythologies, how about Welsh mythology (NB, not Celtic)?

I agree with that research is very important. As somebody also with Swedish grandparents that told stories, the folk tales and mythology itself goes far deeper than most would think. Many people mention Tolkien for thousands of different reasons when they speak of writing and fantasy but he is a very clear example of this. He was well versed in the Norse folklore and myths, he even knew an impressive amount of the Old Norse and Proto Norse languages. Research is always key when taking inspiration from these. I think how deep your research needs to be simply depend upon what and how much you are inspired by.

With Norse mythology specifically, most writers just know Odin and Thor, it may be all they need for their specific work. Some can name off six, maybe seven different deities and the worlds. Others have done enough research that we can recite random stanzas from the Poetic and Prose eddas off of memory.

You could easily spend a large portion of your life researching specifically Norse Myth and still be missing a large chunk of it. I believe all folklore and mythology is like that. Research is needed, but how much simply depends.

 

[pmmg]

If we as authors are going to be serious about using mythology and folklore as a source of inspiration then we need to do the research properly.

Being Swedish and having a grandmother (and other older relatives) who told a lot of folk tales I have a fairly deep knowledge of Swedish mythology and folklore. Quite a lot of that inspires my own writing.

Actually, no we don't. We are free to mash them up anyway way we like to tell the stories we want to tell. The only risk we carry is our effort may be hurt by a poor representation. But....it would not hurt to research and do the best job we can. Specially if we are trying to assert them as good representations.

 

[Mad Swede]

Yes, we are free to mash up things any way we like. But all too often authors do that without even bothering to do the research. Too many look at what Tolkien wrote and then use that as a starting point. Things like dumb trolls with clubs who rob people. It's just that in Norse mythology, trolls are not dumb and don't go around eating or robbing humans (that's ogres, who also aren't dumb). In fact, trolls can be friendly and very helpful, and are usually quite intelligent - but if you don't treat them with respect they get a bit put out. This is my point: as authors we shouldn't be lazy, we should do the research and then use it as appropriate.

 

[Finchbearer]

Yes, we are free to mash up things any way we like. But all too often authors do that without even bothering to do the research. Too many look at what Tolkien wrote and then use that as a starting point. Things like dumb trolls with clubs who rob people. It's just that in Norse mythology, trolls are not dumb and don't go around eating or robbing humans (that's ogres, who also aren't dumb). In fact, trolls can be friendly and very helpful, and are usually quite intelligent - but if you don't treat them with respect they get a bit put out. This is my point: as authors we shouldn't be lazy, we should do the research and then use it as appropriate.

Slightly related to something inspired by Norse mythology, have you heard of the graphic comics Hilda? Been made into a series now too. It’s British made but heavily inspired by Norse mythology and Scandinavian culture. The trolls in Hilda turn to stone after night fall, and are not necessarily evil.

 

[Gurkhal]

I'm curious about folk tales from Carthage. Can you provide specifics?

I would also be interested in this. I have read the Baal Cycle and other associated works/stories/myths from Ugarit but I've never heard of stuff from Carthage itself.

 

[skip.knox]

I would also be interested in this. I have read the Baal Cycle and other associated works/stories/myths from Ugarit but I've never heard of stuff from Carthage itself.

I'm pretty sure there is no such thing, but I'm always happy to be corrected on historical points.

 

[theonethatwrited]

I am using Nordic lore in the book I am writing. The monster is a shape shifting fish monster called a finman. I want to look into Sami magic to see if they had any rituals to counter this type of monster so I can have an old Sami witch come in as a sort of Gandalf character.

 

[Puck]

Tolkien was massively influenced by Norse mythology - the Prose Edda in particular. The Prose Edda is well worth a read if you have not read it before. It also has the merit of not being hugely long and some of the old, blunt, Viking humour sometimes comes through.

The Norse mythical explanation as to why you get good writers and bad writers is particularly amusing. Apparently poetic talent was distilled into a magical mead. Odin stole this mead in eagle form by drinking it all. He took it back to Asgard and spat it out into a vat. It could then be dished out (in the form of talent) to writers and poets as the gods saw fit. As an aside the story mentions that Odin squirted some of this magic mead out of his backside - it is this version of the mead that bad writers drink from.

 

[Puck]

I am using Nordic lore in the book I am writing. The monster is a shape shifting fish monster called a finman. I want to look into Sami magic to see if they had any rituals to counter this type of monster so I can have an old Sami witch come in as a sort of Gandalf character.

There are a few ancient Norse stories about shape changing into a fish. Loki did it to escape the gods but they caught him in a magic net. Loki himself catches a shape changing dwarf in fish form by grabbing its tail & forcing the dwarf to give him gold. The stock answer to shape changing fish appears to have been to catch them!

 

[theonethatwrited]

There are a few ancient Norse stories about shape changing into a fish. Loki did it to escape the gods but they caught him in a magic net. Loki himself catches a shape changing dwarf in fish form by grabbing its tail & forcing the dwarf to give him gold. The stock answer to shape changing fish appears to have been to catch them!

The Finman is already established lore, they shapeshift and look for young people they can mate with for life. (They kill them) They are territorial and all around very cool,

 

[Puck]

In old Norse magic runes were important - as protections, charms etc. People would engrave them on swords to make them kill better, shields to make them protect better etc. You would need to employ a runemaster skilled at carving the runes and empowering them.

Another thing you might want to draw on would be the Skaldic concept to kennings. For the skald there were three types of naming - to use the ordinary name, to use an alternative name (like a nick name) or to use kennings. In Skaldic verse it was considered more desirable if you were able to correctly describe or name a thing (kennings meaning the art of knowing or naming something through understanding its true nature). Hence the kenning for a troll (in the Prose Edda) is:

Trolls call me
moon of dwelling-Rungnir,
giant's wealth-sucker,
storm-sun's bale,
seeress's friendly companion,
guardian of corpse-fiord,
swallower of heaven-wheel;
what is a troll other than that?

To correctly name something in Skaldic tradition was an important step in correctly understanding its nature. FY These descriptions can sound quite cryptic and are supposed to be descriptive and allegorical. Since it is not clear precisely how a troll was viewed in pagan Viking times, it is difficult for us to decipher the troll kenning today. One that might be simpler to understand are the kennings for gold (since it is clear to us what gold is). The Skaldskaparmal gives several examples of how a skald might refer to gold:

The fire of Aegir
The leaf of Glasir
The hair of Sif
The headband of Fulla
The tears of Freya

You might take learning or devising the correct kenning of a creature as perhaps an important first step in any magical ritual to successfully protect yourself against a hostile supernatural being.

Having said this. All this is pagan Norse stuff, from the Viking age. Sami beliefs today (or in medieval times) may be a very different kettle of fish (if you can pardon the pun).

 

[Mad Swede]

In old Norse magic runes were important - as protections, charms etc. People would engrave them on swords to make them kill better, shields to make them protect better etc. You would need to employ a runemaster skilled at carving the runes and empowering them.

Er, not quite. Norse runes are not magic, they are a tool for writing things. In that sense runes are thought to have been used to express a charm or spell on an item (you might engrave them on a blade or cup to do so, and there are examples in the various myths and legends), but the runes in themselves have no magical powers.

 

[Puck]

Norse runes are not magic, they are a tool for writing things.

They were typically only used to write charms on items or for memorial stones or perhaps place an owners name on stuff. When used in magic they form part of the enchantment & in that sense they were magical - but I dare say only when inscribed as part of a spell/ritual. The memorial / commemorative stuff may or may not have had any magical significance depending on the context (and the fact we don't really know for sure in what contexts it may have been intended to carry some magical or spiritual significance). Since some inscriptions date to Christian times, it is more likely that those were not intended to have any magical significance. The Franks Casket inscriptions are Christian for instance (and use a mix of runes, Latin and Old English). In that context they certainly weren't any more 'magical' than the Latin and Old English used alongside them - but things like the Franks Casket are post pagan.

However runes were not used to write extensive paper records, or write anything as substantial as a chronicle or any other extensive work in the same way Latin was used in the early Middle Ages. This may be a limitation of not having paper, or perhaps it was simply a cultural convention that they were only used to engrave metal, wood, stone or ivory etc. There are no extensive Old Norse myths / stories that survive in runic form from the Viking age, except for perhaps short/fleeting references - all that stuff was transmitted orally by the skalds & if it weren't for the likes of Snorri Sturluson deciding to write it all down in the thirteenth century most if it would be lost to us.