From: "Strong, Lee" <StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL>
To: "'WSFA members'" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Myths Far and Wide
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 12:35:53 -0500
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

	A wise answer, Grasshopper!
	Any respectable public library has an embarassment of riches on the
subject of myths.  I suppose that the Internet, that modern equivalent of
telling tales around the campfire, does also.  Concerning the universality
of myths, I particularly recommend _The Hero With A Thousand Faces_ and
other works by Joseph Campbell and _Funk & Wagnalls' Dictionary of
Mythology, Folklore, and Legend_.  The former strongly influenced George
Lucas when he made a little film about a orphan prince storming a castle to
rescue a princess.  I think it was called _Star Wars_.  The latter has
encyclopedic articles on all manner of mythical elements, and you can look
up "dwarves", "elves" and so forth.  I found the entire 2 volume work so
interesting that I read it cover to cover years ago.
	Dwarves are a particularly good example of a widespread myth.  They
are popularly viewed as highly skilled, magicial craftsmen with misshapen
bodies, and are often associated with mines, caverns and underground
dwellings.  Anthropologists generally believe that legends of a dwarven race
are common because dwarfism is a real human genetic abnormality that lends
itself to craft work in early technical societies.  Cultures with dwarven
myths include North American Indians, Aztec, Mayan, African, Scandanvian,
German, Italian, Greek, Egyptian, Asian Indian, Chinese and Japanese.
Examples of dwarven deities of craftmanship include the Greco-Roman
Hephaistos/Vulcan, Egyptian Ptah, Hindu Vimana, and Japanese Ebisu.
	Elves are found in Hindu (apsaras), Chinese and Japanese legends as
well as Scandanavian.  Giants, ogres and goblins are essentially universal.
Various kinds of spirit folk are also virtually universal, including the
Greco-Roman dryads, Arabic/Semetic jinn, various Hindu, Chinese, Vietnamese,
and Japanese races.  (Spirit folk and elves tend to overlap considerably in
practice.)
	Lycanthropes are another mythic pattern found throughout the world,
including North American Indian, Aztec, Mayan, African, Greco-Roman, Hindu
and Chinese literature.  Some fans are aware that the Mayan calendar is
scheduled to end in 2012.  The last time that happened the gods of the
Mayans turned humanity into jaguars.
	Numerous science fiction authors have made use of such legends
including Gene Rodenberry and Roger Zelazny.  The latter's _Lord of Light_
includes "European" creatures such as dryads and elves, but derived from
Hindu legends!  The former's Vulcans are explicitly based on elves, with the
Vulcans and Romulans nicely suggesting the Norse division of Elfin kindred
into Light and Dark races respectively.
	In short, one reason why Tolkien's work is so popular is because it
taps into universal ideas.

-----Original Message-----
From: Barry L. Newton [mailto:bnewton at ashcomp.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 10:30 AM
To: WSFA members
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Myths Far and Wide

Interestingly, Strong, Lee said:
>.  While trolls are fairly distinctively Scandanavian in origin,
>practically all human cultures have some version of dwarves, elves, little
>people, goblins, ogres, giants and undead, often with interesting
>variations.

Ok, I'm always willing to be educated.  Examples, anyone?

Barry