WORLD
Explore Myths, Gods and Legends from Around the World
Stories of gods, heroes, monsters and legendary worlds from every culture
Niflheim
Niflheim is a place associated with cold, mist, darkness and primordial forces in Norse mythological tradition. Its name is Old Norse Niflheimr, usually understood as “world of mist” or “home of mist.” The surviving desc…
Findbhair
Findbhair is a figure of Irish mythology best known under the spellings Findabair and Finnabair. She is presented in medieval Irish literature as the daughter of Medb, queen of Connacht, and Ailill mac Máta. Findbhair be…
Ilma
Ilma is a name associated with air, atmosphere and weather in Finnish mythology, but its status as a distinct traditional deity is uncertain. In Finnish, ilma means “air” and can also refer to the weather or the visible …
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…
Asopus
Asopus is a river god of Greek mythology, or more precisely a name applied to several personified rivers and their associated local traditions. In Greek religion, rivers were not merely geographical features: they could …
Carna
Carna is a minor Roman goddess associated with bodily protection, household boundaries and, in some surviving accounts, door hinges. Her name appears most prominently in the Roman calendar on 1 June, the day of the Kalen…
Aristeas
Aristeas of Proconnesus was an archaic Greek poet, seer and traveller associated with Apollo and with the distant peoples of the northern world. He is best known as the supposed author of the Arimaspea, a lost epic descr…
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…
Andriamahilala
Andriamahilala is a poorly documented name associated with Malagasy mythology, the traditional religious and legendary traditions of Madagascar. Unlike better-attested figures such as Zanahary, Andriamanitra, Ibonia, or …
Andumbulu
Andumbulu is a name associated in some accounts with the traditional beliefs of the Mbuti peoples of the Congo Basin. It is generally used for small supernatural beings or forest spirits, although descriptions differ con…
Anansi
Anansi is the famous spider trickster of Akan-speaking peoples in West Africa, especially among communities in present-day Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. He is also known by forms such as Ananse, Kwaku Ananse and, in parts of …
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.…
Ajisukitakahikone
Ajisukitakahikone is a Japanese kami associated with thunder, agriculture, noble lineage and the boundary between life and death. He appears most prominently in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, the two earliest surviving …
Akuma
Akuma (悪魔) is a Japanese term meaning “demon,” “devil,” or “evil spirit.” It does not usually identify one individual being with a fixed biography. Instead, its meaning changes according to context: it may describe a hos…
Amenominakanushi
Amenominakanushi is a primordial kami in Japanese mythology, best known from the opening cosmogony of the Kojiki, Japan’s oldest surviving chronicle of myths and genealogies. His name is commonly translated as “Master of…
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…
Tukupar Itar
Tukupar Itar is a name associated in some English-language reference works with Hopi tradition, usually described as a war deity, warrior spirit, or protective supernatural figure. The identification is uncertain, howeve…
Snoqualm
Snoqualm is a name associated in some modern reference works with the traditional culture of the Snoqualmie people of the Pacific Northwest. It is often described as a giant or supernatural being connected with Snoqualmi…
Tsichtinako
Tsichtinako is a female creator figure associated with Acoma Pueblo, an Indigenous community in present-day New Mexico whose people speak a Keresan language. Her name is commonly translated into English as Thought Woman.…
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 …
Acuecueyotl
Acuecueyotl is a poorly documented water-related figure associated with Aztec or Nahua religious tradition. The Nahuatl name is commonly interpreted in connection with cuecueyotl, a wave, ripple, or movement on water. So…
Macuiltonaleque
Macuiltonaleque is a collective name in Nahua religious tradition for a group of five male deities associated with excess, sensual pleasure, gambling, festivity and the potentially harmful consequences of uncontrolled ap…
Ahuizotl
The ahuizotl is a dangerous water being in Nahua tradition, especially in the religious and storytelling world of the Mexica, often called the Aztecs. It was believed to live in lakes, rivers, springs, and other bodies o…
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…
Copacati
Copacati is a little-known water deity associated with the Inca religious world and, especially, with the region around Lake Titicaca in the southern Andes. She is commonly described as a goddess of lakes, springs, or wa…
Zara-mama
Zara-mama is a name used for a maize or corn mother in accounts of Inca and broader Andean religious tradition. The figure is also written Zaramama, Sara Mama or Mama Sara. The variations reflect differences in colonial …
Ekeko
Ekeko is an Andean figure associated with prosperity, abundance and the fulfilment of everyday wishes. He is especially important in the Aymara cultural world of the Bolivian Altiplano, where he is celebrated during the …
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 …
Kidili
Kidili is a moon-associated ancestral figure in Aboriginal traditions of north-western Australia, especially those connected in published accounts with the Kimberley region and Nyikina or related cultural traditions. Sto…
Kurukadi
Kurukadi is a name associated in some modern reference lists with Australian Aboriginal mythology, but its traditional identity is not securely documented. There is no broadly established, pan-Aboriginal account of a bei…
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…
Dagiel
Dagiel is a little-known angelic name found chiefly in later occult and esoteric angelologies. It is most often associated with Pisces, the final sign of the Western zodiac, and with symbolic themes such as water, fish, …
St. Paul Miki
St. Paul Miki was a Japanese Christian, Jesuit, and martyr who was crucified at Nagasaki on 5 February 1597. He is one of the best-known members of the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan, a group executed during a period of gro…
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…
Ruax
Ruax is a minor demon associated chiefly with the Testament of Solomon, a late antique pseudepigraphal work attributed to King Solomon. In the demonological catalogue connected with that text, Ruax is described as a spir…
Raum
Raum is a demon of European ceremonial magic, best known from the Ars Goetia, the first section of the seventeenth-century grimoire commonly called The Lesser Key of Solomon. In that tradition, Raum is listed as the fort…
Purson
Purson is a demon and infernal king described in European grimoire tradition, especially in the Ars Goetia, the first part of the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is listed as the twentieth spirit among the seventy-two demons s…
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…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.