Ancient myths and legends hold
an important place in both fantasy writing and the real world. Authors
have used ancient myths as a basis for their fantastic stories for generations.
Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan, was one such author. He used
bits and pieces of myths from the Celtic, Norse, Egyptian, and near-east
cultures in order to lend his fictional, pre-historical era a sense
of realism, and to forge a believable link between a world of sorcery
and pre-human monsters and the real world.
It can be argued that myths have
had a tremendous impact on the development and form of human culture.
The ancient stories depict and illustrate how men and women should act
and think given certain situations. Our notions of heroes and villians
are formed and maintained by myths. Our ideas of success and what is
right are held in the stories we tell. Joseph Campbell, in his book
"The Hero With a Thousand Faces", proposes that myth holds the key to
understanding the deepest and most profound essence of human society
and existance.
Myths and folklore are the ultimate
popular stories. They have survived and been re-told for hundreds, perhaps
thousands of years. Just think of the huge amount of money a myth would
have generated over the years if it could have been copyrighted! Is
it any wonder that writers and publishers look to the ancient myths
and legends for examples of what kind of stories stir the human heart?
Other people have done an exceptional job of presenting
information about ancient myths and legends on the Internet. So I have
compiled a list of excelent links to various myth oriented web sites.
Most of the links focus on ancient European myths from the Celts and
Norse, but some are general mythology links and contain myths and folklore
from around the world! |