Myth is a
genre of
folklore consisting primarily of
narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the veracity of a myth is not a defining criterion.
Myths are often endorsed by secular and religious authorities and are closely linked to
religion or
spirituality. Many societies group their myths, legends, and history together, considering myths and legends to be factual accounts of their remote past. In particular,
creation myths take place in a primordial age when the world had not achieved its later form.
Origin myths explain how a society's
customs,
institutions, and
taboos were established and sanctified.
National myths are narratives about a nation's past that symbolize the nation's values. There is a complex relationship between
recital of myths and the enactment of rituals. (Full article...)
In
Norse mythology, a valkyrie (from
Old Norse: valkyrja,
lit. 'chooser of the slain') is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god
Odin's hall
Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become einherjar (
Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"). When the einherjar are not preparing for the cataclysmic events of
Ragnarök, the valkyries bear them
mead. Valkyries also appear as lovers of heroes and other mortals, where they are sometimes described as the daughters of royalty, sometimes accompanied by
ravens and sometimes connected to
swans or
horses.
... that the self-decapitated
HindugoddessChhinnamasta(pictured) standing on a copulating couple signifies that life, death and sex are interdependent?
In
folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as floods, storms,
shipwrecks, and drownings. In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same traditions), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans. (Full article...)
Image 4This panel by
Bartolomeo di Giovanni relates the second half of the Metamorphoses. In the upper left, Jupiter emerges from clouds to order Mercury to rescue Io. (from Myth)
Image 13The Stone of Destiny (Lia Fáil) at the Hill of Tara, once used as a coronation stone for the High Kings of Ireland (from List of mythological objects)
Image 19Lord Vishnu took the form of Beauty Mohini and distributed the Amrita (Ambrosia, Elixir) to Devas. When Rahu (snake dragon) tried to steal the Amrita, his head was cut off (from List of mythological objects)
Image 21Amenonuhoko (天沼矛 or 天之瓊矛 or 天瓊戈, "heavenly jeweled spear") is the name given to the spear in
Shinto used to raise the primordial land-mass, Onogoro-shima, from the sea (from List of mythological objects)
Image 22The Honest Woodcutter, also known as Mercury and the Woodman and his famous Golden Axe (from List of mythological objects)
Image 55As is usual in
bestiaries, the lynx in this late 13th-century English manuscript is shown urinating, the urine turning to the mythical stone Lyngurium (from List of mythological objects)
Image 58The Deluge, frontispiece to
Gustave Doré's illustrated edition of the Bible. Based on the story of
Noah's Ark, this engraving shows humans and a tiger doomed by the flood futilely attempting to save their children and cubs. (from Comparative mythology)
Image 61Several mythical creatures from Bilderbuch für Kinder (
lit.'picture book for children') between 1790 and 1822, by
Friedrich Justin Bertuch (from Legendary creature)
Image 75Sampo, a magical artifact of indeterminate type constructed by
Ilmarinen that brought riches and good fortune to its holder, in the Finnish
epic poetryKalevala (The Forging of the Sampo, Joseph Alanen, 1911) (from List of mythological objects)
Image 83Opening lines of one of the
Mabinogi myths from the
Red Book of Hergest (written pre-13c, incorporating pre-Roman myths of Celtic gods): Gereint vab Erbin. Arthur a deuodes dala llys yg Caerllion ar Wysc... (Geraint the son of Erbin. Arthur was accustomed to hold his Court at Caerlleon upon Usk...) (from Myth)