Believe Everything. The Earth may have been birthed from primordial Chaos, as the Greek myths say. That doesn’t mean that Odin didn’t fashion the Earth from bones and blood of Ymir the Frost Giant. It also doesn’t mean that Izanagi didn’t create the Earth using his jeweled spear. It all happened. Well, most of it. Maybe.
In a story that explains how the myth of Orpheus is true, death proclaims that other myths do not necessarily apply (Sandman- The Song of Orpheus, DC comics)
This trope has been a mainstay of contemporary fantasy for years, across almost every medium imaginable. Supernatural and metaphysical events from multiple world mythologies can share the same space in stories that engage this trope. Any and all legends and folklore are up for grabs. Even God with a capital G is a frequent resource to mine in these stories. Examples of this trope include- television series like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Charmed, and Supernatural- video games such as God of War and Assassin’s Creed- comic books like Hellboy, Fables, and Sandman- and in books such as Harry Potter, The Dresden Files and American Gods.
Mining the rich mythological traditions of different world religions is a really effective tool in story writing. Using world mythologies that the reader might be familiar with engages them. And a good writer can take advantage of that intrigue.
In Neil Gaiman’s stupendously excellent Sandman series, for example, gods are created from the power of human worship (not necessarily belief). Gods who remain popular, like Odin or Thor, also remain powerful; less popular gods, like the Egyption goddess Bast, are withering away. When Gaiman begins to introduce aliens in this universe then the audience has to wonder, “do these people’s gods exist?” What do the gods of aliens even look like? (Whoops, wrong comic book universe)
Believe Everything is also effective because, ironically, it means the audience doesn’t know what to expect. Contrary to the trope name, not everything is true when it comes to the mythology being adapted. Another example from Sandman is the Orpheus myth, a central piece of mythology to the through-narrative of the comic. In this version, Orpheus visits Death to learn how to enter the underworld, understanding that the Greek hero Herakles had done so. Death disillusions Orpheus, and the audience, on the reliability of those Herakles exploits (see image above). This subversion sets up an important rule and theme for the entire narrative; avoiding death might actually be worse than dying.
Winged Horses are “technology” you see (Thor- Ragnarok, Marvel Studios)
Often it is prudent to create rules for why, or at least how, the creatures and characters of mythology exist within the world. Hellboy comics play it straight where mythical beings are simply a part of the world just like humans; not all folklore is true, but folklore is inspired by beings’ existence. On the other hand is Marvel comics, where the godly heroes of Asgard are actually aliens with technology so advanced it seems like magic.
This isn’t an issue in stories like Harry Potter, where the magical world is kept secret, including the magical creatures. The mythical creatures, like Fluffy and Buckbeak, are simply an extension of the zoology of that narrative. However, the rules need to made clear in worlds like Marvel’s so that readers understand how these characters might be allowed to interact with a non-myth narrative. If Loki is an alien, we can expect that myths where he transformed into a mare and gave birth to an eight-legged horse are not applicable, for better or for worse.
Andrew Gilvary
Andrew is a former graduate of the University of Ottawa where he got his B.A. with a Major in English Literature. He enjoys doing nerdy things and cuddling his cat.
