WORLD
Explore Myths, Gods and Legends from Around the World
Stories of gods, heroes, monsters and legendary worlds from every culture
Kalevala
The Kalevala is Finland’s national epic and one of the most important written records of Finnic oral poetry. It presents a world of powerful singers, smiths, spirits, enchanted objects and rival communities, especially t…
Ratatoskr
Ratatoskr is a squirrel-like creature in Norse mythology, known for running up and down the world tree Yggdrasil. According to the surviving medieval poems and prose, Ratatoskr carries hostile messages between the great …
Lugh
Lugh is one of the most prominent figures in Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the supernatural people who become associated with Ireland’s pre-Christian divine world, he is celebrated as a warrior, rule…
Kalma
Kalma is a death-related figure or supernatural presence in Finnish mythology and folklore. The name is associated with death, graves, corpses and the smell of decay. In modern summaries of Finnish mythology, Kalma is of…
Anteros
Anteros is a minor figure of Greek mythology associated with returned love, mutual affection and, in some traditions, the punishment of unrequited love. His name is formed from the Greek ant-erōs, a word that can suggest…
Aurora
Aurora is the Roman goddess and poetic personification of the dawn. Each morning she brings light to the eastern horizon, opening the way for the sun and marking the transition between night and day. Her name is also the…
Antaeus
Antaeus is a powerful wrestler and giant of Greek mythology, traditionally associated with Libya in the broad geographical sense used by ancient Greek writers for North Africa. He is best known for his encounter with Her…
Aquilo
Aquilo is the Roman personification of the north wind, or in some systems the cold wind blowing from the north-northeast. He belongs to the Roman tradition of naming and humanising the principal winds, which were importa…
Eshu
Èṣù, often written Eshu in English, is a major òrìṣà of Yoruba religious tradition. He is associated with communication, movement, exchange, uncertainty, and the power that allows messages and offerings to reach their de…
Hare
Hare occupies a modest but recognisable place in Yoruba animal folklore. In Yoruba, the animal is commonly called ehoro, although English translations may render the word as “hare,” “rabbit,” or sometimes simply “small w…
Yemaya
Yemaya is one of the best-known names associated with Yemoja, a powerful female water divinity in Yoruba religious tradition. In Yoruba contexts, the name is more commonly written Yemoja or Yemọja. She is connected espec…
Jakuta
Jakuta is a Yoruba name associated with thunder, lightning and the dangerous power of the sky. In many accounts, Jakuta is an aspect, title or earlier form of Ṣàngó (often written Shango), the Yoruba orisha of thunder an…
Hiruko
Hiruko is a mysterious figure in early Japanese mythology, best known as the first child of the creator deities Izanagi and Izanami. In the creation narratives preserved in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki, Hiruko is described…
Tamano-no-mae
Tamano-no-Mae is a legendary fox woman in Japanese medieval and early-modern tradition. She is usually portrayed as an extraordinarily beautiful court lady whose presence brings illness and disaster to Emperor Toba. Afte…
Hosuseri
Hosuseri is a minor but significant figure in Japanese mythology, known chiefly from the genealogy of the gods and heroes descended from the heavenly kami. In the Kojiki, Japan’s oldest surviving written record of myths,…
Hoso-no-kami
Hōsō-no-kami (also written Hoso-no-kami or Hōsōgami) is the Japanese personification of smallpox. The name is formed from hōsō, meaning smallpox, and kami, a deity, spirit, or sacred power. Rather than a single god with …
Anguta
Anguta is a figure associated with Inuit traditions, especially stories from Greenland and parts of the eastern Arctic. He is best known as the father of Sedna, the powerful woman who becomes connected with the sea anima…
Aningan
Aningan is a moon figure in some Inuit traditions, especially those recorded in Greenland and the eastern Arctic. He is commonly described as a male personification of the Moon and as the brother, pursuer, or estranged c…
Arnakuagsak
Arnakuagsak is a figure associated with Inuit religious tradition, especially traditions recorded in Greenland. She is commonly described as a powerful female being connected with food, hunting success and the continued …
Eeyeekalduk
Eeyeekalduk is a name associated in some modern English-language references with Inuit mythology, usually as a female power connected with childbirth, fertility, or motherhood. The identification is uncertain, however. E…
Cochimetl
Cochimetl is a name associated in some modern reference works with an Aztec or Nahua deity of sleep. The figure is obscure, however, and the surviving evidence is much less substantial than it is for better-documented de…
Coyolxauhqui
Coyolxauhqui is a major figure in Mexica, or Aztec, mythology, best known as the leader of the Centzon Huitznahua and the enemy of the newborn god Huitzilopochtli. In the central myth associated with her, she leads an at…
Eagle Warrior
Eagle Warrior is the common English name for a member of an elite military order of the Mexica, often called the Aztecs, who ruled a powerful state in central Mexico before the Spanish conquest. The term does not usually…
Cuaxolotl
Cuaxolotl is a very obscure name associated in some modern reference works with Aztec or broader Nahua mythology. The evidence for Cuaxolotl is limited, and the figure does not possess the clearly documented mythology of…
Inle
Inle is an orisha venerated especially in Cuban Lucumí, the Caribbean religious tradition that developed from Yoruba beliefs carried from West Africa to Cuba. He is commonly associated with healing, medicine, fishing, ri…
Orichas
Orichas are sacred divine beings honoured in Yoruba-derived religions of the Caribbean, especially Cuban Regla de Ocha-Ifá, commonly known outside the tradition as Santería. The word is a Spanish-influenced spelling of t…
Abe Mango
Abe Mango is an obscure and uncertain name associated in some modern lists with South American mythology. Unlike well-attested figures such as Yúcahu, Bochica, Makunaima or Supay, Abe Mango does not have a clearly docume…
Aguara-tunpa
Aguara-tunpa is a figure associated chiefly with Guarani-speaking peoples of South America, especially traditions identified with the Ava Guarani—formerly and controversially called Chiriguano—in eastern Bolivia and neig…
Uluru
Uluru is a vast sandstone monolith in the centre of Australia and one of the most important sacred places in the living traditions of the Aṉangu peoples, including the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara. It is often disc…
Waang
Waang is a name associated with a crow or raven ancestral being in some Aboriginal traditions of southeastern Australia. The spelling Waang is especially encountered in material connected with Kulin-speaking peoples of V…
Wati-kutjara
Wati-kutjara, also written Wati Kutjara or Wati-kutjara Tjukurpa, is the name commonly translated as “Two Men” in several Western Desert Aboriginal traditions of Australia. The name generally refers not to one individual…
Walaganda
Walaganda is a name associated in some English-language accounts with an Aboriginal ancestral or sky being of northern Australia. The identity is not uniformly described, however. Australian Aboriginal peoples do not sha…
St. Peter Damian
St. Peter Damian was an eleventh-century Italian Benedictine monk, bishop, cardinal, theologian and writer who became one of the strongest voices for reform in the medieval Latin Church. He lived during a period when pop…
Barquiel
Barquiel is an uncommon name associated with angelological and occult traditions. It is often treated as a variant spelling of Barachiel, Barakiel, or related forms derived from a Hebrew expression meaning “lightning of …
St. Peter Of Verona
St. Peter of Verona, also known as Peter Martyr or Pietro da Verona, was a thirteenth-century Italian Dominican friar, preacher and inquisitor who was killed in 1252. The Catholic Church venerates him as a martyr and sai…
Barman
Barman is an obscure name associated in some modern reference works with Persian or Iranian angelology. It is sometimes described as an angel connected with the month of Bahman, animals, or benevolent thought. However, t…Glasya-Labolas
Glasya-Labolas is a demon described in early modern European demonological literature, especially the Lemegeton, or Lesser Key of Solomon. In that tradition, he is presented as a powerful spirit holding the ranks of Pres…
Samigina
Samigina is a demon in the early modern Western grimoire tradition, best known as the fourth spirit listed in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon. The name appears in several forms, including G…
Gaap
Gaap is a demon described in early modern European demonological literature, most notably in the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon. These works present him as a p…
Furfur
Furfur is a demon recorded in early modern European grimoires, especially the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is usually described as a great earl who appears as a hart with a fiery tail, a…Mythology and the Stories of Ancient Civilizations
Mythology is the collection of stories, beliefs and traditions that ancient cultures used to explain the world around them. Long before modern science, myths offered answers to fundamental questions about the creation of the universe, natural phenomena, human existence, death and the forces believed to govern destiny.
Every civilization developed its own mythological tradition. Greek mythology tells of powerful Olympian gods, heroic warriors and terrifying monsters. Norse mythology describes a universe of interconnected worlds inhabited by gods, giants, elves and legendary creatures. Egyptian mythology revolves around divine kingship, the journey into the afterlife and the eternal struggle between order and chaos.
Beyond the most familiar traditions, thousands of myths emerged across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Oceania and the ancient Middle East. Hindu mythology contains vast cycles of gods, avatars and cosmic events. Japanese folklore is filled with kami, spirits and mysterious beings, while Celtic traditions preserve stories of warriors, magical lands and supernatural powers.
Although these traditions developed independently, many share recurring themes. Creation myths, great floods, journeys to the underworld, divine battles and heroic quests appear in cultures separated by enormous distances.
Gods and goddesses often represented the forces that shaped everyday life. Some ruled over storms, oceans, war or agriculture, while others protected families, cities or the dead.
Mythical creatures also played an essential role in these stories. Dragons, giants, spirits, shapeshifters, demons and hybrid beasts could act as enemies, guardians, warnings or symbols of forces beyond human control.
Myths were not simply invented as entertainment. They were connected to religious rituals, social customs, political power and cultural identity.
Many mythological stories survive today through literature, art, cinema, television and video games. However, modern adaptations often differ considerably from the original traditions.
At WorldMythos, you will find articles organised by mythology, culture and subject. Our aim is to present legendary stories in a clear and engaging way while distinguishing between ancient sources, folklore, historical interpretation and modern popular culture.