WORLD
Explore Myths, Gods and Legends from Around the World
Stories of gods, heroes, monsters and legendary worlds from every culture
Nott
Nótt is the personified night in Norse mythology. Her name is the Old Norse word for “night,” and surviving mythological texts describe her as a female figure who travels across the sky in a horse-drawn chariot. She belo…
Fódla
Fódla is a figure of Irish mythology associated with the land of Ireland and with the sovereignty of the country. In medieval Irish tradition, she is one of the three sisters who represent or personify Ireland, alongside…
Ilmatar
Ilmatar is a female figure in Finnish mythology best known from the Kalevala, the national epic compiled by Elias Lönnrot in the nineteenth century. She is described as a maiden of the air and as the mother of Väinämöine…
Ód
Ód, more fully written in Old Norse as Óðr, is a little-known figure associated with Freyja in Norse mythology. He is described primarily as her husband and as the father of Hnoss and Gersemi. Unlike Odin, Thor or Freyja…Bubona
Bubona is a little-known Roman goddess associated with oxen or cattle. Her name appears mainly in ancient catalogues of specialized Roman deities, where she is described as the divine power placed in charge of bovine ani…
Ares
Ares is the Greek god of war, especially its violence, confusion and destructive force. He belongs to the religious and mythological traditions of ancient Greece, where warfare was both a practical necessity and a source…
Britannia
Britannia is the Roman personification of Britain and the province that Rome established in parts of the British Isles. She is usually represented as a helmeted woman seated beside a shield, holding a spear or military s…
Arion
Arion, also spelled Areion in transliterations of the Greek name, is a miraculous horse in Greek mythology. He is best known as the exceptionally swift and often immortal horse associated with the hero Heracles and the A…Adroa
Adroa is a supreme creator deity associated primarily with the religious traditions of the Lugbara people of northwestern Uganda and the adjoining regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lugbara traditions descr…
Adro
Adro is a name associated with the religious traditions of the Lugbara people of north-western Uganda and the adjoining areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In English-language writing, the name may also appear…
Andriambahomanana
Andriambahomanana is a figure associated with Malagasy mythology, the traditional religious and storytelling cultures of Madagascar. He is commonly described in modern summaries as the first human or an early ancestor of…
Achimi
Achimi is an obscure name associated with African mythology in some modern English-language catalogues of gods, spirits and legendary beings. Its identity, cultural origin and traditional role are not securely establishe…
Chup Kamui
Chup Kamui is a name associated with the celestial world in Ainu religious tradition, especially with the moon or a moon-related kamuy. The Ainu are an Indigenous people of northern Japan and the southern Kuril region, w…
Daikoku
Daikoku, more fully Daikokuten (大黒天), is a Japanese Buddhist deity associated with prosperity, food, agriculture, household abundance and good fortune. He is commonly shown as a broad-faced figure standing on rice bales,…
Ebisu
Ebisu is a Japanese kami associated with the sea, fishing, trade, prosperity and good fortune. He is best known as one of the Seven Lucky Gods (Shichifukujin), usually shown smiling, carrying a fishing rod and holding a …
Ekibiogami
Ekibiogami is a Japanese term for a deity or spirit associated with epidemic disease. It is commonly written 疫病神 and may be romanised as ekibyōgami, ekibyougami or, in some English-language contexts, ekibiogami. The name…
Umai-hulhlya-wit
Umai-hulhlya-wit is an obscure name associated in some modern catalogues with Native American mythology. Its precise cultural origin, meaning and identity are uncertain. Unlike better-documented figures such as Coyote, R…
Uncegila
Uncegila, also written Unhcegila, is a great serpent or water monster found especially in Lakota traditional narratives. The name is often rendered in English as “the great serpent,” although translations and spellings v…
Untunktahe
Untunktahe is a name associated with a powerful water being in traditions connected with the Lakota and other Dakota-speaking peoples of the northern Great Plains. The spelling is not uniform, and the form “Untunktahe” m…
Utset
Utset is a name associated in some modern reference works with a female creator or earth-mother figure of the Pueblo peoples of the American Southwest. The identification is uncertain, however. “Pueblo” does not describe…
Chalchiuhcihuatl
Chalchiuhcihuatl is a Nahuatl name associated with a female water deity in the religious traditions of central Mexico. The name is usually translated as “Jade Woman” or “Precious-Greenstone Woman.” In many modern referen…
Chalchiuhtecólotl
Chalchiuhtecólotl is an obscure figure associated with Nahua, especially Mexica or “Aztec,” religious traditions. The name is commonly translated as “Precious Owl” or “Jade Owl,” from Nahuatl elements connected with a pr…
Chalchiuhtotolin
Chalchiuhtotolin is a deity or divine manifestation in Nahua religious tradition, especially the religious world commonly called Aztec. His name is usually translated as “Jade Turkey” or “Precious Turkey.” He is most clo…
Chalmecatecuhtli
Chalmecatecuhtli is an obscure figure associated with Aztec, or more precisely Nahua, religious tradition in central Mexico. His name appears in colonial-era records and later catalogues of Nahua deities, but surviving e…
Manco Capac
Manco Capac is the legendary founder and first ruler of the Inca dynasty, traditionally associated with the establishment of Cusco in the Andean highlands. He belongs to the origin traditions of the Inca, or Inka, whose …
Pachacamac
Pachacamac was a major deity and oracle of the central Peruvian coast, worshipped at the large ceremonial centre now known as Pachacamac, south of modern Lima. Although often described as an Inca god, Pachacamac was prob…
Paricia
Paricia is a little-known figure associated in some modern accounts with Inca mythology, particularly with rain, floods and the destruction of an early human age. The evidence for Paricia is limited, however. Unlike bett…
Piguerao
Piguerao is an obscure name associated with Inca mythology, but its identity is not securely established in the surviving record. Modern lists of Inca beings sometimes describe Piguerao as a supernatural bird, usually co…
Mokoi
Mokoi is a name used in some English-language accounts of Australian Aboriginal supernatural belief for a dangerous spirit associated with death, fear and attacks on sleeping people. The available descriptions are brief …
Muramura
Muramura, also written Mura-mura or with other variations in English-language records, is a collective name associated chiefly with the traditional ancestral beings of the Diyari (Dieri) people of South Australia. Their …
Mopaditis
Mopaditis is a very obscure name associated in some modern reference lists with Australian Aboriginal mythology. Its identity, cultural origin and traditional role are uncertain. Unlike well-documented figures such as Ba…
Mudungkala
Mudungkala is an ancestral being in the traditions of the Tiwi people of northern Australia. The Tiwi live primarily on Melville Island and Bathurst Island, in the Apsley Strait region north of Darwin in the Northern Ter…
Cassiel
Cassiel is the name used in later Jewish mystical, Christian occult and esoteric traditions for an angel associated especially with Saturn, time, solitude and restraint. Unlike Michael, Gabriel or Raphael, Cassiel does n…
St. Peregrine Laziosi
St. Peregrine Laziosi is a fourteenth-century Italian Christian saint, a member of the Order of Servants of Mary, commonly known as the Servites. He is especially associated with repentance, devotion to the Passion of Ch…
Camael
Camael is a name used in several later systems of angelology, especially Christian occultism, Renaissance esotericism and modern interpretations of Kabbalistic symbolism. He is commonly presented as a powerful angel asso…
St. Perpetua Of Carthage
St. Perpetua of Carthage was a Christian martyr who was executed in Carthage in Roman North Africa during the early third century. She is remembered chiefly through the Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, an unusual…
Obyzouth
Obyzouth is a female child-threatening demon known chiefly from late antique and Byzantine religious and magical traditions. The name appears in several spellings, including Obizuth, Obizouth, Obyzouth and Abyzou. These …
Naberius
Naberius is a demon in the learned demonological tradition associated with European grimoires, especially the Ars Goetia, the first part of the seventeenth-century work commonly known as the Lesser Key of Solomon. He is …
Naamah
Naamah is a name associated with several different women and supernatural figures in Jewish tradition. In the Hebrew Bible, Naamah is the sister of Tubal-cain and one of the few women named in the genealogies of Genesis.…
Marax
Marax, also spelled Morax in some sources, is a demon of early modern European ceremonial magic. He is best known from the Ars Goetia, the first part of the Lesser Key of Solomon, where he is listed as the twenty-first s…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.