War of the Gods: a story idea.

[Devora]

I've had this idea (since i first tried planning this idea to reimagine the Norse Mythology in a realistic light) where all the Gods from the major mythologies (i.e Norse, Hindu, exc.) come to this great battle that shakes the universe, almost mimicking the Norse belief of Ragnarok.


Would this work as a story, or is it a little too ambitious to work into a narrative?

 

[Chilari]

I think it can work. If you create an identifiable protagonist to tell the story through - perhaps a mortal used by one of the gods as a pawn as the Greek gods were prone to do in myth - then there's no reason the scope of it should be a problem.

 

[Jessquoi]

That would work. I think it would be even more interesting to tell the story from the POV of a god. How would gods think differently to mortals? It could be very fun and an interesting insight for readers.

 

[Chilari]

Perhaps if the scope of the story intimidates you, you could consider starting small, or at least, starting so it seems small, and gradually reveal the full extent of the conflict over time. For example, you could have a relatively small rivalry between two gods, or the fall-out this produces in the mortal world, along with the small scale conflcits that will arise from it, before revealing that this apparently small thing is influenced by and influences something bigger, which is actually only a medium sized thing, and part of the much larger overall war between gods. If you have a mortal character caught up in it, or recruited by one god or another to their side, then the scale can be revealed gradually to this character along with the reader. Then it wouldn't feel quite so ambitious to start out with and build up naturally.

I for one look forward to seeing something like Pan competing with Loki over who's more mischievous - or working together to make trouble for the more serious gods.

So good luck and let us know when you've got something we can read!

 

[wordwalker]

Gotta love an idea this big. And Jessquoi has a point, it might be about how distinctive a god's view is even in the middle of a shaking world.

Then again, Chilari's right too: something this big would be fun to move into carefully, seeing how many wrinkles you could bring out of a human caught between them. Neil Gaiman's American Gods is the usual favorite along these lines, but I prefer Jane Lindskold's Changer and Legends Walking.

 

[Alexandra]

Why would all the gods from the various mythologies wage war on each other — relevance? I suggest you read American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

 

[Penpilot]

Why would all the gods from the various mythologies wage war on each other — relevance? I suggest you read American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

I'll second reading American Gods. It deals with a war between various Pantheons, one being Norse. it'd be a good book to be aware of so you can make sure you differentiate your story from it.

 

[Devora]

Why would all the gods from the various mythologies wage war on each other — relevance? I suggest you read American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

I'll check out the book. I've been meaning to read Gaiman for awhile, but I never got around to it.

As far as why they're fighting I don't know since I haven't got the much planned out, but all I'm asking is will the idea work and is it any good?

 

[Chilari]

Don't get hung up so much on ideas. There are lots of ideas. Some have been done, some haven't. Some have been done really well by one author and really badly by another. It's not the quality of the idea that matters, but the delivery of the writer.

 

[GIDEON]

I think it can work. If you create an identifiable protagonist to tell the story through - perhaps a mortal used by one of the gods as a pawn as the Greek gods were prone to do in myth - then there's no reason the scope of it should be a problem.

I know this is a very old thread, but this topic bugs me. Why is it, when people discuss Gods and Myths, they immediatel run to the Greeks, Romans and Norwegians?

Sadly I already know the answer, but I'd like to know your opinion.

I've created a character and a storyline that addresses this very topic.

 

[skip.knox]

Depends on the people. If this were a forum in China, I reckon the discussion would run along other lines. But plenty of stories have used other gods; e.g. Native American gods, Central American deities, African gods. Those don't predominate, but they're out there.

 

[The Dark One]

There's been a million books about Egyptian gods. American Gods was a genius idea but I (for one) was disappointed in the execution. Went on way too long for a start.

I presume the OP has finished the ms by now?

 

[WooHooMan]

A while ago I did a short story that started-out with a battle between Thor and Zeus to decide who is mightier. Then it “zoomed-out” to show that the two of them are being watched over and judged by Ra.
As Ra comments to himself about the futility of their battle, it zooms out further to show that the battle is really taking place for the amusement of the Shinto god Fujin. Then Satan shows-up and laughs at Fujin for believing that he has any control over what Zeus or Thor do while also claiming that Shintō is “obsolete”.
The story zooms out even further to show Ahura Mazda and Ahriman arguing over the fight.
It zooms out even further to show the entire story taking place in the palm of Vishnu while he amicably chats with Jesus over tea. The story ends with Vishnu making a comment about how there’s “always a bigger fish”.

What I’m getting at is that you can’t be totally accurate to the mythologies. If you were, the Hindu gods would trample over the others without even trying. It would also be hard to synthesize all the various myths about the origins of things. The whole premise is kind of absurd when you think about it. So, feel to make liberal changes.

 

[Prince of Spires]

If you were, the Hindu gods would trample over the others without even trying.

I'm curious, why?

Why is it, when people discuss Gods and Myths, they immediatel run to the Greeks, Romans and Norwegians?

3 easy reasons:
- It's what people know. As skip.knox mentions, most writers here come from a western background. And those are what we grew up with. It's easier to start with what you know and adapt that.
- They're easy to use. You have a bunch of gods, each with his own area of expertise. Thunder god for thunder, gardening god for plants, war god for wars and so on. Compare that to the Hindu pantheon with 33 million gods and it's easier to just pick a limited set.
- Because of the above, it's easy to confuse any religious system with the greek / norwegian system. Many religious systems feature gods with area's of expertise. When do you call them based on greek gods and when are they based on egyptian gods? (and is there even a difference?)

 

[Darkfantasy]

I don't think it sounds that big and I'm sure the idea has been tackled before. So do some research and see if you ca read some similar material to see how others handled it. You could do the story of how the Christian God rose to become the "one true God". It's all part of mythology. I loved the Norse Gods best and would definitely be interested in reading something like this.

 

[WooHooMan]

I'm curious, why?

Simple explanation: Zeus is the god of the sky, Thor of lightning, Osiris rules the underworld - that's all impressive.
Shiva is a god of change as well as an ultimate embodiment of divine energy itself. In the Bhagavad Gita, Vishnu addresses himself as being time/death/change itself (the translation varies but note that he doesn't claim control of time, he says "I am time") and it is said that his physical body is the entire universe including all moments of time in one. And I'm actually unclear if that was Vishnu himself or his avatar, Krishna. Throw in Shiva's wives Shakti (and that's plural "wives" despite her being a more-or-less single entity) who embodies all dynamic forces and energies in the universe and you get a pantheon where at least three gods are each pretty capable of controlling or destroying the entire universe and all things that exist in it.
It's kind of telling that in most Hindu stories, even demons and villains acknowledge that the gods need to be worshiped and obeyed.

The entire development of Indian mythology is basically a game of trying to come-up with the most powerful entity imaginable.

And that's why you shouldn't be afraid to stray away from the source material.
I do find it interesting how every mythology (except Chinese, I guess) tend to portray pantheons as families or multiple families (the Vanar and Aesir in Norse, the Olympians and Titans in Greek, etc.) so a story dealing with feuding families could work.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Thanks for the explanation. Sounds pretty sensible.

I do find it interesting how every mythology (except Chinese, I guess) tend to portray pantheons as families or multiple families (the Vanar and Aesir in Norse, the Olympians and Titans in Greek, etc.) so a story dealing with feuding families could work.

Sounds a bit like european history from the middle-ages onward. That sometimes feels like just one big family feud.