The land's limestone bones
and winterbourne blood vessels -
a giant's graveyard.
Mythology bleeds into modern day story telling on many levels. We see this in fantasy with Tolkien's archetypal wizards inspired by the character of Merlin in Arthurian fables, and in many TV shows such as Battlestar Galactica that utilizes concepts from Greek mythology.
There are many ways myth and legend can inspire new writing. For example, a modern day interpretation of the themes in Greek mythology provide great fodder for a screenplay. Or reading the obscure legends of the Polynesian islands could be the basis of the culture of a tribe of nomadic seafarers in a fantasy setting.
It is this process of using elements of legend to populate fantasy worlds that make classics such as Ursula le Guin's Earthsea, Tolkien's Middle Earth or George R R Martin's Westeros so vivid and believable.
Blessed are the legend-makers with their rhyme of things not found within recorded time.
— J R R Tolkien, from "Mythopoeia" (1931 poem)
I have personally used Myth/Legend in creating my own Fantasy world. The process is almost like a magical spell in of itself. For me, it is all about taking the roots of allegory I see in Legend and lending my setting strength through those archetypes.
There is no direct element of any myth apparent as I created my own mythology for the three kingdoms, but by reading mythology I learned the patterns and modality of how myth works. Often myth and religion are intertwined bringing a believable sacred element to a fantasy world.
Malevernine, horse of stars,
mane waving in heavens bright,
before the yoke of death’s embrace,
take saddle into endless night.
In your timeless realm we sing
Around the endless fire burning
Of Maleverine, whose shelter brings
escape from death returning.
A song from my fantasy short story, The Gelded One
Thanks for reading 🙂 🌿
To read more about the aesthetics of true haiku, and the difference between haiku and senryu, please check out my post: Haiku Vs Senryu - The Aesthetics of Form
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