WORLD
Explore Myths, Gods and Legends from Around the World
Stories of gods, heroes, monsters and legendary worlds from every culture
Nine Worlds
The Nine Worlds are the interconnected realms of Norse cosmology, traditionally understood as being held together or structured around the world tree Yggdrasill. They belong to the religious and mythological traditions o…
Finegas
Finegas is a learned figure in Irish mythology, best known as the teacher of Fionn mac Cumhaill and as the man who sought the salmon of wisdom. In the story most often associated with him, Finegas spends years waiting be…
Haltija
Haltija is a Finnish term for a supernatural guardian, keeper, or spirit associated with a place, household, natural feature, activity, or living thing. It does not usually name one individual being with a fixed biograph…
Njord
Njord is a god of the Vanir in Norse mythology, associated with the sea, seafaring, favourable winds, wealth and prosperity. He is especially important in traditions preserved by medieval Icelandic writers, where he appe…
Canens
Canens is a minor but memorable figure in Roman mythology, known chiefly from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. She is presented as a Latin nymph and the wife of Picus, an ancient king of Latium. Canens is distinguished above all by…
Candelifera
Candelifera is a little-known figure associated with childbirth in Roman religious tradition. Her name is usually understood as meaning “she who bears a candle” or “candle-bearer,” from the Latin candela, “candle,” and f…
Ariadne
Ariadne is a princess of Cretan mythology best known for helping the Athenian hero Theseus escape from the Labyrinth after he killed the Minotaur. Her story belongs to the wider cycle of myths surrounding Crete, Athens, …
Camenae
The Camenae were a group of Roman divine beings associated with springs, prophecy, inspired speech and song. In early Roman religious tradition they belonged to the sacred landscape around the Porta Capena, a gate on the…
Amma
Amma is the supreme creator deity in the religious traditions of many Dogon communities in Mali. Dogon cosmology presents Amma as the source of the universe, the earth, living beings and the ordered pattern of existence.…
Alouroua
Alouroua is a name associated in some modern reference lists with African mythology, especially the religious traditions of the Fon of present-day Benin. It is sometimes described as a solar deity or a god connected with…
Ala
Ala, also known as Ani or by related regional forms such as Alá, is a major earth deity in the traditional religious systems of the Igbo peoples of southeastern Nigeria. She is associated with the earth as land, soil and…
Akongo
Akongo is a name associated with a supreme creator or high god in traditions reported from parts of the Congo Basin in Central Africa. The name is most often connected with the Ngombe, although some summaries associate i…
Ame-no-uzume
Ame-no-Uzume is a kami of Japanese mythology best known for the dance that helped bring Amaterasu out of the Heavenly Rock Cave. In the ancient myths, her boldness, laughter, theatrical skill and willingness to cross soc…
Amaterasu
Amaterasu, more fully Amaterasu Ōmikami or Amaterasu-Ōmikami, is the principal sun kami of Japanese mythology and one of the most important deities in Shinto tradition. She is associated with daylight, order, fertility, …
Amatsu-kami
Amatsu-kami (Japanese: 天津神 or 天つ神; also written amatsukami) is a collective term in Japanese mythology for the “heavenly kami” or “kami of heaven.” It does not ordinarily name one individual deity. Instead, it describes …
Bakemono
Bakemono (化け物), often translated as “monster,” “apparition,” or “thing that changes,” is a broad Japanese term for a supernatural or uncanny being. It does not usually identify one particular creature with a fixed appear…
Szeukha
Szeukha is a name associated in some modern reference works with a gigantic bird of Native American mythology. The identification is uncertain, however. Unlike well-documented figures such as the Thunderbird, Szeukha is …
Tabaldak
Tabaldak is a creator figure in Abenaki traditional narratives, a body of Indigenous traditions from the northeastern woodlands of North America. The Abenaki are part of the wider Wabanaki cultural and linguistic world, …
Tamit
Tamit is an obscure name associated in some modern reference lists with Native American mythology, but its traditional identity is not securely established. No single, widely recognized Indigenous tradition can be identi…
Tawiscara
Tawiscara is a powerful adversarial figure in traditions associated especially with the Wendat (Huron) and with other Iroquoian-speaking peoples of northeastern North America. He is commonly described as the hostile or d…
Amaranth
Amaranth is not the name of a clearly attested Aztec god, hero, or supernatural being. In discussions of Aztec mythology, the name usually refers instead to the amaranth plant and to ritual objects made from its seeds. K…
Huehuecoyotl
Huehuecoyotl, usually translated as “Old Coyote” or “Ancient Coyote,” is a figure associated with the religious traditions of central Mexico, especially the Nahua world often described through the broad label “Aztec.” He…
Atlatonan
Atlatonan is a little-documented female deity associated in Aztec and broader Nahua religious traditions with water, the earth, and illnesses affecting the skin. Her name is also written Atlatonin or with minor orthograp…
Ayautheotl
Ayautheotl, more commonly written Ayauhtéotl, is a little-known deity associated with mist, fog, and atmospheric obscurity in Aztec or, more precisely, Nahua religious tradition. The name is also rendered as Ayauhteotl, …
Guachemines
Guachemines is a little-known name associated with Inca mythology and the wider religious world of the Andes. It is usually treated as referring to supernatural beings or spirits rather than to a major Inca god, culture …
Guamansuri
Guamansuri is a little-known figure associated with the mythology of the Cañari people of the northern Andean region, especially the area now known as Ecuador. He is often listed under Inca mythology because accounts of …
Huanca
Huanca is a Quechua term associated with a sacred stone, standing stone, or stone monument in the religious traditions of the central Andes. It is sometimes presented in modern lists as the name of an Inca deity, but the…
Ka-ata-killa
Ka-ata-killa is a name associated in some modern accounts with an Inca or Quechua moon goddess. The identification is uncertain, however. Unlike Mama Killa—the better-attested lunar deity of the Inca religious system—Ka-…Lumaluma
Lumaluma is an ancestral being associated with Aboriginal traditions of Arnhem Land in northern Australia, particularly traditions connected with Yolngu cultural regions. Accounts describe him as a powerful culture hero …
Lungkata
Lungkata is an ancestral figure in the living Tjukurpa traditions of the Anangu people of Central Australia, especially those associated with Uluru and the surrounding country. He is commonly described in English as a bl…
Mamaragan
Mamaragan is a powerful ancestral being associated with thunder, lightning and storms in traditions connected with the Yolngu peoples of north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. English-language …
Mamu
Mamu is a name recorded in several Australian Aboriginal cultural and linguistic contexts for a dangerous spirit, ghost, or supernatural being. It is most often associated with the inland and desert regions of central Au…Dabriel
Dabriel is an obscure and uncertain angelic name found in some later lists of angels and esoteric catalogues. Unlike Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, or Uriel, Dabriel does not have a clearly established role in the Bible, the…
St. Paul Of The Cross
St. Paul of the Cross was an Italian Catholic priest, mystic, preacher and founder of the Passionists, a religious congregation devoted to remembering and proclaiming the Passion of Jesus Christ. He lived during the eigh…
Cochabiel
Cochabiel is an obscure angelic name associated primarily with the Enochic tradition of angels, stars and forbidden celestial knowledge. The spelling is not stable, however. Cochabiel appears to be a variant transliterat…
St. Paul The Hermit
St. Paul the Hermit, also known as Paul of Thebes or Paul the First Hermit, is one of the earliest Christian desert ascetics. Christian tradition remembers him as an Egyptian believer who withdrew from society and lived …
Crocell
Crocell is a demon of early modern European grimoire tradition, best known as the forty-ninth spirit in the Ars Goetia, the first part of the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is described as a great duke who appears in the form…
Phenex
Phenex is a demon listed in the Solomonic grimoire tradition of early modern Europe. In the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon, Phenex is described as a marquis who initially appears as a phoenix-…
Pharzuph
Pharzuph is a minor demonological figure associated in later European occult literature with fornication and sexual temptation. Unlike demons with long histories in scripture, medieval legend or ritual magic, Pharzuph is…
Paimon
Paimon is a king among the spirits described in European grimoire magic, especially the Ars Goetia, the first section of the seventeenth-century compilation known as the Lesser Key of Solomon. In that tradition, Paimon i…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.