65
votes
Accepted
In American Gods, is there another version of the gods in their native lands?
In the appendix to the novel, it's made clear that people carry their gods with them and that when they alight in a new place, those gods are made anew in the image of the old god. There's an Odin in ...
- 667k
32
votes
Accepted
Why do Marvel prefer Norse Gods and DC the Greek pantheon?
The short answer seems to be that while none of the various gods are copyrighted, DC got there first, in the 1940s, with their depiction of Wonder Woman and the (more familiar) Greek gods that were ...
- 667k
32
votes
In American Gods, is there another version of the gods in their native lands?
When the gods came to America, they did not leave their original lands. Depending how you look at it, the gods either sent a version of themselves abroad, or they left versions of themselves behind. ...
- 115k
24
votes
Accepted
Was the ending of The Return of the King inspired by some other story?
It seems extremely likely that the ending was inspired by the story of the Death of Arthur; from Le Morte d'Arthur:
Then Sir Bedivere took the king upon his back, and so went with him to that water ...
- 162k
24
votes
Is there a real-world mythological counterpart to WoW's "kill your gods for power" theme?
I believe at the root of this is the notion of "that which you eat you will gain the strength/speed/inteligence/power of."
Draining the power of Gods in WoW would be the equivalent of eating ...
- 114k
23
votes
What is the first known work of fantasy or legend to feature a magic sword?
There are almost certainly much older examples, but this was the one I first thought of- slightly older than the stories of Excalibur:
The sword Beowulf uses to kill Grendel's mother.
According to ...
- 437
18
votes
Accepted
Did wizards of the coast invent aasimars?
The term "aasimar" was invented solely by TSR. The Oxford English Dictionary does not list it, and I also recall Usenet discussions with some Planescape designers and/or play testers where it was ...
- 94.8k
17
votes
Accepted
Why are Tolkien’s Elves tall?
Actually, the first "Fair Folk" archetypes in Northern European myth were all tall. In fact they were described as much taller and physically more impressive than humans.
Tolkien built his Elves on ...
- 186
17
votes
Why don't Thor's goats appear in the MCU?
Thor Odinson's goats do appear in the comic Marvel Universe. Recently when he lost access to Mjolnir (which in the Marvel Universe is how he gains the power of flight) he was forced to return to his ...
- 212k
15
votes
In the Dresden Files, why does Nicodemus Archleone find Mouse so startling/threatening?
Mouse, as a Foo Dog, is a scion.
In human terms in the Dresdenverse, that usually means half-mortal, half-supernatural, or some other mix like that. In this case, Mouse is a mix of a divine guardian ...
- 35.5k
15
votes
Is there a real-world mythological counterpart to WoW's "kill your gods for power" theme?
There is an elephant in the room which I am going to address. Yes, there is an example. Christianity. You may have heard of it.
Christianity believes that through the death of their god, humanity ...
- 22.5k
15
votes
Is there a real-world mythological counterpart to WoW's "kill your gods for power" theme?
The story of Kvasir comes to mind.
In Norse mythology, Kvasir was a being born of the saliva of the Æsir and the Vanir, two groups of gods. Extremely wise, Kvasir traveled far and wide, teaching ...
- 151
14
votes
What is the first known work of fantasy or legend to feature a magic sword?
I can beat Asi by 2599 years with a fairly boring answer.
Wikipedia states (without citation) that "It is probable that the roots of the sentient weapon myths stem from ancient peoples belief that ...
- 4,557
13
votes
Inspiration for the Dementors
Out-of-universe, Dementors were an avatar for Depression:
Winfrey: So you became depressed after your mother died?
Rowling: Yes, but I think it was a kind of delayed – I think I had
...
- 25.5k
13
votes
Who is Oberon in the Dresden-verse?
I think you asking it from the wrong angle: if there would be "Oberon" HE would be a consort to Mab or Titania, akin to Prince Philip to Queen Elisabeth - both queens hold the power tightly and ...
- 29.1k
12
votes
In the Dresden Files, why does Nicodemus Archleone find Mouse so startling/threatening?
A quick word of "god/Jim" about mouse
Basically: Foo dogs gain strength based on what treshold they are set to guard. At that point in the story, Mouse is garding the Carpenter's home. You know, the ...
- 121
12
votes
Accepted
Do the Norse gods exist in Star Trek?
In a word, yes. The Norse gods are (for the most part) assumed to be mythical in the series and EU novels, but in the ToS Novel Gods Above we encounter the "Old Father" a powerful godlike ...
- 667k
11
votes
Accepted
Is there a real-world mythological counterpart to WoW's "kill your gods for power" theme?
In previous fantasy, there's lots of examples, for example from the D&D Forgotten Realms setting from 1990s. During The Time of Troubles, mortals kill gods, in some cases to steal their powers. ...
- 5,600
11
votes
Science fiction/Mythology story/author that may have been in the back of a Michael Moorcock book
Note: this answer is incorrect; it's a short story called "The Stone Thing" by Moorcock himself, in Elric at the End of Time. See my other answer.
I thought this was Randall Garett's ...
- 8,097
10
votes
Was the ending of The Return of the King inspired by some other story?
Adding to Jason's answer:
In "The Fall of Arthur" (Tolkien's version of the Arthurian stories, unfinished but post-mortem published by his son with plenty of worthy commentary) Christopher Tolkien ...
- 201
10
votes
Accepted
What we we know about the source of the light in the Two Trees of Valinor?
It is not specifically stated that the Trees used the light of the Lamps.
The Valar Yavanna sung them into existence, their light source was their own, with no mention of usage of the lamps existing ...
- 14.5k
10
votes
Accepted
French folklore: giants trying to raise a ladder into Heaven to overthrow God
There's a reference to La Crau (or rather the plain of La Crau) in the catchily titled 'Remarks on several parts of Europe, relating chiefly to their antiquities and history : collected upon the spot ...
- 667k
10
votes
Accepted
Which of the Eternals were based on mythological characters?
Sersi: Circe, Greek enchantress
Ikaris: Icarus, Greek who flew too close to the sun
Thena: Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom
Ajak: ?
Ajax — a hero of Homer’s Iliad & Trojan War. In Homer's Iliad he ...
- 10.5k
9
votes
Olympian Gods in Modern Times
The Night Life of the Gods, a 1931 novel by Thorne Smith, was made into a 1935 movie Night Life of the Gods. It has your leprechaun and your classical gods and goddesses cavorting in Prohibition-era ...
- 157k
9
votes
Accepted
What's the first example of fairies being divided into Summer and Winter Courts?
I've found a blog that dates the practice to the Victorian era -
In Victorian children's literature, fairies were responsible for painting the flowers, decorating the autumn leaves, or bringing ...
- 7,925
8
votes
In the Dresden Files, why does Nicodemus Archleone find Mouse so startling/threatening?
People always seem to neglect this part when asking about Mouse (From Ghost Story):
Uriel stood over us, smiling down, but said nothing.
"Missed you, too, boy," I said. "Just . . . kind of ...
- 81
8
votes
In the Dresden Files, why does Nicodemus Archleone find Mouse so startling/threatening?
There is another salient point which has ignored, or simply left out. Dresden's fairy godmother, Lea, in Changes was threatened with death by Mouse. Her response was that Mouse was far from his base ...
8
votes
Accepted
Is the monster Godzilla based on an old myth/legend?
Godzilla (aka Gojira) was designed in 1954 by Teizo Toshimitsu and Akira Watanabe under Eiji Tsuburaya's supervision.
The first draft of the original 1954 Godzilla movie was simply called "...
- 20.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Ragnarok in space?
Project Millennium (1987) by Curtis H. Hoffmann
"After long generations of peace, a kind of nostalgia has come to
Muspell's Planet. And so some carnage is to be staged as
'entertainment' --- ...
- 13k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible