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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 137158" data-attributes="member: 63">Before I get too far into this, I'm familiar with Campbell, but I haven't actually read any of his work.  I agree that myth is powerful, and that old myths still have great influence over us.  But we're not just using old myths; we're mixing them, or creating almost totally new ones.  I'm trying to understand why people are doing what they're doing with myth in the modern world.  Bear with me as I hammer out my thoughts.Also, I've noticed that my writing style is deteriorating from lack of sleep.  My sincere and abject apologies.One of the main goals of fantasy that many people make a big deal of is the desire to return to the idyllic past.  So much of the modern day is devoted to progress, which often involves debunking the charming myths of the past or outright 'proving' the falsehood of some beliefs.  Plus, many things in life grow more complicated, and less pretty, so people want to go back to more old-fashioned ways.  Myths are one of the key aspects of older civilization, and they're appealing because they let you accept things without needing the scientific explanations that frustrate so many today.Let's consider how writers have gone back to more primitive or traditional worlds.  In fact, let's start with one of the most dark and unorthodox authors of fantasy, H.P. Lovecraft.  Though Lovecraft's stories are inspired by early 20th-century psychology, that inspiration is presented in the form of civilized, logical, cultured minds degenerating into maddened, irrational savagery.  Instead of creating a mythology out of pieces from the stories of the rest of the world which already tried to explain the unknown, Lovecraft imagined a mythos in which wholly modern concepts of psychology and psychoanalysis were the focus.  There are still bogeymen, and things for people to fear, but instead of having gods or divine spirits protect mankind, it is up to humanity's own mind and ego to defend against the madness of the unknown.  In this way, Lovecraft's stories are a mythology, but not really a fantasy in the sense most modern critics would use the term.  It involves explaining (or at least hinting at) the unknown, like any mythic structure, but it does not harken back to old fashioned ideals.  It is more akin to European folklore that acknowledged the existence of magic and sorcery, but endeavoured to teach that piety to the kindness of God was better.Even then, Lovecraft does present a mythology for the modern world, and it is perhaps one of the most modern in terms of scientific thought.  But let's move on for now to a modern mythology that reflects more of the 20th-century's social developments, namely in the area of intercultural mingling.. . . [I'll post more of this in a second]Creating an English Mythology(Under construction)Narrative and Literary Benefits of Hybridizing Mythologies in Fantasy<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Making the familiar unfamiliar.  As Fenris pointed out, almost everyone knows Greek or Norse mythology at least a little bit, so they're familiar with it.  After a while, it might even get boring.  By adding in elements that were historically foreign to that mythology, you make it more original and unfamiliar, and hopefully more interesting.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Making the unfamiliar familar by using traits from things we know.  Tolkein and C.S. Lewis accomplish this in their stories by using Christian motifs as an underlying structure.  Tolkein in particular also drew on his considerable knowledge of Anglo-Saxon history and language, and of the countryside of England, to make Middle Earth a very vivid setting that we can relate to.  A perhaps even better example of this might be Howard's Conan stories, which use very brief cues to parallel his fantasy cultures with real-world ones.  While reading the Conan stories, you know you're in a mish-mash world, but a few quick hints let you easily envision the setting he's describing.  We know what Egypt looks like, so hearing mention of huge tombs, deserts, and snake-headed Gods sets you into the mind of being in fantasy Egypt.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">More depth.  If you have several mythoi worth of stories to draw from, you'll probably just naturally have a little more depth to whatever you write or run.  It's subtle things, really, like if you know that your PC has a uncle who made really good breadsticks, it'll add just that extra smidgin of flavor to your characterization that might help bring your PC's personality alive.  Mixing myths makes the world seem more alive, because, indeed, myths did mix a little bit in the real world, though probably not as much as we usually see in the media.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">More breadth and variety.  This is only really applicable if you want to have a far-spanning story.  Having the entire world be like the worlds on Star Trek, where everyone lives in identical cities and have the exact same culture, gets boring, and is implausible.  If you want the story to move across the world, you should make sure that those other places in the world are distinctly different, even if it's only a change of a few small elements of one myth.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A melting pot of cultures.  This trait is probably only subconsciously realized, and is more a result of the world we live in than a decision of the writer.  Particularly in America, a lot of the barriers of different cultures have been dissolving, allowing people to mingle their beliefs.  Because in this modern day and age many people are dissatisfied with the cultures they were brought up in, some seek out other societies and belief systems that they like better.  The exposure to many more mythologies, for one, means that unlike people in the 10th century, we actually do consider many different myths to be our own.  The world we live in is already a mix of beliefs and stories, and so fantasy that does the same is just emulating real life.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A melting pot of writers.  As a bit of an addendum to the above point, traditionally, many fantasy authors hung out together.  Tolkein and C.S. Lewis were fellow . . . Inklings, I think, and I know Lovecraft and Robert Howard corresponded by mail, not to mention all the idea sharing that's going on on these boards.  Even a small group of people bring a great diversity of ideas to the table, and friends are apt to draw from each other.  I admit that I myself have already taken Dranko Coaltongue and Trillith from Sagiro and Piratecat's storyhours (though I changed them a bit), and I can't guess how many ideas have been inspired from reading other people's posts and questions here.  By sharing ideas, we stick our thoughts into other people's heads, making it more likely they'll be intrigued enough to include a slightly foreign idea in their writing or games.  Certainly, many writers were influenced by Lovecraft's style.  Even in Conan you can see a very common thread of ancient mysteries and dangers that men cannot understand.  The stories of Jirel of Joiry, by . . . (someone help me out please, I forgot her name), also have much to owe to Lovecraft's alien mysteries; in one story, Jirel travels into a 'hell' of sorts, but one wholly alien to Dante or other traditional views.  Rather, it is filled with that lovely Cthulhu cliche of the non-Euclidean angles and a myriad of other paradoxes.  Even Michael Moorcock's Elric stories seem to have bits in common with Lovecraft, especially in Moorcock's descriptions of the Lords of Chaos.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Examining what could've been.  As a much more conscious decision, some authors might decide to write a bit of speculative fiction, examining possible social interactions that could have happened, but never had the chance, or which are not remembered by history.  This is also useful for examining possible modern-day interactions, using a slightly variant venue.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Interest in qualities of contrast and similarity.  And sometimes, it's just for kicks.  I mean, I'd kinda like to see Faeries in samurai armor riding flying carpets.  It'd be a hoot.  Let us never discount the importance of whimsy.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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