Intro to Common Narratives, Archetypes, and Tropes

There's an old saying - “There are no new stories.” All stories are created using the same building blocks. These blocks are common narratives, archetypes, and tropes, repeated over and over in modern literature, old fairy tales, legends, and myths. They can be put together in different ways to create something new, but the blocks themselves are a tale as old as time. I'm beginning a series of posts exploring some of these various literary tools, as well as their origins in our earliest stories. But first, let's take a closer look at some of them.

Some of these narratives appear in nearly everything. One of the best examples is a conflict between good and evil. Sometimes this can be a literal, massive battle – like Aragorn and his army facing off against Sauron in a last desperate stand. Other times this can be small. Many fables and tales use animals to present a lesson about right versus wrong. Lord of the Rings and Aesop's Fables may seem drastically different, but they rely upon the same narrative: making a choice between what is good/right, and what is evil/wrong. The vast majority of stories, both modern and ancient, rely upon this narrative in one form or another. It has made for some of the most popular stories of this time. The Rebels versus the Empire in Star Wars; the Battle of Hogwarts, where Harry and others fought against Voldemort and the Death Eaters; even zombie stories such as the Walking Dead, where the survivors fight against the dead, and others whose moral code differs from their own.

But that's a big narrative tool, and one that seems a little obvious. So let's take a look at some common archetypes in stories.

One of the most common archetypes in stories is that of the Magical Helper. There's usually two variations on this theme. The first is a human with abilities beyond the ordinary. In fairy tales, this is most often seen in the form of a fairy godmother showing up. In mythology, it can be Zeus revealing himself to his offspring, either directly or through another. I've recently started watching Grimm, and the Hispanic woman who helps Juliette understand the otherworldly side of things could fit into this category (or that of the Wise Woman, which I'll get into in a later post). The magical helper possesses abilities beyond the ordinary, and are more powerful than a regular mortal. They usually don't actually directly aid the protagonist in their quest. They can provide advice, armor/outfits, and maybe even an enchantment or two – but all they do is offer help, not solve things.

(Yes, I did just compare Zeus to a fairy godmother.)

The second type of Magical Helper is an archetype known as a Wise Animal. Ever wondered why every Disney princess has an adorable animal sidekick of some sort? It's not just a cutesy marketing tactic. Fairy tales are chock full of wise animals aiding the heroes. (Sometimes the helper is even a tree, oft times grown from a seed planted atop the grave of a loved one. Pocahontas, anyone?) Horses and birds are the most common, but there have been others.

The fairy tale of the Goose Girl depicts a magical talking horse, who aids his human even after her death. The Norse legend of Sigurd has the hero being helped by a bird. These animals usually only help the protagonists, being drawn to those who are good. They also usually don't speak to anyone other than the hero.

This archetype continues to be used in modern stories. Eragon and his dragon Saphira are one example. Disney movies are another – they tend to add Wise Animals to fairy tales that didn't originally have them. It's usually only the main character who has one. They're definitely cute, but they also serve to help the hero in their quest.

(Rajah and Maximus are my two favorites.  What about you guys?)

Moving along from archetypes, let's take a quick look at common tropes. Have you ever visited the website TV Tropes? They point out common elements used in various stories, ranging from television to graphic novels and more. Tropes can be major plot points or minor ones, but they're only considered a trope when they show up a lot. It's easy to lose yourself reading through the website, and I've always quite enjoyed it. You can look up a certain trope and see every example the article creators could think of in the expandable tabs beneath the description.

Well, certain tropes show up fairly often in fairy tales, myths, and modern stories alike. One common one is the Youngest Son trope. Heroes in a fairy tale tend to be the youngest son. A popular story element is to have the youngest son and his elder brothers set off on the same quest, but have only the youngest be triumphant. This can be seen in tales such as The White Cat. It's an underdog narrative of a sort, in which the individual who would never normally rise to greatness is able to do so. Being the youngest son in a fairy tale usually provides plot armor and weapons of some sort.

However, numbers are also important in this trope. It's good to be the youngest son, but it's better still to be the youngest of three sons. If a character in a story has two older brothers and sets off on an adventure, it's a pretty good bet he'll succeed. Want to really give him a boosted chance? Make him the seventh son. This theme is so popular that it's been made into a movie – The Seventh Son. Want super good odds for the kid? Make him the seventh son of a seventh son, as in the Septimus Heap book series. The more the odds would traditionally have been against the child making any sort of name for themselves, the greater their success shall be. This is an old, old trope, but remains prevalent in various stories. Daughters are almost always ignored in this. I say almost, because of Harry Potter. Ron Weasley was the sixth child of Arthur and Molly. He always wore hand me downs and wasn't expected to do any better than his older brothers, several of whom were quite successful. However, he became best friends with Harry and helped to save the wizarding world. His sister Ginny, the seventh child, arguably did even better – marrying the Chosen One himself, and going on to be quite a successful Quidditch player.

In the coming weeks I plan to take a closer look at several narratives, archetypes, and tropes that appear frequently in stories. From Sleep Like Death curses to Prince Charmings, I've got a lot of fun planned. I'll see you next time!

Intro to Chinese Mythology

I hope everyone had a happy Lunar NewYear!  I certainly did - I've been playing a ton of Overwatch's holiday event, and I got to test out For Honor.  In keeping with the holiday, today we're going to begin a series on Chinese mythology. Without further ado, let's start the Intro!

Chinese mythology has a very large number of deities. These deities have a hierarchy, with one god – the Jade Emperor – at the top, and everyone else falling into various ranks of importance beneath him. Within this hierarchy there are also smaller divisions of gods. For instance, the gods of the storm – lightning, thunder, etc. – form their own cabinet of sorts, with varying ranks of importance.

Because China is so large, and there are so many dialect variations, the gods have been called by numerous names throughout time. There are a lot of spelling variations, but I'll do my best to go with the most commonly used name.

Within Chinese mythology there exists an elixir that grants immortality, made with peaches grown by a goddess. This elixir has allowed several beings who were not originally gods to attain immortality. Perhaps the best known of these beings is the Monkey King. Originally a regular monkey, he was able to steal some of the elixir and gain eternal life – much to the dismay of much of the pantheon! He went on to have many adventures; some of them helped the gods, while others must have caused the deity version of a facepalm.

 

(My favorite representation of the Monkey King is from the movie The Forbidden Kingdom. I grew up watching a lot of Jet Li's older, more serious action movies – so to see him smiling and laughing was really strange for me! The movie is a gorgeous portrayal of Chinese mythology; plus, Jackie Chan and Jet Li!!! I'd recommend giving it a watch if you haven't.)

 

Outside of the gods, two other sorts of inhuman beings are commonly found in Chinese mythology.

 

Shapeshifters make frequent appearances. There are foxes who can turn themselves into human form, much like the kitsune of Japanese mythology. Heavenly maidens (beautiful celestial young girls) turn themselves into cranes as easily as slipping on a robe (literally). Some of these beings are benevolent and aid mankind, while others seek their own benefits.

Spirits of one sort or another are also common. They can take many forms, and serve many functions.  They're similar to shapeshifters in that they can also assume human form, in addition to whatever their natural form might be.  Rivers and other bodies of water are associated with dragons in Chinese mythology, who are the spirits of that water.

 

(Haku from Spirited Away is a gorgeous animated example of this.)

 

Much like the shapeshifters, the spirits can be good, self-serving...or evil. There are many folktales about shrines or abandoned houses possessed by dark spirits who terrorize and haunt the surrounding area. Sometimes these spirits are manifestations of animals such as scorpions. I'll cover one such tale in a couple of weeks.

 

There are three themes which are exceptionally prevalent throughout Chinese mythology. They are as follows:

Tales of valor in battle.

Tales of duty to family.

Tales of devotion to the gods.

All three of these traits were considered important in ancient China (and, to some extent, in modern China as well). As such, many myths and folktales reinforced them.

Much like Japanese mythology, the Chinese myths eventually see a significant change – one that occurred when Buddhism entered the country and gained popularity. The Chinese pantheon of gods remains, but is frequently superseded in the stories by Buddha and his devotees. Pious monks become popular characters in stories after the introduction of Buddhism. Characters who follow the noble principles are placed on high pedestals, particularly those who are willing to sacrifice of themselves to help others.

I'm very much looking forward to diving into Chinese mythology with you guys! I hope you've enjoyed this introduction. See you next week with our first story!

Intro to Polynesian Mythology

Hey guys! I hope you're all doing well!  This past weekend was Tucson Comic Con, so I am exhausted from vending and desperately trying to catch up on homework.  Still, I had a blast!  Thanks to everyone who stopped by to see me.

For the next several weeks I'm going to be doing a series of posts about Polynesian mythology. Besides the fact that the mythology is gorgeous, there is a reason for this: Disney's upcoming movie, Moana, draws heavily from Polynesian myths. It's set to release on November 23, and I thought it would be neat to give my readers an introduction to some of the stories their film might draw upon.

 

So, first things first: What do I mean when I say Polynesian mythology?

The phrase “Polynesian” covers a wide range of cultures, from the Samoans, to Hawaiians, to groups living in New Zealand and Australia. Polynesian culture is centered around a group of islands in the Pacific. Many of the cultures traveled by boat, allowing them to spread to other bodies of land – which is how the culture arrived in New Zealand and Australia.

Because there are so many cultures under the name Polynesian, their mythology varies drastically at times. Their deities can have completely different names, but have the same stories – or have different stories, but the same names across cultures. Each group has myths that are unique to them; each also has stories that one can see tie into stories from other groups.

One character appears in all of the cultures I have looked into: Maui.

 

Maui is a trickster – and we've seen several of those across mythologies! Unlike the Norse Loki and the Japanese Susano, Maui is not antagonistic to mortals. He can be boastful and reckless, but he cares for humans and strives to help them. In so doing, he has more in common with the Greek trickster god, Hermes. Interestingly enough, Maui is not a full deity; he's only a demigod.

Maui is set to be one of the main characters in Moana, voiced by Dwayne Johnson. (I'm super excited for this casting for two reasons. 1: The Rock is in a Disney movie? I get to hear him sing?! Heck yes!! 2: Johnson actually has Samoan ancestry, so he's portraying a character from the stories of his ancestors. I love that!)

 

Because of this, I've decided to spend the next several weeks doing posts about the adventures of Maui. At times he is triumphant, his actions heroic. Other times his stories seem more like those of a braggart. And though he tries his hardest to save mankind, failure awaits him in the end.

(By the way – one of the islands of Hawai'i is named Maui. If you want to look up more stories about the demigod, make sure and specify!  Otherwise you'll end up looking at pictures of islands.)

 

I'm really looking forward to this, guys! I'll see you next week.

Intro to African Folktales

Hello all!

I know that I said in my previous post that I would be beginning a series on African mythology. That having been said, some of my readers might be wondering why I have titled this post an intro to African folktales rather than to mythology.

African mythology is an immensely expansive term. The other mythologies I've discussed thus far have been fairly straightforward. Most of the gods of Egypt were worshiped throughout all of Egypt. The same is true of the Norse gods – their followers generally all held to the same deities and stories. Some variances did occur, such as the prominence of Demeter in a certain region of Greece (where worship of her sometimes was more important than worship of Zeus), or the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis in Rome. However, I could say with some certainty that a country worshipped x, y, and z gods.

The same cannot really be said of African mythology, making it a lot more complicated to explain.

Part of the problem lies in the vast number of tribes of Africa. Most tribes have their own religion. Some have the same, or similar, deities and stories. Others are vastly different. I have a book that is a collection of stories on the origin of fire from around the world. The chapter on African stories about the origin of fire contains no less than twenty variations, all of them quite different from one another. That's just one story, one common example – the rest of the mythology is the same.

Another problem lies in the influence of other religions. Parts of Africa were heavily colonized by Christians, who converted the locals. This effected the local beliefs, changing the stories of their mythology. Other parts of Africa were home to a large Muslim population, which had the same effect. Still, there remain pockets, particularly in the jungles of Africa, where small tribes have kept their stories intact and relatively unchanged for hundreds of years.

 

(The best image I could find on Google to show you just 100 of the different regional groups within Africa.  There are many, many more.)

All of this rather long-winded explanation boils down to one thing: African mythology is too wide of a topic for me to feel comfortable covering. I know a few stories from many different tribes, but if I were to discuss deities and myths from specific tribes I would want to do a series of posts on, say, Zulu mythology. To discuss the whole of African mythology is simply not something that I feel I am qualified to do – at least, not without a lot more research!

However...folktales are another matter entirely.

African folktales are blended with their mythology throughout all of the different cultures that I know of, and there tend to be a lot more similarities in the folktales than there do in the myths. The folktales of African cultures are generally designed to teach lessons, and they do so largely through the use of animals with personalities similar to those of humans. Throughout Africa one can usually find that elephants represent royalty, lizards often are the messengers of the gods, hyenas are dangerous and hunger for human flesh...there are distinctive characteristics for each animal, and those characteristics tell a cautionary moral tale for the human listeners.

(Perhaps the most famous is Anansi, the spider who is the storyteller in African folktales, and relies upon his wits to get him out of difficult situations.)

In the coming weeks I'll be doing posts on several folktales from various parts of Africa, during which time I'll talk about a lot of the different animals. I'm really looking forward to this, because it is very different from anything else I've done for the blog so far.

I'll see you guys next Monday!

Intro to Warcraft Mythology

Hello all!

For this series of posts, I thought I'd try something a little new.  I've looked before (briefly) at some of the mythology in Star Wars, and at the way mythology has influenced pop culture.  Now, for the first time, I'm starting a series of posts on the mythology within a video game.  Let us turn now to the wonderful:

Some of my readers have likely figured out that I play World of Warcraft (given my oh-so-subtle references to it in a number of posts).  I've been a WoW gamer since 2008, and part of what's made me stick with the game is the story.  World of Warcraft has a hugely intricate and diverse backstory, explored not only in WoW itself but also in the precursor games (e.g., Warcraft) and a large number of books.  One of their most recently released books, called Chronicle, was a comprehensive backstory for the world, beginning with the creation of the universe.

As both a Warcraft and mythology nerd, I totally geeked out over that.

The more I've explored it, the more I've come to realize that the mythologies found within World of Warcraft are every bit as rich as their real-world counterparts.  Part of this is because most of the myths and gods of the various races in WoW are based upon real-world religions - a theme I intend to explore in my posts.

So, since the Warcraft movie is coming out soon, I thought I'd start a series of posts about the mythology within World of Warcraft.  I'll be taking a look in the next several weeks at the deities and practices of several of the different races in the game - both Horde and Alliance.

I'll do my best to make sure these posts are interesting for WoW players and non-gamers alike.  I have a few friends in WoW who haven't known about some of the lore I'm discussing, and I'm running all of my posts through a non-WoW playing beta reader before publishing them (thanks Mom!).  If you have questions, please shoot me an email or comment below!  I'd love to clarify or discuss anything you'd like to know.

Interestingly enough, several of the races in WoW worship the same deities, just under different names.  This is true of the night elves and the tauren, who worship the moon goddess.  To the night elves she is known as Elune, whereas the tauren know her as Mu'sha.  Mu'sha and Elune share the same stories and powers between the two races, despite their difference in name.

Other races within World of Warcraft worship beings from the same general family.  The night elven druids revere the Wild Gods, ancient and powerful deities who take the form of animals.  The trolls perform rituals to members of the loa, their own name for the Wild Gods.  Even the pandaren worship a group of Wild Gods, though they know the four beings they devote themselves to as the August Celestials.

Then there's the interesting dynamics between the draenei and the human religions.  Draenei worship both the Light and the Naaru (who are servants of the Light).  Humans, on the other hand, learned about the Light through the Naaru but devoted themselves solely to worship of the former.

All of this and more will be talked about in my posts.  I'm super excited for this, guys, and I hope you are too!  I'll see you next week!

Intro to Roman Mythology

Hey guys!  I hope you're doing well.  I'm currently on Spring break, so I am one happy camper.

I realized that although I added new links to side, I never mentioned them in a post, so now I shall!  If you're interested in either of my books, you can now buy them directly from me through my Etsy shop.  Hammerfall is available here, and Lovesick here.  (I currently only have shipping to the US, since I haven't had an order from outside of the country yet.  If you're one of my readers from outside the US and you'd like a copy, please feel free to shoot me a message!  We'll work things out.)

And with that out of the way, let's begin!

In this series of posts we'll be taking a look at some of the core stories and deities in Roman mythology.

I think one of the most common misconceptions about the Roman myths is that "They're just the Greek gods with different names."  Many of the books I've seen for Greek or Roman myths, and several of the mythology classes I've taken, have included cheat sheets showing the Roman name of Greek gods.

This irritates the heck out of me.

To be sure, there are a lot of similarities between the two.  The Romans did adopt a lot of the gods they liked from other religions.  However, this adoption was not limited to the Greek gods (worship of Isis, an Egyptian goddess, was quite prominent in Rome, amongst others).  There are characters in the Roman myths who are entirely unique to Rome (Romulus and Remus, for example, who we'll talk about next week).

Even for those gods who are very, very similar to those from Greek mythology, there tend to be differences that make the gods distinctive from what a lot of people consider to be their counterpart.  (Though this is not always true - Dionysus and Bacchus are almost exactly the same.)

Take, for instance, the goddess Minerva.  She is often equated to the Greek goddess Athena.  Now, Athena is a powerful, intelligent warrior goddess who rules over intellectual warfare.  She is cunning and clever, but also is the goddess of several more feminine aspects such as weaving and virginity.

Minerva, on the other hand, loses the attributes of war and is made almost entirely a domestic goddess.

Another example would be the comparison between the Greek god Zeus and the Roman god Jupiter.  If you read my posts on Greek mythology, you may have noticed that I'm not a big fan of Zeus.  He's a womanizing self-centered jerk who does whatever he wants in life no matter the consequences for anyone else.  He's fairly immature.  Jupiter, on the other hand, is a mature, level-headed god.

The maturity with which Jupiter regards his duties is actually one of the hallmarks of the Roman culture.  Their heroes embodied the ideals their culture held highest - loyalty and honor.  House Tully in Game of Thrones has for their saying "Family.  Duty.  Honor."  This exemplifies the ancient Roman mindset.  The duty of a man (actually, of any citizen, as we'll see when we get to my post about Lucretia) was first to Rome, then to his family, then to himself.  I find that quite beautiful and interesting.

In the coming weeks I plan to talk about several of the gods and goddesses I haven't mentioned here, as well as some of the demigods and heroes from Roman mythology.

One thing that I'll mention in this intro, though I won't do a post specifically about it: The Romans also sometimes worshipped their emperors.  There was a process through which an emperor could be deified.  Sometimes this was done during their life, and the people worshipped the emperor as a living god amongst them.  (Some early Christians actually got into a lot of trouble for refusing to worship a man over their God.)

At other times, this deification took place after an emperor had died.  The senate could vote on whether or not they thought the emperor was worthy of godhood.  If they decided that he was, the emperor was written into history as a living god who had ascended.

Imagine dying and having some of the people who knew you decide that you had actually been a god.  Kind of interesting, no?

I'll end this post there, and see you guys next week when I talk about Romulus and Remus, twin demigods and founders of Rome!  Take care.

Intro to Egyptian Mythology

Hey guys, welcome to 2016!  I hope you had a good 2015, and I'm looking forward to geeking out about mythology with you this coming year.  I've got some fun things planned, and I hope you'll enjoy!

To kick off 2016 let's take a look at Egyptian mythology.

Egyptian mythology has long interested me because of its unique view of animals.  Many of the deities in Egyptian mythology have the bodies of humans but the heads of animals.  For instance:

Anubis, a god of the underworld, is depicted as having a human body with the head of a jackal.

Bast, the goddess of music and warfare, is shown with the head of a cat but the body of a woman.

Perhaps my favorite is Sobek, a protective military god with the head of a crocodile.

All of the above gods are very interesting, and I plan to do posts on them in the coming weeks.  However, the main players of Egyptian mythology are Isis, Osiris, Set, and Horus.  You know how the Star Wars movies all focus around the adventures and drama of one family, the Skywalkers?  Osiris and his family are basically the Skywalkers of Egyptian mythology.

We'll talk more about this in future posts, but the main conflict of Egyptian mythology revolves around those four characters.  Set and Osiris are brothers, and a jealous Set murders Osiris and literally tears him into pieces, scattering him to the corners of the world.  Isis, Osiris' wife, puts her husband back together again (much like Humpty Dumpty!).  Their son Horus winds up in an eternal conflict with his nefarious uncle Set.  Sounds like fun, right?

Another aspect of Egyptian mythology which I find fascinating is the way it personifies some forces of nature.  A perfect example of this is the Nile River.  The land around the Nile is particularly fertile, and is fantastic for growing crops.  The river is also prone to flooding at certain times of the year, leaving those who dwell with it with a healthy respect for the water.  This respect was represented in early Egyptian mythology by creating the Nile into a sort of deity.  Praises and hymns were written in its honor, because the Nile provided life to the surrounding lands.  Appeasements were also offered to the river in the hopes of preventing early flooding.

I'll leave you guys with that.  Have a great week, and I'll see you next Monday with a post about one of the gods!

Intro to Jewish Folktales

Hey guys! For those of you who celebrate, I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, and that you survived the frenzy of Black Friday. Happy Cyber Monday, by the way! The Kindle version of Hammerfall is on sale for today only; you can check it out here.

Today we're taking a look at the rich and complex stories told by the Jewish people. Their faith, known as Judaism, is often simplified when talked about as being “just the Old Testament”. In reality, Judaism is far more than their 24 books that make up what Christians term the Old Testament (which is actually 39 books for Protestants, because they split several of the books from the Hebrew Bible into smaller books). Let's take a look at some of the different writings found in Judaisim.

The 24 books I mentioned above form what is called the Tanakh.

 

(If you guys have never seen written Aramaic...well, it is gorgeous, as you can see above.)

The first five books of this series of writings are termed the Torah, or the Pentateuch. In addition to these core tenants of their faith, Jews have an enormous amount of literature that they consider central to their religion. These writings most notably include laws, but also can be songs, proverbs, and stories. As with many old religions, all of the books of Judaism began as oral traditions. They were not recorded for many centuries.

Now, I do not feel I have studied enough of religion to tell you about the Jewish faith. The series of posts I have planned aren't going to talk about the Jewish God, called Yahweh, or their prophecies, or anything central to Judaism. I focus on mythology, so talking about religions that are still widely practiced today is a little difficult for me. Instead, I plan on talking about the stories found in Jewish literature. Because of this I have dubbed this series of posts “Jewish Folktales”, because they are about the tales those folks tell (see what I did there?).

Next week I'll be talking about the story of Esther, one of the strong women found in the Tanakh. Her actions and bravery led to the celebration of what is called Purim – a festival that is still celebrated in modern times. Since Monday the 14^th is the last day of Hanukkah this year, I plan to talk about the origins of that holiday on that day. After that I have a special post planned, and then we'll hop back into Jewish folktale with the beautiful story of Reuben and Penina to round out the year.

 

I'm really excited for this, guys! I think the stories are absolutely lovely, and there's such a wide variety for me to choose from. I hope you're looking forward to this as well. I'll see you guys next week!

Intro to Arthurian Legend

Hey guys!  Once again, I apologize for the lateness of this post.  I came down with an ear infection on top of recovering from having my appendix removed, and looking at the computer screen made my head spin like crazy for several days.  I'm slowly getting better, but this post is likely to be a bit shorter and more brusque than usual due to my medical stuff.  Hope you all are doing well!

Arthurian legends are the stories about King Arthur and his knights.  While some of the stories take place before his birth, and some after his death, they all revolve around Arthur - hence the title of Arthurian.

But who is King Arthur?  It has been debated as to whether he actually existed in history, or whether he is entirely made up.  If Arthur did exist, his exploits have been drastically exaggerated in the tales told of him.  Arthurian legend is called such because legends may or may not have had some historical basis.

The stories of King Arthur originated as early as the 6th century.  The tales modern audiences are most familiar with come from a book from the late 15th century.  In the hundreds of years between them huge changes were made to the original stories.  Additional characters were added; those that already existed were hugely embellished.  More drama became present, as did large quantities of romance and unrequited love.  Magic grew in importance, and family trees became complicated as unbeknown incestuous relationships were formed (think Luke and Leia from the first Star Wars).

For a long time most of the stories of Arthurian legend were told in the form of poems.  Perhaps the best known of these poems was the French Vulgate cycle  (When I say poems, I mean as in epics like Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.  These things were long.)  That changed when a knight named Thomas Mallory was imprisoned.  Mallory spent his confinement adapting the Vulgate cycle into a prose form for English audiences.  Several French concepts, such as that of courtly love (a complicated concept that I'll explain more in a later post), were discarded or modified into something that Mallory thought made more sense.  He called his book Le Morte d'Arthur - The Death of Arthur.  (Spoilers!  In the very title!)Le Morte d'Arthur was published in 1485.  Most later adaptations of Arthurian legend stem from this book.

 

As I mentioned, Arthurian legend is full of drama and heartbreak.  You start off knowing that the main character is going to die - of course there's drama!  It focuses on Arthur and his various family and friends.  Main characters include Lancelot, Merlin, Guinevere, Uther, Galahad, Morgan le Fay....the list goes on and on.  We'll focus more on specific characters in later posts.  Many of the cast of Arthurian legend show up in popular culture, ranging from the BBC TV show Merlin to Disney's Sword in the Stone to the many books by T. A. Barron.

Of course, if I'm going to talk about popular culture references to Arthurian legend, there are two things I must mention.  Firstly, the TV show The Librarians.  The Librarians is a spin-off of a movie series that I've watched and enjoyed for years - very cheesy, but very fun.  The TV show has a great cast (Christian Kane, anyone?) and some rather lovely nods to Arthurian legend.  Morgan le Fay shows up, and several characters have their own mysterious ties to Arthurian legend.  I definitely recommend the show!

The other thing I want to mention is a movie called Quest for Camelot.  Until recently, Quest for Camelot was about all I knew of Arthurian legend.  I grew up watching the movie, and I absolutely adore it.  It's one of those animated movies that I always think must be a Disney movie because it is so good, but isn't - like Anastasia!  If you love knights, strong characters, musicals, dragons, and touching stories, I highly recommend you watch Quest for Camelot.

I'll be back next week to tell you about Uther, the father of King Arthur.  See you guys then!

Intro to Celtic Mythology

Hello readers!

As you can probably guess from this post’s title, this week I’m finally going to start talking about Celtic mythology! I’d like to voice a disclaimer before I begin: I am far less well-versed in the Celtic myths than I am in any of the other mythologies we’ve discussed. I’ve been researching them a lot, and I’ll do my best to be as accurate as possible - but, if you spot an error in any of my posts, please let me know (either through email or in the comments.).

The influence of Celtic mythology upon American culture is rather more subtle than that of Greek or Norse mythology. Movies these days often feature stories from those cultures, but seldom show the gods of the Celts. Those deities can be found more often - though still infrequently - in books. Since book four The Dresden Files has featured characters from the Celtic myths; a more recent series, The Iron Druid Chronicles, features a main character who hails from ancient Britain and regularly interacts with the Celtic deities he worships. (I’m only on book 4, so please - no spoilers!) Speaking of druids - they have their origin in the Celtic myths, and can now be found in many role-playing games, stories, and even video games. (*cough*World of Warcraft*cough*)

Apart from those, I don’t know of many modern representations of Celtic mythology. An argument can be made that Arthurian legend is of Celtic origin, but the stories of King Arthur bear far more references to the Christian God than to any Celtic deities, despite stemming from the same part of the world as the Celtic myths. No, the Celtic stories are really a force unto themselves...a force which American pop culture seems uninterested in.

Perhaps part of the reason for this disinterest lies in the names of the Celtic gods and heroes. Their names, and their spelling, are completely unfamiliar to most modern audiences. Other mythologies have it far easer - it’s relatively simple to pronounce Zeus or Thor (though his hammer Mjolnir is a little trickier, as evidenced by the number of people calling it “Mewmew”.). But how in the world does one say Matholwch, or Dindshenchas, or even Medb? (Jim Butcher, author of The Dresden Files, solves this problem by spelling Medb’s name as Maeve, which is roughly how it would be pronounced. Kevin Hearne, author of The Iron Druid Chronicles, gives you a pronunciation guide at the start of his book but tells you to say the names however you please.)

I won’t try to tell you how to say the names of the characters we’ll discuss, since I’m pretty sure I’d bungle the job. If you’re interested, here are a few guides - good luck!  I will end this discussion of names by telling you that when my brother David was born, my dad (a fan of Celtic mythology) wanted to spell his name Daffyd - it’s pronounced the same way.

My mom (not a fan of Daffy Duck) wouldn’t let him, haha!

But I digress - on to the myths.

Celtic mythology is somewhat unique amongst the various mythologies I’ve studied. A lot of things within the myths look like they could be a counterpart to, say, Greek mythology - but the way they are referenced is quite different. Take its deities, for example. They are rarely referred to as gods within the myths; instead, they go by the name “the Tuatha De Danann”, meaning “the Children of Danu”. Danu, according to the myths, is a mother goddess from whom everyone is born.

Often, the Celtic gods are simply referred to as “the Tuatha De”, or “the Children”. You’ll get to hear more about their members in the coming weeks.

There is a force in the myths set to oppose to Tuatha De - the Fomorians. The Fomorians were a fierce ancient tribe who fought against the Tuatha De Danann for possession of Ireland. There were several occasions where one of the two factions ruled over the other, but it was always during an uneasy peace truce that inevitably ended up broken. We’ll talk more about one such time in my next post.

Like many other mythologies, the Celtic myths feature demigods - but they are never referred to as such in the books I’ve read. Instead, they are the children, or the grandchildren, or even further descendants of one of the Tuatha De Danann. They possess powers greater than those of ordinary mortals, but they are not immortal.

 

Cu Chulainn, perhaps the best known child of the Tuatha De Danann.

Also unique in Celtic mythology is the role of the druid. Druids are sort of like priests, ones who worship the Tuatha De. However, druids appear in the Celtic myths before the Tuatha De Danann show up to settle Ireland. How can you have priests before you have gods? The answer likely lies with Danu, mother of the Tuatha De. The druids probably worshipped Danu and other earlier gods before the birth of the Tuatha De Danann.

Druids are not your typical priests. Their ranks are comprised of both male and female members (called druidesses), and they possess magic. They can use their powers to shapeshift themselves or others, bring life to inanimate objects (one story tells of a druid creating a bride out of flower petals), and move between their realm and the land of the gods - amongst other things. Pretty cool, right?

Perhaps my favorite part of Celtic mythology is the relationship between it and Christianity. The dichotomy between the two is pretty stark - and yet, the two mingle amongst the Celtic myths after the rise of Christianity. Priests find themselves under attack by magical creatures, or providing a home for beings cursed by druids. They even talk around a campfire with those who fought alongside descendants of the Tuatha De Danann. I find the coexistence of the two religions fascinating!

With that, I’ll wrap up this brief introduction. In the coming weeks we’ll be talking about several characters from Celtic mythology: some of the Tuatha De Danann, their descendants, and druids. I’ll also talk about some magical creatures found within the Celtic myths. I hope you guys stick around - I’m excited for this!

You know the drill - if you have questions or comments, please post below or email me. I’d love to hear from you! Are you familiar with Celtic mythology?

Intro to Fairy Tales

I think all of us have heard (or seen, or read) at least one fairy tale in our lives. Some of them are familiar to us: Beauty and the Beast, or Snow White. Others may be more obscure (depending on where you live, of course). Examples of these include the Story of Sigurd, or The White Cat - these are two of my favorites, but are not often told in the US.

So what is a fairy tale? There’s a pretty broad range of stories that are counted as fairy tales. At their most basic definition, fairy tales are fantastical stories that are told by a culture - told, but not believed in. This is their primary distinction from mythology. Although many fairy tales feature royalty (normally princes or princesses) as their main characters, this is not always the case. Both Hansel and Gretel and Jack and the Beanstalk feature poor, lower class characters instead of royals.

A common misconception about fairy tales is that they all begin with the phrase “Once upon a time...” and end with “...and they lived happily ever after.” The first part is at least generally true. Setting a fairy tale in “once upon a time” instead of a specific timeframe is part of what gives fairy tales a timeless quality. Most fairy tales can be imagined happening now just as easily as a few hundred (or even thousand) years ago. By opening with “once upon a time”, the storyteller lets the listeners decide when the story is happening.

So while many fairy tales do begin with “once upon a time”, the “and they lived happily ever after” part is rarely heard. Oh, some fairy tales end with the line, to be sure. However, the vast majority of happy fairy tales end without it. Then you have those fairy tales that are not happy - and these unhappy fairy tales most certainly do not end with “and they lived happily ever after.”

Unhappy fairy tales can be as tragic as some of Shakespeare’s works. They rival both Doctor Who and Supernatural in terms of sheer depressing-ness. Want some examples? The Story of Sigurd, which I mentioned above, ends with the main character and his beloved dead. I personally hate the tale of The Steadfast Tin Soldier, despite how beautifully it is told. The story ends with the Tin Soldier melting, and the toy he loves being burned to a crisp. There are many more unhappy tales out there than those two examples, but I’ll leave it up to you to find them. In general they tend to not be as prominent as the happy fairy tales (in part because Disney tends to only give happy endings.)

One of the most interesting things about fairy tales (at least to me) is the fact that similar tales are told all over the world. I once checked out a book that was a series of essays on Cinderella stories from cultures all over Earth - over 50 versions of the story! A local kid’s shop in my town sells picture books like The Chinese Cinderella or The African Cinderella. Some of the versions of the story are almost identical to the Cinderella tale that we are familiar with. Others are highly different, but with the core elements of the story remaining the same.

The same is true of several other fairy tales. Cultures around the world tend to have tales that are remarkably similar to the stories told by cultures somewhere else in the world. Some of this can be chalked up to the story having migrated from its original home. However, one wonders how cultures that have been largely secluded from other people in the world have the same story as a culture that embraces immigrants. Is it possible that the stories sprang up independently from one another?

I personally would love to find that there are aliens in the universe, just so that I could ask people from another planet about the fairy tales they tell. Would they be similar to ours, I wonder?

Another interesting aspect of fairy tales is the similarity some of them bear to mythological stories. I’ll go into this in more detail in later posts, but several common fairy tales seem to have drawn inspiration from myths. The story East of the Sun, West of the Moon is remarkably similar to the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche. Beauty and the Beast shares some concepts with the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, or the Mesopotamian one of Ereshkigal and Nergal. I am hardly the first person to remark on this, but I do find it fascinating. There’s a quote from a man named Max Muller that sums it up nicely:

“The gods of ancient mythology were changed into the demi-gods and heroes of ancient poetry, and these demi-gods again became, at a later age, the principal characters of our nursery tales.”

And with that, I’ll wrap up this post. My plan for the foreseeable future is to do posts about individual fairy tales. In that post, I’ll give a rundown of the story, talk about any mythological ties that I can find for it, and end with a recommendation of an adaptation (book or movie) of the story that I particularly enjoyed.

I hope that this was interesting for you guys! I really love fairy tales, especially the more timeless ones, and I’m looking forward to talking about them with you. If you have a fairy tale that you’d like me to cover, please comment below or email me! I’ll be back next week with a post about East of the Sun, West of the Moon.

Intro to Mesopotamian Mythology

Greetings everyone, and welcome to a new month! We’re going to be starting a new mythology today - that of the Mesopotamians. Ironically, Mesopotamian mythology is one of the oldest in the world...so it most certainly is not new!

Before I start talking about the myths, I’d like to answer a quick question: Who are the Mesopotamians?

The word “Mesopotamia” means “the land between two rivers”. The region of land dubbed Mesopotamia was thus named due to its location between (you guessed it!) two rivers - the Tigris and the Euphrates. When I use the term “Mesopotamian mythology”, I am referring to the collective myths of the several ancient civilizations that called Mesopotamia their home.

These civilizations include the Sumerians, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians. They ruled over Mesopotamia for three millennia, up until the Persians conquered them. At times one of their cultures existed simultaneously with another, but for the most part they succeeded one another.

There are several things that make Mesopotamian mythology fascinating. Firstly - its age. Mesopotamia’s myths and pantheon pre-date the Greek and Roman ones by a goodly long while. In fact, scholars believe that the classical myths of Greece and Rome were influenced by Mesopotamian mythology!  For instance, Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war, is very similar to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Worship of Ishtar revolved in part around the planet Venus - which is named for the Roman goddess of love! (This is insanely cool for a myth nerd like me.)  The Mesopotamian god Nabu, god of scribes and wisdom, bears similarities to the Greek god Apollo. These are only a few of many such similarities between Mesopotamia’s myths and those of later civilizations.

The second thing about Mesopotamian mythology that really intrigues me is the fact that the three cultures within Mesopotamia mostly worshipped the same gods. Due to their differences in languages, the gods sometimes had different names in different times/parts of Mesopotamia - but they were essentially the same beings, with basically the same stories.

While we’re on the subject of names - since the gods were often worshipped under more than one name (for example, Ishtar was called Inanna by the Sumerians) I will identify the god by all of its names at the start of my future posts. After that, I will refer to the deity by their Akkadian name (Akkadian being the language of the Babylonians and the Assyrians).

Now that I’ve bored you with all of these details, lets get down to the mythology!

Chief among the Mesopotamian gods was Anu, ruler of heaven. Both he and his son, Ellil (god of the earth) ruled over man and had the right to bestow kingship on mortals. Almost as important as them was Ea, who ruled over water and was thought of as a god of sorcery.

During the Babylonian era a new god rose up to become the chief of the pantheon - Marduk. Marduk was the son of Ea, and had been a farmer’s god associated with agriculture before the Babylonians got their hands on him. They saw Marduk as a champion of good, and told tales of his victories against the forces of evil.

Marduk’s son was Nabu, the scribe god I mentioned earlier in this post. The other deity I mentioned, Ishtar, was said to be the daughter of either Anu, Ellil, or Ea (Which one depends on the myth. Ishtar was also sometimes said to be a consort of Anu). Another possible father of Ishtar was Sin, the god of the moon.

Ishtar’s sister (by one of the multiple father candidates. Seriously. This feels like something out of Mama Mia!.) was Ereshkigal, queen of the Underworld. Their brother, Shamash, was the god of the sun.

Those are the major heavenly players; now lets talk about the human characters. Mesopotamian mythology is closely intertwined with its history. The Babylonians had a story called the Epic of Gilgamesh that tells the tale of a Sumerian king who actually existed. However, the tales of Gilgamesh’s exploits are highly embellished, including multiple interactions with the gods themselves. Gilgamesh is also said to be not entirely human; instead, he is two-thirds god, one-third man (I'm not quite sure how that works...but alright...)

Even the laws of Mesopotamia were influenced by their myths. Hammurabi, a king of Babylon, created the Code of Hammurabi, a collection of laws he claimed had been given to him by Marduk and Shamash themselves. The Code was carved into a stone, at the top of which is a picture of Hammurabi being handed the laws by one of the gods.

With all of that, I think I’ll wrap up my introduction! I’ll be going into stories about the individual deities and their adventures for the next several weeks. Until next post, please feel free to comment below or email me! I’m really looking forward to talking about the Mesopotamian myths, and I hope you guys are too!

Intro to Japanese Mythology

Welcome to 2015! (Wow, that is weird to type...) Lets start the new year with a new mythology!

Thus far we’ve discussed Norse and Greek mythology. The gods in these myths looked and acted human, but possessed extraordinary powers. These powers represented aspects of nature (such as lightning), traits (such as intellect), or the acts of man (such as weaving and warfare).

The divine figures in the Japanese myths are similar to these, but they differ from other mythologies in important ways. To begin with, Japanese religion is called “Shinto”, which means “Way of the Gods”. Shinto worship revolves around the Kami.

It is here that the distinction between Japanese mythology and other ancient religions becomes important. Though gods are a part of the Kami, they are not the only things worshipped. Other parts of the Kami include the spirits of one’s ancestors, some animals, and divine aspects of nature. For instance, some mountains in Japan are worshipped as the embodiment of an essence of nature.

Most of the stories I’ll be talking about revolve around the deities of the Kami. These include Izanagi and Izanami, two gods that are the parents of many others in the Kami. They are also credited with having given birth to the islands that make up Japan. Izanami later becomes the goddess of Yomi, the Japanese underworld.

Izanagi creates several other gods without Izanami. These include Susano, god of the seas and the storms, who plays the role of the trickster while with the other gods. However, once Susano comes to Earth he is seen helping and defending humans.

Susano’s sister Amaterasu is the goddess of the sun. Amaterasu is also portrayed as a helper of humanity within the myths, teaching mankind agriculture, weaving, and how to harvest silk - all of which were highly important to the early Japanese.

One of the most interesting aspects of Shinto lies in the fact that powerful families within early Japan claimed to have descended from the gods. This remains true even in modern Japan - the Emperor and his family are said to be descendents of Amaterasu herself.

Like other mythologies, the tales of the Kami were originally told orally. The Shinto myths were eventually compiled into a book called the Kojiki in the early 8th century. This book is where most of modern knowledge about the Kami comes from. If you are interested in learning more about Japanese mythology, I highly recommend looking up a translation of the Kojiki.

That concludes my brief introduction to Japanese mythology!  I hope you guys found it interesting! I love seeing what is similar to and different from other mythologies I know. The similarities are particularly interesting given the fact that Japan closed itself off from outside influence at several points in its history.

I’ll be back on Monday with a post about Izanagi and Izanami, and their descent into Yomi. Until then, feel free to comment or email me with any questions or thoughts you have!

Intro to Greek Mythology

If you’re from North America, you’re probably at least passingly familiar with Greek mythology. The influence Greek culture has had upon the world, but notably North America, is fascinating. We have been inspired by Greek architecture, sculpture, politics, drama...the list goes on. Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that the names of the Greek gods and demigods are familiar to us. I grew up watching the Ray Harryhausen movies with my dad; to this day, Jason and the Argonauts is one of my favorite movies. More recently, Clash of the Titans was remade with Liam Neeson as a glorious Zeus. 300 brought the Spartans of Greece to the big screen. Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series introduced Greek mythology to a new generation. Troy showed part of the story of the Iliad.
Despite the saturation of our culture by Greek mythology, not everyone knows all of the pantheon. Beyond the pantheon lie the innumerable demigods, who are as important to the myths as the gods are. That having been said, lets take a look at some of the major players in the Greek myths.

First and most important is Zeus. Zeus is king of the gods. He rules over the skies and is responsible for lightning and thunder. Zeus is to blame for a ton of the demigods that are born, since he is incapable of staying faithful to his wife, Hera - who is, ironically, the goddess of marriage.

Also important is Hades, god of the dead. He is Zeus’ brother, and arguably is more important, since he rules over all those who have ever died. The Greeks rarely talked about Hades, since death was something they feared, but he is never depicted as evil. Hades had a job to do, and he got it done, however unpleasant the task was.

Greek mythology is interesting in that it has a female goddess of war - Athena. This is intriguing because Greek women were afforded very few rights, and certainly could not go off to battle - but apparently the same rules did not apply to this goddess. Athena shares the reign of war with the male god Ares, but each represents a different aspect of battle. Ares rules over ruthless, brutal war, whereas Athena represents intelligent, tactical warfare. She is also the goddess of wisdom, and one of the goddesses of virgins.

There are other members of the pantheon that we’ll talk about in future posts, but for now I’d like to focus on the demigods. Demigods are the children of a god and a mortal, and are the heroes of the Greek myths. They slay monsters, save damsels, and often face tragedy in their lives. They occupy almost as many of the myths as the gods do. The Greeks named a lot of their constellations after these demigods and their stories. If a demigod’s father is Zeus, a jealous Hera almost always tries to make their life a living hell.

Perhaps the most famous demigod is Achilles, for whom a part of our heel is named. The son of a minor sea goddess and a mortal, Achilles was the hero of the Iliad, a written account by Homer of the oral stories of the Trojan War. If you’ve seen the movie Troy, let me tell you that Brad Pitt is not nearly whiny enough for the role of Achilles. Seriously. The “hero” of the Iliad is more whiny than Luke in the first Star Wars! Whiny, emo Anakin Skywalker comes close, but still falls short of Achilles.

We’ll talk more about these characters and more in later posts. For now, please put questions or comments below, and feel free to email me! Next post I’ll be talking about Zeus, and his inability to not sleep with a pretty lady.

Intro to Norse Mythology

Norse mythology tends to be less well known than Greek and Roman mythologies, at least in the United States. While most people are undoubtedly familiar with the names of Thor and Loki, they tend to know very little about the other members of the Norse pantheon. Stories from Norse mythology seem to not be known by the general populace. Since this is the case, let me give you a basic rundown of some of the characters and themes.

As much as I love Marvel’s portrayal of Loki and Thor, they seriously botched the backstories of these gods. For starters, Loki is the son of a giant named Laufey...but Laufey is a woman. Perhaps more importantly, Loki and Thor are not actually brothers.  Loki isn't even his adopted brother.  They aren’t related at all!  Loki is instead the blood brother of Odin, which involves an oath of brotherhood rather than actually sharing a parent.

Odin is the king of the gods, and is sometimes referred to as the Allfather. It is because of Loki’s relationship with him that Loki gets away with so much mischief. Both a god of war and a god of wisdom (Norse mythology tends to have multiple gods of the same thing), Odin is respected by the other gods and rules over them in Asgard.

Asgard is the realm of the gods, and here’s where things get really interesting. In Norse mythology there are nine realms. For this introduction we're only going to cover three of them, with others to come in later posts.  There's Asgard, the home of most of the gods; Midgard, which is Earth; and Jotunheim, home of the giants, who are called Jotun. Each realm rests in the bough of a giant ash tree called Yggdrasil, also commonly referred to as the World Tree.

The reason Jotunheim is important is because of the part it plays in the Norse version of the Apocalypse. This event is called Ragnarok, which translates to “doom of the gods”. During Ragnarok, Loki allies with the giants, or Jotun, and attacks the gods. Just about everyone dies in this event, including most of the main players in the pantheon. Oh, and most of mankind is wiped out too. Don’t worry, though - a few gods survive, along with two humans, who gradually repopulate the realms.

Norse mythology is fascinating to me for several reasons. The first is how different it is from most other mythologies. There are general similarities, sure, but the mythologies people are generally more familiar with all originated in the same parts of the world. The western civilizations that created the Greek, Egyptian, Roman, and Mesopotamian pantheons were all influenced by similar things and had somewhat similar cultures. The Norse were highly different from those western cultures, making their rich mythology also very different.

The second reason Norse mythology interests me is Ragnarok. According to the myths, Odin possessed the gift of foresight, so he knew about and warned of Ragnarok for a very long time. The gods lived their lives knowing that they were going to die - something almost unheard of in other mythologies, where gods were immortal and could not be killed.

That is a very brief rundown of Norse mythology and some of the themes I’ll be talking about. Stay tuned while I delve into specific characters and stories. Want to learn more? Below are two books that provide some basic information that’s good for getting started - check for them at your local library, or a college library near you if you have access. Feel free to post below with questions or comments, or to email them to me. See you guys next post!

Norse Mythology A to Z by Kathleen N. Daly

Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology by Brian Branston