Definitions
Myth
What is a story or group of stories that form part of the traditional knowledge of a society. They often use imaginative plots and characters to explain how the world began and why nature and people behave the way they do?
Zeus/Jupiter
Who is considered the ruler of all the other gods, as well as of humans? He was said to live on top of Mount Olympus with the other major gods. He sent thunder, lightning, rain, and winds down to Earth.
Anubis
Who was one of the most important gods in Ancient Egyptian history? People viewed him with respect as a god of the underworld. He was depicted as a jackal-headed god. He guided souls and dead kings to the afterlife, where they were judged by Osiris through the weighing of the heart. Anubis would also embalm the dead and protect them.
Thor
Whose name was the Germanic word for thunder? He was a warrior who had enormous strength. In pictures, he was shown as a large man with a red beard. He always had with him a magic hammer called Mjollnir. Thor used the hammer in many battles. He could throw it and it would return to him like a boomerang. The Norse people believed that when the ground was struck by lightning, Thor had sent his hammer crashing to the earth. Thor protected the gods in their home, which was called Asgard. He also protected humans, who lived in Midgard. He battled giants, trolls, and other evil beings.
Bigfoot
Who is supposedly a large, hairy, humanlike being living in the wild in the northwestern United States and western Canada? Although some people reportedly have seen this legendary creature, none of the claims have been verified. Bigfoot is also called Sasquatch, which means “wild men” in a Native American language of the Salishan family. Researchers have disproved most of the physical evidence of Bigfoot. For example, samples of supposed Bigfoot hair turned out to be from elk or other animals. Other claims have been dismissed as hoaxes. Most scientists agree that if Bigfoot existed, remains would have been found by now. Even so, all the purported sightings and the popularity around the supposed creature have built the legend of Bigfoot.
Legend
What is a story or group of stories that have been handed down from a time long ago and that many people in a society know but cannot prove to be true or untrue; a person or thing that is so remarkable that they become famous and inspire stories to be told about them?
Aphrodite/Venus
Who is the goddess of love and beauty? She was one of the 12 chief gods believed to live on Mount Olympus. One of her symbols includes the dove.
Isis/Aset
Who is the great mother, Isis, the goddess of healing and magic, crucial to ancient Egyptian religious beliefs? Her name translates to “Queen of the Throne” often reflected in her headdress, which is typically a throne. She was both the protector of women and the bringer of magic. Isis began as a secondary figure to her husband Osiris, however after thousands of years of worship, she was transformed into the Queen of the Universe and the embodiment of Cosmic order. By the Roman period, she was believed to control the power of fate itself.
Hel/Hella/Hela
Who was the child who had been born with the bones on one side of her body, fully exposed? The other Gods felt so uncomfortable that they avoided her. Being seen as an oddity, being avoided, and having no friends was very difficult for Hel to deal with. She was extremely unhappy, and filled with great loneliness and despair. She went to Odin and explained to him how difficult her life was there, and then she asked for his permission to leave Asgaard. Odin sympathized with Hel, so he granted her wish and gave her the World of Niflheim, one of the Nine Worlds of Norse Mythology, to rule. He even went so far as to name that place after her, calling it Helheim or Hel. That was how Hel became the Goddess of the Dead. Odin charged her with caring for the souls of people who had died from sickness or old age, and for the souls of any other people whose deaths had not occurred through violence or in battle.
The Bandage Man
Who is said to be the mummy of a logger who was in a sawmill accident, wrapped completely in bandages, and smells of rotting flesh? He is said to haunt a stretch of Highway 101 near Cannon Beach. Like most folklore, the Bandage Man mostly targets teenagers in parked cars. On occasion, he is said to target moving vehicles like open-top cars or pickup truck; he’ll jump into the back of the vehicle and then mysteriously vanish before reaching town. Most of the time, people do not become aware of his presence until his rotting stench reaches their noses. The Bandage Man feeds on dogs and small animals, and occasionally the unlucky person.
Fairytale
What is a traditional story written for children that usually involves imaginary creatures and magic.
Medusa
Who is the most famous of the monster figures called Gorgons, known for her petrifying effect on beholders—those looking at her face were instantly turned to stone? Medusa was the only Gorgon who was mortal; hence her slayer, Perseus, was able to kill her by cutting off her head. She is usually represented as a winged female creature, with a head of hair consisting of snakes. Unlike the other Gorgons, she is sometimes depicted as very beautiful. Although her role in Greek mythology is primarily destructive, Medusa is regarded as a tragic and feminist figure by modern scholars.
Anansi
Who is one of the most-important figures in the pantheon of cultural icons among West Africans? He can change form and may be depicted as a human, although his normal form is a spider. According to one narrative, he collected all of the wisdom of the world in a container to hold for himself because he did not trust humans with such potent knowledge and information. However, wisdom kept spilling out of the container, and he soon saw how pointless it was for one person to try to know everything and to hold it for himself. In fact, it is far better, as Ananse understood, for knowledge and wisdom to be distributed among all people, so that is exactly what he did.
Asgard
What is, in Norse mythology, the dwelling place of the gods, comparable to the Greek Mount Olympus? Legend divided Asgard into 12 or more realms, including Valhalla, the home of Odin, and Thrudheim, the realm of Thor. Each important god had his own palace in Asgard, and many Germanic peoples believed that these mansions were similar in design to those of their own nobility. Asgard could be reached from Earth only by the bridge Bifrost (a burning rainbow).
Colossal Claude
Who is said to be 15 to 40 feet long, with an 8-foot-long neck? He has a round tan body with a snake, horse or camel-like head and a long serpentine tail. He looks like an aquatic giraffe or camel with a snake’s tail. Colossal Claude was first reported in 1934 by L.A. Larson, first mate of the Columbia River Lightship in Oregon. Colossal Claude is thought to have been a jellyfish or whale. Another theory is that it is a surviving plesiosaur, an ancient marine reptile that lived during the time of dinosaurs. Some cryptozoologists think that plesiosaurs may still exist in deep oceans or lakes around the world.
Fable
What is a short tale that teaches a lesson? The characters in fables are often animals who speak and act like people.
Hydra
Who is a many-headed serpent or monster that was slain by Hercules and each head of which when cut off was replaced by two others?
The Elephant and the Ants
Once upon a time, in a jungle, lived a mighty elephant. He was immensely proud of the fact that he was big and that no one could harm him. As a result, he used to bully all of the jungle’s creatures. A family of ants was passing by one day. When the elephant saw them, he threw water on them with his trunk. When a small ant questioned him about what he was doing, he told him to be quiet and threatened to walk over his entire family! Later that night, the ant crept into the elephant’s trunk and started biting him. He bit it till the elephant became restless and began screaming in pain. When the elephant pleaded, the ant came out of his trunk on one condition that he would not bully others. The elephant promised never to bully anyone else again. This is how the little ant taught the giant elephant the essential life lesson: never underestimate others, including yourself.
The Apples of Idun
Idun, the goddess of Spring or rejuvenation, was the keeper of the magic apples of immortality, which the gods must eat to preserve their youth. When Loki used his tricks, she and her apples were seized by the giant Thiassi and taken to the realm of the giants. The gods quickly began to grow old. They then forced Loki to rescue Idun.
The Bridge of Gods
According to the Klickitat tribe, the chief of all gods, Tyhee Saghalie, traveled from the Far North with his two sons, Pahto and Wy'east. They were looking for a good place to live. They found a beautiful area now called The Dalles. The sons argued over who would settle there. To solve the problem, their father shot two arrows from his powerful bow: one to the north and one to the south. Pahto followed the arrow north, and Wy'east followed the arrow south. Saghalie then built a special bridge called Tanmahawis, the Bridge of the Gods. This bridge allowed his family to meet whenever they wanted. Later, both Pahto and Wy'east fell in love with a beautiful maiden named Loowit. She couldn't choose between them. The two young chiefs fought over her, causing huge earthquakes that buried villages and forests. The land was devastated, and the earth shook so violently that the huge bridge fell into the river. This created the Cascades Rapids in the Columbia River Gorge. As punishment, Saghalie turned each of the lovers into great mountains where they fell. Wy'east, who was proud, became the volcano we know today as Mount Hood. Pahto, who was sad and bent his head toward his lost love, became Mount Adams. The fair Loowit became Mount St. Helens, which the Klickitats called Louwala-Clough, meaning "smoking or fire mountain."
Folktale
What is a story that has been handed down for generations among the common people of a region (often told orally)?
Pandora's Box
The god Prometheus stole fire from heaven to give to the human race, which originally consisted only of men. To punish humanity, the other gods created the first woman, the beautiful Pandora. As a gift, Zeus gave her a box, which she was told never to open. However, as soon as he was out of sight she took off the lid, and out swarmed all the troubles of the world, never to be recaptured. Only Hope was left in the box, stuck under the lid. Anything that looks ordinary but may produce unpredictable harmful results can thus be called a Pandora's box.
The Osiris Myth
According to the myth, Osiris and his wife Isis were the first rulers of the world. Together, they taught the people of the world how to live on Earth. But Osiris’ brother Seth was jealous and plotted to kill his brother, chopping up his body and distributing it around Egypt. With the help of her sister Nephthys, Isis was able to retrieve the pieces of Osiris’ body and reanimate it. But the life she gave Osiris was only a half-life, and she could not restore him to the world of the living. Instead, she used her magic to create the afterlife for Osiris to dwell in, where he was joined by others who died.
Sif's Golden Hair
Whose golden hair, which symbolized her connection to the fertility of the land and the harvest of grain, was often praised? According to legend, Loki, the mischievous trickster fire god, cut off Sif’s hair while she slept (in one version, he burns it off). Thor was so angry that he forced Loki to replace Sif’s hair with a wig, crafted by the dwarves and made of the finest strands of gold.
Crater Lake Klamath Legend
The spirits of the Earth and sky often came and talked with the people. Llao was the spirit of the Below-World who lived beneath Lao-Yaina (today known as Mount Mazama). Skell was the spirit of the Above-World. Llao often came up and stood on top of Lao-Yaina, and his head would touch the stars near the home of Skell. There was no lake then, just a hole through which Llao passed to see the outside world. One day, Llao saw Loha, daughter of the Klamath Indian chief, and fell in love with her beauty. She rejected him because he was ugly and was from the Below-World. He got angry and swore that he would take revenge on her people. He tried to destroy the people with the curse of fire. The Klamath Indian chief sought help from Skell. Skell descended from the sky to the top of Mount Shasta. Skell and Llao were thundering and trembling the Earth, hurling red-hot rocks back and forth to each other (from Mount Shasta to Mount Mazama), causing great landslides. A terrible darkness spread over the area for days. All spirits of Earth and sky took part in this battle, creating intense fear among the people. Attempting to calm the ferocious volcano gods and to make up for the sins of the tribe, two medicine men offered to sacrifice themselves and jumped into the pit of Below-World. Impressed by their heroic sacrifice, Skell fought even harder. He finally defeated Llao, driving Llao deep down into the Below-World. He collapsed the top of Mount Mazama to imprison Llao forever beneath the world. Skell wanted peace and tranquility to cover up this dark pit, so he filled it with the beautiful blue water.