New, Old Mythology

As an author who is currently writing a series of books based on mythologies around the world, I love educating myself about different cultural beliefs. Myths can be either allegorical stories, or a living religion based on stories or narratives that embody the belief or beliefs of a group of people. Some myths are well-known and well-preserved, such as Greek mythology; other myths have largely been lost to us. Some fall in between, like Norse mythology - where a handful of the gods are very well known, such as Odin, Thor, and Loki, yet the majority of the pantheon and their stories have vanished over time. Because so many tales have been lost, it's heartening to see the effort some people are making to preserve the ones that still exist.
 
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I recently read Neil Gaiman's new book, Norse Mythology. I've tried in the past to research Norse myths on my own, and I can say it wasn't easy. Unlike my slogs through textbook-like publications and the translations of the original Prose Edda and Poetic Edda, Gaiman's book is an organized, easy to read, retelling of the major Norse myths still available. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the Norse gods, or mythology in general.

Just today, I ran across this old post by Buzzfeed, with a gallery of beautiful artwork of the Orishas - gods of the Yoruba-speaking peoples (primarily West Africa, mainly Nigeria). You can check out the art by James C. Lewis and the descriptions of the deities here.

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