Ancient Myths and Folklore

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!