(monday) history in your game

alsih2o · Dec 15, 2003

mythology, heroes and legends...

we start with a noice cite about irish legends and myths- http://www.mythicalireland.com/mythology/index.html (check out tain bo)

german changeling legends, some funny and scary stuff- http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/gerchange.html

german heroes- http://www.timelessmyths.com/norse/german.html

mongol (altaic) mythology- (stories mostly)
http://www.ezlink.com/~culturev/CulturMythology.htm

assyro-babylonian mythology (and gods, heroes, monsters, heaven and hell..includes discussions od D+D's tiamat and of cthulhu)- http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze33gpz/assyrbabyl-faq.html#a1.5

norse mythology, check out the cosmology section, and the runes- http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~cherryne/mythology.html

celtic mythilogy, wariors and their weapons- http://www.underbridge.com/scathan/archive/1998/06_june/06.1998.myth.html

hittite mythology- http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze33gpz/hittite-ref.html

sumerian mythology- http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze33gpz/sumer-faq.html

canaanite mythology- http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze33gpz/canaanite-faq.html

gagudju (abopriginal) legends- http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9900/legends.html

and finally, a list of mythological weapons, and who used them- http://www.shee-eire.com/Magic&Mythology/Warriors&Heroes/Weaponry/Page1.htm

have a good week

alsih2o · Dec 15, 2003

ka-bump

Wombat · Dec 15, 2003

Very sweet!

I'm a mythology nut and there were some of these even I didn't have!

Ut! Well done as always, alsih2o!

Cevalic · Dec 15, 2003

Quite useful. Just for that I throw in another BUMP.

johnsemlak · Dec 15, 2003

A bump and some added sites...

This site lists several sites on Russian Pagan Religion and Gods
http://medievalrussia.freeservers.com/religion.html#paganism

Here's one with a pretty good list of slavic gods
http://web.raex.com/~obsidian/SlavPan.html

MerakSpielman · Dec 15, 2003

Good stuff. A good thing to remember for D&D games (even more so than in real life, where it also true to a degree) is that one man's myth is another man's religion. Your characters have to be careful to whom they refer to the Forging of Cuthbert's Mace (or whatever) as myth.

Actually, now that I think about it, myths probably don't exist as such in D&D worlds. They're just normal History to people in a fantasy world.

Tonguez · Dec 15, 2003

MerakSpielman said:
Good stuff. A good thing to remember for D&D games (even more so than in real life, where it also true to a degree) is that one man's myth is another man's religion. Your characters have to be careful to whom they refer to the Forging of Cuthbert's Mace (or whatever) as myth.

Actually, now that I think about it, myths probably don't exist as such in D&D worlds. They're just normal History to people in a fantasy world.

Yep lots of anthropology people don't like the word 'Myth' anymore as it tends to denigrate the history/beleifs of a people into mere fantasy

Legends and Traditions is a better descriptor - Legends refering to story with mainly fantastical elements (like first fathers/mothers stories) and Traditions to 'historical events' (which may have been embellished over the years.

The term Myth when retained is often reserved exclusively to creation myths (in which no mortals take part)

MerakSpielman · Dec 15, 2003

Tonguez said:
Yep lots of anthropology people don't like the word 'Myth' anymore as it tends to denigrate the history/beliefs of a people into mere fantasy

Maybe it's because I love fantasy, or because I'm a tree-hugging dirt worshipper, but I've always had trouble considering "myth" to be a derogatory term. I understand that some people do, though, so I try to just use "story" instead when I'm around potentially offendable people (which is less often then you might think).

The problem is "myth" has taken on a popular connotation of "quaint, primitive, and untrue belief" that I think is undeserved.

Tonguez · Dec 15, 2003

MerakSpielman said:
Maybe it's because I love fantasy, or because I'm a tree-hugging dirt worshipper, but I've always had trouble considering "myth" to be a derogatory term. I understand that some people do, though, so I try to just use "story" instead when I'm around potentially offendable people (which is less often then you might think).

The problem is "myth" has taken on a popular connotation of "quaint, primitive, and untrue belief" that I think is undeserved.

Yes I agree with you it is undeserved - personally I love the word Mythology, its got a ring to it and invokes all those 'images' of greek heroes with blazing and shining armour going up to battle the gods.

As to DnD I'd say that Legend and Tradition is going to be the more general term since those heroes and gods really did exist and there may even be a couple of elves or at least dragons still around that were there when the hero Keros slew the Beast of Chaos. Once things can be remembered its becomes a bit hard to refer to it as 'mere' myth...