WORLD
Explore Myths, Gods and Legends from Around the World
Stories of gods, heroes, monsters and legendary worlds from every culture
Regin
Regin is a legendary smith, counsellor and foster father in the Norse story of Sigurd and the dragon Fafnir. He belongs to the heroic tradition surrounding the Völsung family rather than to the group of worshipped Norse …
Irusan
Irusan is a legendary cat associated with Irish folklore and with the tradition of the King of the Cats. He is generally described in later retellings as an unusually large or powerful cat who rules over other cats. Unli…
Lemminkäinen
Lemminkäinen is one of the best-known heroes of Finnish mythology, especially through the Kalevala, the nineteenth-century epic compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral poetry. He is portrayed as handsome…
Rig
Rígr is a figure in Norse mythology who appears chiefly in Rígsþula (“The Lay of Rígr”), a poem preserved among the poems associated with the Poetic Edda. In the poem, Rígr travels through the human world, fathers or est…Andromeda
Andromeda is a mortal princess in Greek mythology, best known for being rescued from a sea monster by the hero Perseus. She is the daughter of Cepheus, king of Aithiopia, and Cassiopeia. In the best-known versions of her…
Ananke
Ananke is the Greek personification of necessity, compulsion and the forces that cannot be avoided. Her name, written Ἀνάγκη in Greek and often transliterated as Anankē, can refer either to an abstract condition—somethin…
Antinous
Antinous was a young man from Bithynia who became the beloved companion of the Roman emperor Hadrian and, after his death, the focus of a widespread religious cult. Unlike most figures classified under Roman mythology, A…
Amymone
Amymone is a figure in Greek mythology, best known as one of the fifty daughters of Danaus and as the mortal woman associated with the spring of Lerna. In the most familiar version of her story, the god Poseidon rescues …Morimi
Morimi, more commonly written Moremi in contemporary English-language writing, is a celebrated heroine of Yoruba tradition. She is associated especially with Ile-Ife, the ancient Yoruba sacred and political centre in pre…
Obatala
Obatala is a major orisha of the Yoruba religious tradition of West Africa. Often described as an elder among the divine powers, Obatala is associated with creation, moral authority, wisdom, purity, calmness and the shap…
Ochosi
Ochosi—written in Yoruba as Ọ̀ṣọ́ọ̀sì and known by related spellings such as Oshosi or Oxóssi—is an òrìṣà of Yoruba religious tradition. He is especially associated with hunting, the forest, tracking, accuracy and the kn…
Ogun
Ogun (also written Ògún or Ogún) is a major òrìṣà of Yoruba religious tradition. He is especially associated with iron, metalworking, hunting, warfare, clearing paths, labour, technology and the difficult work required t…Hotei
Hotei is a cheerful, large-bellied figure in Japanese religious culture, usually shown carrying a cloth sack and smiling broadly. He is counted among the Seven Lucky Gods (Shichifukujin) and is associated with happiness,…
Izumo
Izumo is an ancient region of Japan associated with some of the most important narratives in Japanese mythology. Located in what is now eastern Shimane Prefecture along the Sea of Japan, Izumo appears in early chronicles…
Yakusa-no-ikazuchi-no-kami
Yakusa-no-ikazuchi-no-kami is the collective name for the eight thunder deities who appear in the Japanese creation narrative preserved in the Kojiki. They are born from the body of Izanami after her death and later purs…
In
In is not a clearly identifiable, independently attested deity, spirit or legendary creature in the principal traditions of Japanese mythology. As a name written only in Roman letters, “In” is highly ambiguous: it may re…Ignirtoq
Ignirtoq is a name associated in some modern accounts with an Inuit fire spirit or fire goddess. The figure is not as widely documented as Sedna, the sea being often called Nuliajuk, or other major beings known from Inui…
Irdlirvirisissong
Irdlirvirisissong is a poorly documented name associated with Inuit mythology and with accounts of a dangerous marine being. Unlike better-known figures such as Sedna, the sea-mother, or the ijiraq, a mysterious wilderne…
Isitoq
Isitoq is a name associated in some modern English-language accounts with an Inuit supernatural figure concerned with justice, moral conduct and punishment. The evidence for Isitoq is limited, however, and the name does …
Nanook
Nanook, more accurately written Nanuq in many Inuit-language contexts, is the polar bear as a powerful being in Inuit religious traditions and oral histories. The name can refer both to the animal itself and to the spiri…Tepoztecatl
Tepoztecatl was a Nahua deity associated with pulque, the fermented drink made from the sap of the maguey plant. He was especially connected with Tepoztlan, a sacred centre in the modern Mexican state of Morelos, where a…
Ehecatl
Ehecatl is the Nahuatl word for wind and the name of a major wind deity in the religious traditions of central Mexico. In Aztec, or Mexica, religion, Ehecatl was commonly understood as a manifestation or aspect of Quetza…
Macuilxochitl
Macuilxochitl, whose name means “Five Flower” in Classical Nahuatl, is a deity associated with music, dance, flowers, games, pleasure and forms of cultivated enjoyment in central Mexican religious tradition. He belongs t…
Macuilmalinalli
Macuilmalinalli is a relatively obscure figure in the religious traditions of central Mexico. The name is usually translated from Nahuatl as “Five Grass” or “Five Grass-Stalk,” combining macuil, “five,” with malinalli, a…Aiomun Kondi
Aiomun Kondi is a name associated in modern reference works with an Indigenous creator or supreme being of the Guianas, in the northern part of South America. The identification is not entirely secure: spellings differ, …
Aluberi
Aluberi is a creator figure associated in modern reference works with the Arawak peoples of northern South America and the Caribbean. The name is usually presented as belonging to a supreme or primordial being responsibl…
Amana
Amana is commonly described in modern references as a rain goddess associated with Indigenous traditions of South America, especially the Tupian cultural world of Brazil and neighbouring regions. The identification is no…
Anatiwa
Anatiwa is a poorly documented name sometimes presented online as belonging to South American mythology. Unlike well-attested figures such as Mama Quilla, Anhangá, or the Mapuche Antu, Anatiwa does not have a securely es…Wandjina
Wandjina refers to powerful ancestral beings represented in the rock paintings of the Kimberley region of north-western Australia. The figures are especially associated with Wunambal, Ngarinyin and Worrorra peoples, alth…
Wapiya
Wapiya is a name associated in some modern English-language accounts with an Aboriginal Australian spirit or deity of wind and storms. The identification is uncertain, however. Unlike widely documented figures such as th…
Waramurunggundji
Waramurunggundji is an ancestral creator figure associated particularly with Aboriginal traditions of western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Her name is also written as Warramurrungundji, Waramurrungundji and in …
Wawalag
Wawalag refers most often to two ancestral sisters in the traditions of Yolngu peoples of north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. They are also known in English-language sources as the Wawilak o…St. Peter Nolasco
St. Peter Nolasco was a thirteenth-century Christian religious founder associated with the redemption of captives and the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, commonly called the Mercedarians. He lived during the p…
Bariel
Bariel is an obscure and uncertain angelic name found in some later angelological and esoteric lists. Unlike Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, or other angels with substantial scriptural and liturgical traditions, Bariel does n…
St. Peter Of Alcántara
St. Peter of Alcántara was a sixteenth-century Spanish Franciscan friar, ascetic, writer and reformer of religious life. Born in Alcántara in Extremadura around 1499 and dying at Arenas in 1562, he became known for sever…
Barbiel
Barbiel is an angelic name found chiefly in Renaissance and later occult systems of correspondences. In the best-known tradition associated with the name, Barbiel is the angel assigned to October. The figure does not hav…
Forneus
Forneus is a demon in the ceremonial-magical tradition known as the Ars Goetia, the first section of the seventeenth-century grimoire commonly called the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is listed as the thirtieth spirit and is…
Foras
Foras, also written Forcas in some editions, is a demon listed in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the seventeenth-century grimoire commonly known as the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is described as a powerful president…
Focalor
Focalor is a demon described in early modern European demonological literature, most famously in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is presented as a powerful duke of Hell associated with …
Flauros
Flauros is a demon listed in early modern European grimoires, most notably the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is described as a powerful duke who initially appears as a leopard and can tak…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.