War, blood, honor, loyalty, tradition, creatures, magic, supernatural are words that pop up throughout history in all myths and legends that born in ancient civilizations all around the world. These myths and legends have also become an inexhaustible source of inspiration for many novels out there.
From Homer to Suzanne Collins, myths and legends have served as a means through which several authors have channeled true masterpieces. Do you want to get awesome ideas for your book as well? Then, this post is for you. (…and also this one)
After all, I believe that legends and myths are largely made of ‘truth’.
j. r. r. Tolkien
Would you like to write about one of these topics? Or perhaps use it as a base for your plot? It doesn’t matter if you are a consumed author or a newbie writer learning how to write a novel, the truth is that mythology is rich in stories, conflict, characters, plot lines… and it relates greatly to the birth of literature.
Literary genres such as fantasy, horror, adventure, dystopia, have stood out above the other literary genres due to their out-of-the-box characters, disturbing environments, and supernatural creatures. There is magic, myths, and legends, in extraordinary scenarios and incredible situations where some heroic character always intervenes.
You’ve probably heard about more than one of the great myths and legends that have existed throughout history, the gods from Olympus like Zeus and Hera, or perhaps those that inhabit Valhalla like Odin and Thor. Most of these have strong links with fantasy because since ancient times men relied on them to bring out the brightest supernatural ideas and explain the natural phenomena.
Going into this world, mostly influenced by the culture and religion of many ancient civilizations, means that you are going to be exploring the purest form of idiosyncrasy and identity of several cultures around the world.
Here, I leave you a brief guide of the mythologies that have strongly influenced literature. It will serve you to get ideas and inspiration if you want to choose any of these genres.
Before we get started…
First, you should know that each culture has its myths. They can significantly vary according to the folklore of each region and with the passing of time, those many mythologies evolve and manifest themselves in different behaviors and customs.
The original meaning of the word mythology comes from the Greek mythos meaning “story of the people” and logos, “speech”. Poets and narrators told people the sacred stories about gods and special beings.
They usually include prodigious creatures and gods, who allow a colorful narrative to the story, combined by inexplicable events, fantastic situations, great natural phenomena caused by gods who manage nature at their will.
In general, the words myth and legend can be interchangeable. However, it is possible to establish some differences between the two, although, in many cases, the line between one and the other isn’t clear.
Let’s get into it:
Greek myths and legends
Some important poems that can help you collect ideas from the Greek mythology are the epic poems of Homer: The Iliad and the Odyssey. The events narrated in these poems happen around the Trojan War. In them, you will learn about the life of the Gods, and how they influenced the actions of humans.
It mostly makes reference to tragic stories, where the fate and misfortunes of the heroes are determinate by the decisions of the gods. They had a colossal mausoleum of deities that they worshiped.
You can use this structure for your writing, since basically it was the gods who led the characters to commit certain actions, so it is important that you keep this in mind.
Among the magnificent characters that could serve you as inspiration are Zeus, the father of all gods, master of lightning and heavens; Aphrodite, Goddess of passion and beauty; Apollo, God of the sun and guardian of paternal rights, among many others.
Some creatures from the greek mythology that you can use in your book are:
- Centaurs: Human head and torso and the body of a horse.
- Giants
- Chimera: Monster with three heads that breathes fire
- Sphinx: Human head, lion body
- Pegasus: A winged stallion
- Spartae: Skeleton beings with military attire born from violence
- Unicorns
- Seagoats
- Panes: Human torso and head, body and horns of a goat.
Some story lines that can be useful are:
- The legend of Agriopas: He tasted some viscera of a human child, and as a punishment, was turned into a wolf for ten years.
- In order to stop Lacoon from telling the true purposes of the Trojan horse, Tenedos sent a pair of giant serpent dragons to kill him.
- The killing of the Minotaur by Theseus, to stop the tradition of scarifying young men and women to it. Legend says Arianna gave him a thread to help him get out of the labyrinth inhabited by the Minotaur.
- Prometheus stole the fire from the gods and gave it to the humans, because of this, he was punished to be eternally tortured.
- The legend of Icarus says he and his father built a pair of wings that enabled him to fly. His ambition took him to fly to close to the sun, which made the wax in wings melt away and caused Icarus’s death.
- King Midas and his golden touch: he had the ability to turn everything he touched into gold, but soon he realized this was rather a curse since he even the people he loved would turn into gold.
- Pandora: Her curiosity led her to open a box that contained all the evils of the world.
- The Danadais sisters: It’s a legend of three sisters that killed their husbands on their wedding night. The gods punished them to eternal torment.
Viking or Norse myths and legends
It is one of the most interesting mythologies since it tells the myths and legends of a society that truly existed, and created the bases for the elaboration of laws and behaviors of specific people.
Each story, according to experts on the subject, are stories of how the gods bequeathed all their knowledge and experience to man.
Viking mythology is in charge of describing the way in which the world was created, when the gods entered the kingdom of fire, exploding two lightning bolts with the purpose of creating the sun and the moon, and with the waste, the stars were formed. Interesting, right?
Moreover, the beings who ruled and defended the kingdom were figures of colossal power, like the giants. There was a life beyond the real one, and the best Vikings who died in battle went to Valhalla.
Some of the creatures in this mythology are:
- Gods like Odin, Thor or Freya,
- Giants,
- Elves: beautiful semi-gods with pale skin
- Dwarfs: They inhabited laberynth like mines. The forged Thor’s hammer
- Valkiries, female Odin’s helpers that decided who lived and died in battle, and therefoe, who got into Valhalla
- Jörmungandr: A large serpent, son of Loki, thrown into the Ocean by Odin.
- Fenrir: Son of Loki, a very dangerous wolf-like creature whose power must be constrainted by decision of the dogs.
Useful plot lines:
- Odin gives up one eye in exchange for one of the greatest prizes.
- The gods used two pieces of driftwood found on the shore to create humans in the world the gods had just created.
- The gods fight against the giants in a final battle that will decide the fate of the world.
I’m sure many of the elements of the Norse mythology were familiar to you. They are certainly present in many different stories from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling to The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Roman myths and legends
Closely linked to religious aspects, this one is not as fictitious as the Greek or the Nordic one, since it narrates basic situations about the lives of men and their preparation for life.
In Roman mythology, the gods are in charge of protecting men from the dangers of nature, their crops, and the land in which they reigned. You should also know that it was at this time that the famous temples began to appear, where people worshiped deities, and as result, the conflict with Christianity was born. This is a good topic that you could develop in the future.
Believe it or not, Roman mythology has great influence today. For example, the current lunar calendar includes the names of Roman gods, for example, Venus, goddess of fertility and love, Jupiter, father of all gods, and men, Mars, the god of war and evil.
Some of the cretures in the Roman mythology are:
- Faun: a bipedal half-human, half-goat creature
- Lemures: Spirits of the dead
- Abarimon: People with feet turned backwards that could run at remarkable speed
- Cacus: a fire-breathing giant
- Caladrius: a bird that inhabits the chambers of kings and is able to take all illness and fly away
Useful plot ideas:
- Romulus and Remus: Twin brothers abandoned in a river were saved by the river’s spirit and fed by a wolf.
- Jupiter and the bee: A queen bee flew to Jupiter and asked him to grant her a sting with which she could kill the humans stealing her honey. Jupiter did it, but as he loved humans, the use of the sting would come at the expense of the bee’s life.
- Cassandra: Apollo gave Cassandra the power of making prophecies and in return, she would have to marry him. She didn’t do her part of the deal and Apollo cursed her so no one would believe any of her prophecies. People locked her up and considered a lunatic. No one listened to her when she tried to warn people about the Trojan horse.
Myths and Legends from Egypt
Egyptian mythology has one of the widest spectra of gods in the whole history of humankind. Gods such as Horus, the god of the sky, Anubis, who was represented as a figure of a dog, the earth, the moon, and the stars were given the name and shape of a deity. The Egyptians considered cats, beetles, hawks, snakes, and hippos holy. They created fabulous creatures, products of the combination of different beings, as in the case of the sphinx, which had the body of a lion and the head of a woman.
With the arrival of Christianity, many of these beliefs decreased. The tombs were looted and demolished, losing much information about this mythology. I think this is a good start for a novel since discoveries are still being made about the culture and folklore of this civilization today, due to its great importance and influence today.
Some elements of the Egyptian culture that you could include in your book are:
- Water gods: The Egyptians believed in the existence of eight water gods, called Ogdoad. These gods had frog heads and came in couples of a male and a female. They were inspired by the belief that the Earth was only water at the beginning of its creation.
- Osiris. The legend of Osiris says that he was a king of Egypt. His brother killed and dismembered him. His wife put the pieces together to bring him back to life and conceive a child. The representation of Osiris is usually a mummy.
- Ra: Egyptians believed Ra was the creator of the world. The also believed that he travelled every day through the sky to see his creations. The kings believed they were direct descendants of Ra.
- Horus: A falcon or a man with a falcon’s head.
Latin American myths and legends
Latin America is a vast region. The many countries that conform it share the traces of t a common hystorical past. This means that they have many points in common when it comes to culture. Nevertheless, the variety of its culture is endless and worth revising carefully.
Inside all these countries, there are hidden stories that even today represent part of the culture of this region. You can use this resource to take the characters in your novel on a journey through the Amazon rainforests.
The legends from this region are usually very scary, let’s see a few of them:
- El chupacabras: A creature that feeds from the blood of goats. It doesn’t attack humans, but its appearance is really scary. It is half-ways between a human and a bat.
- La llorona: It makes reference to a mother who has killed her children in order to be with the man she loved. After being rejected by her love, La Llorona wanders crying for her babies and possibly kidnapping others.
- El cuco: It’s the equivalent to the boogeyman. It’s a man that kidnaps and eats mishaved children. Mostly a resource for parents.
- La Ciguapa: A creature tat can hypnotize men and take them to the woods to kil them. This female creature has her feet facing backwards.
- El güije: This is a Cuban myth. Many people that live in the countryside believe that güijes inhabit the forests. Güijes are little creatures with long dreadlocks, black skin and blood-injected eyes that lurk the forest trying to find victims to murder and eat. It’s common that people that inhabit rural areas ask for permission to the guijes before tresspassing their territory.
- La novia(The bride): This is a woman that appears as a legend in many countries. She hitchhikes in a wedding gown. If someone stops the car to give her a ride, she would cry in the back seat and later either disappear or kill the driver, depending on the behavior of the driver. People believe she killed hersel after the abandonment of his future husband in the altar. So, now she chses men at night in revenge.
Summing up…
Myths and legends are an endless souce of inspiration for writers all around the world. Well, there is no doubt that thanks to all the mythological tales and stories, that went from generation to generation, whether in written or orally, different civilizations formed their culture, and donated abundant knowledge to the present. Many of these even in the uncivilized corners of the planet are a tool to explain many events. Besides, as part of literature, they enriched the world library, leaving great works that encouraged many writers to start their profession and look for new ideas.
If you want to start writing in literary genres such as fantasy, horror or adventure, it is always a great idea to research the different cultures, traditions, deities and convictions. This will bring depth to your story and excellent material to write powerful inciting incidents for your novel. I mean, if the gods did it, then, it was important, right?
The characters you will face are supernatural, magnificent beings capable of changing events. You have many resources that you can use, do not be afraid to exploit your ideas at the fullest. Just as other authors have done it before, you can use these myths and legends to nurture your work.
Always keep in mind that it is vitally important to preserve the custom of reading and writing about the culture of our countries. This is the only way to keep it alive.
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