Questions tagged [mythology]
For questions about mythology, stories or beliefs about supernatural beings and events held to be true in some culture.
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Children's anthology of myth and legend with Togail Bruidne Da Derga
I seek the identity of an anthology of myths and legends for children I read in the early 1960s in the children's room at the Abington Library at Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.
One story was the classic ...
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Origin of the notion that placing a silver cross inside a vampire's coffin will keep him there indefinitely
Most of us know about the use of silver bullets to neutralize vampires, but, I also heard, somewhere, I believe it was in one of the episodes of the ABC TV soap opera Dark Shadows (1966-1971), that if ...
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Who was the first to depict an alraune as seated inside a giant flower?
"Alraune" is the German word for what in English is called the mandrake root. The "alraune" as a specific magical creature appears in several fantasy game systems, including the ...
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British or Celtic folklore fantasy book from the 80s
Searching for a book I read in the 80s. It featured Fae/fairy woodland type characters, one of which had a torn wing. They lived in a forest that was slowly shrinking as the modern world encroached on ...
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Old movie similar to Clash of Titans (1981) but with Romans
Looking for this old movie with stop-motion effects. I have seen it TV in early 2000's in Czech dub, original language probably being English.
I remember only isolated scenes from the movie, but now ...
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I'm trying to remember a book I read about 11 years ago. This is a young adult fantasy book set in ancient Egypt
An adult fantasy book with Egyptian mythology.
A mute jackal shapeshifter girl who gets her voice back eventually
when she kisses a demigod and he was tortured after his parents threw
him out.
The ...
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What was the first work to portray the guardian of the Golden Fleece as a many-headed hydra?
I'm looking for the earliest work (not mythology, but fantasy inspired by the story of the Argonauts) that portrays a hydra-like dragon guarding the Golden Fleece.
At the climax of the mythical tale ...
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How can different pantheons coexist in the Marvel Universe? [closed]
In the Marvel Universe there exist Norse gods, Greek gods, and some other pantheons from different civilizations. But how is this possible? The myths of each culture imply the existence of only their ...
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What's the first example of fairies being divided into Summer and Winter Courts?
Modern fiction about fairies often describes them as being divided into Summer and Winter Courts, sometimes Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter Courts.
A lot of people seem to believe that this is an ...
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What are these creatures on the cover of Kane Chronicles: The Throne of Fire?
What are these two creatures?
I feel that they could be either tjesu heru,
Sure enough, Menshikov's staff began to writhe and grow.
Great, I thought. Another serpent.
But something was wrong with ...
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Which of the Eternals were based on mythological characters?
Many of the Eternals have names that are very similar to classic mythological characters. This is even called out and explained directly for a couple of them: Thena was the Greek goddess Athena, and ...
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Do the Norse gods exist in Star Trek?
An episode of the original Star Trek, Who Mourns for Adonais, establishes that the Greek gods exist in the Star Trek universe. If the Greek gods exist, then that makes me wonder if the Norse gods do ...
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What are these creatures in Shang-Chi?
Shang-Chi: Legend of the 10 Rings features a variety of classical Chinese mythical creatures. However I did not recognise the antagonist "soul sucker" creatures.
I have no example images, ...
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Is there any fantasy backing to a viper turning into a magical horse, as shown in King's Quest II?
In the original version of King's Quest II, there's a puzzle that involves throwing a leather bridle onto a viper and turning it into a magical horse, which King Graham then gets a poison-neutralizing ...
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Science fiction/Mythology story/author that may have been in the back of a Michael Moorcock book
Many many years ago (over 20?) I was standing in a Walden Books and I flipped through this book and found an excerpt from some other book or story. What I can remember is there was a warrior that was ...
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What was the inspiration for the diminishing of the elves, and separation of their realm from the world?
An important theme in Tolkien lore is the separation of Valinor from Middle-earth, and the subsequent diminishing of the Elves.
In more recent novels, these themes appear again, for example, in The ...
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Is the "I Ya" myth in Xenocide based on a real Chinese myth?
In Xenocide by Orson Scott Card, Jane tells the myth of I Ya to Qing-jao to ask her if she is a slave similar to the character of this myth.
"Remember the story of I Ya, the great cook," ...
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Neil Gaiman story: Caves that lead everywhere?
I read a story or a book by Neil Gaiman that I believe was set in Norse mythology but I don't think was his actual book "Norse Mythology," although I could be wrong about this. Whatever it was, he ...
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In American Gods, is there another version of the gods in their native lands?
In chapter 6, Wednesday says to the council of old gods,
When the people came to America they brought us with them.
So what happened to the lands that they left?
Do they no longer have gods?
Or ...
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Folklore and mythology in The Witcher's bestiary [closed]
The Witcher's world has a very rich bestiarium.
For example the arts of a vampire:
Higher Vampire
Alpor
Katakan
Moola
Bruxa
Nosferat
Ekimma
Fleder
Garkain
Plumard
Or the Necrophages:
Abaya
Alghoul
...
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What are the Djinn from Clash of the Titans (2010) based on?
I was watching Clash of the Titans (2010) and I really liked the Djinn, I thought the idea of bark skinned desert sorcerers was really cool and wanted to read more about it. I know Djinn is usually ...
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Is there a real-world mythological counterpart to WoW's "kill your gods for power" theme?
In World of Warcraft, various groups seen trying to kill or sacrifice their own ostensible "gods" to gain power. Generally, this is associated with the trolls and their Loa, which I understand to be ...
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Curator working late discovers the night watchman is the vandal and the Egyptian gods are real
I’d love to identify a short story I read in an anthology that must’ve been printed in the 80s or 90s.
The main character is a museum curator and she’s working late studying a statue of an Egyptian ...
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How integral is legend to the Tolkien Legendarium itself?
Is an essential aspect of Tolkien's creation about legends having their own legends?
I ask because for me one of the things that makes Arda so compelling and believable as fantasy is that it is a ...
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What was the epic poem referenced in An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire?
Near the end of An Artificial Night, book three in the October Daye series starring October "Toby" Daye, towards the end of the book, she is a prisoner of Blind Michael and the Wild Hunt.
The way ...
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Why did the author choose 3 min 4 sec to be stolen by the Sídhe?
In Peadar Ó Guilín's the Call series, why did the author choose for the Sídhe to steal teenagers away to the Grey Land for exactly 3 minutes and 4 seconds? Was this length of time, or proportion of a ...
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Japanese Wedding Chant from Ghost in the Shell
What more is known about the Japanese mythical and folk origins of the Wedding Chant in Making of Cyborg and Reincarnation, the main theme songs of Ghost in the Shell?
Making of Cyborg is the amazing ...
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What does the Statue of Extra Liberty represent?
In this interview with show runner Patrick Somerville, we have:
In one standout absurdist moment in this wonky New York, a tour guide points out a winged "Statue of Extra Liberty" across the water (...
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Why do Marvel prefer Norse Gods and DC the Greek pantheon?
I haven't read a lot of comics but Marvel seems to use only the Norse gods (Thor, Odin, Hel, Loki...) and DC seem to use the Greek gods (Zeus, Hercule, Ares...)
I might be wrong in thinking that ...
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Literary fantasy epic about a faun who spent quite a long stretch of time as an inanimate statue, the "Stone Faun"?
I'm trying to recall the name of a book I read in the mid-90s. It was probably new at that time. It was a lengthy, literary, philosophical minded fantasy about a faun who spent quite a long stretch ...
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French folklore: giants trying to raise a ladder into Heaven to overthrow God
In Frédéric Mistral's epic poem, Mirèio, is the following short passage (Canto VIII, "La Crau", stanzas 25-28, English translation by Harriet Waters Preston):
Then was revealed La Crau, the ...
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Trying to find name of fantasy book with characters possibly called Max and Daniel [duplicate]
This is my first time asking a question here so sorry if I mess up anything.
I've been trying to find the title of a fantasy book that I heard on Audio CD 5-10 years ago, so my memories of it may be ...
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What is the first use of "glamour" to describe magic? [closed]
There are a number of stories about magical beings, typically the Fae, that are said to possess "glamour" which gives them a variety of powers. Typically these abilities are somehow illusory but can ...
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What are Gog and Magog?
In the Season 13 episode, Good Intentions, Dean and Castiel face off against Gog and Magog.
Unlike other biblical figures (Nephilim, Cain etc), the origin of this pair is questionable. They are ...
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What would you call the child of a god and a demigod?
So if the child of a god and mortal is a demigod, and the children of demigods are called legacies (or demigods), then what would the child of a god and demigod be called? They would be three quarter ...
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What's the difference between Shamballa and Agartha? [closed]
What's the difference between Shamballa and Agartha?
I read some articles on the internet about fantasy worlds and I came across these two worlds. I really can't tell the difference between them as ...
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Did wizards of the coast invent aasimars?
I am am having problems finding aasimars mentioned in any other way outside of dungeons and dragons. Did Wizards of the Coast (or TSR whatever) invent them, or are they based on any mythological ...
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Mythological/Fantasy Fiction Young Adult Novel
Read this book about 15 years ago or so but all I can remember about it that it was on a fictional planet. Had a map in the book that was triangular or diamond shape with the top part of the diamond ...
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Is the monster Godzilla based on an old myth/legend?
In the 1998 Roland Emmerich-directed film Godzilla,* a Japanese sailor who survived an attack by the monster early in the film identifies the creature as "Gojira."
Later in the film, news reporter ...
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Where in history do Dryads come from?
I believe it's Norse, but can't seem to find a definite answer on the web. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
P.S: I heard once they are a sister-spirit of Banshees, is there ...
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What we we know about the source of the light in the Two Trees of Valinor?
The sun and the moon were created from the light of the trees of light, Laurelin and Telperion, after they had been destroyed; some parts of them survived the destruction and could thus be used for ...
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where in history does the significance to silver come into play as a defense against werewolves and vampires\\ [duplicate]
All myths come from somewhere, so where did the notion that silver affects werewolves come from?
Of wolf-based lore coming from France was there anything during that time that could have contributed ...
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Are these mythological references in Dire: Time?
In Dire: Time, the eponymous Doctor Dire winds up transported through time and, among her adventures, frees the Norse god Loge (or, given he's the father of Fenris, possible this Loge) from ...
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Does Emmet's name imply that he is a golem?
The protagonist of The Lego Movie (2014) is named Emmet Brickowski. Like most of the other characters in the film, Emmet is a Lego figure but seems to be able to move independently, or so we are led ...
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Why don't Thor's goats appear in the MCU?
If I remember correctly, Thor in Nordic mythology has his hammer and his two flying goats, which can recreate themselves from just a single bone. Why doesn't he have the goats in the Marvel movies? Is ...
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In the Dresden Files, why does Nicodemus Archleone find Mouse so startling/threatening?
The Setup
Nicodemus is a fearless sociopath with millenia of accumulated knowledge, a nearly flawless dueling record, and the support of Anduriel, who can suppress magic at will, gain situational ...
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Effect of Angels amputating wings? [closed]
In several movies, series and books, Angels living on earth have amputated their wings - or had them amputated:
The Hush book-series by Becca Fitzpatrick
Lucifer comic-series
Lucifer TV-series (...
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Mako Mermaids/H2O Just Add Water: Why do mermaids fear cats?
I've been watching "Mako Mermaids" - a Netflix Original series... a sort-of sequel to "H2O - Just Add Water" (which I believe Disney-channel aired).
Anyway, a sort of running joke in the series, is ...
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What is the first known work of fantasy or legend to feature a magic sword?
Where in known fiction entailing magic—including written and oral forms predating the novel—did the concept of a magical sword first appear? Answers should clearly distinguish between any magic of the ...
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Book series, Reincarnation, Different Gods and Goddess?
I remember reading this novel in high school (around 2010-2014). Chosen kids are transported through time into a post-apocalypse world where humans cannot have babies anymore. Each kid represents a ...
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