Myths and legends archive

Search by title and refine by origin, characters, tags, and sort order.

Peleus Cleansed of Murder by King Eurytion

🏛️ Greek MythologyPhthia (Farsala), Thessaly, GreecePeleus • Eurytion • Antigone

After killing his half-brother Phocus on Aegina, the hero Peleus fled to the kingdom of Phthia in Thessaly. There, King Eurytion performed the sacred rites of purification, cleansing Peleus of his blood-guilt and integrating him into the royal household. This act of mercy granted Peleus a new life, a wife in the princess Antigone, and a share of the Thessalian kingdom.

Bai Suzhen Meeting the Scholar Xu Xian on the Broken Bridge During a Rainstorm

🐉 Chinese MythologyBroken Bridge, Hangzhou, ChinaBai Suzhen • Xu Xian • Xiaoqing

The Legend of the White Snake begins with the serendipitous meeting of Bai Suzhen, a snake spirit in human form, and the humble scholar Xu Xian at the West Lake. Amidst a sudden spring downpour, Xu Xian offers his umbrella to Bai Suzhen and her companion, sparking a profound romance that challenges the boundaries between the mortal and spirit worlds. Their love story, set against the backdrop...

Tyr and Garmr: The Final Stand at Ragnarök

🪓 Norse MythologySkåne Plains, SwedenTyr • Garmr • Odin

At the onset of Ragnarök, the world-ending battle of Norse mythology, the god of justice and law, Tyr, meets his final adversary in Garmr, the blood-stained hound that guards the gates of the underworld. Having long ago sacrificed his right hand to bind the wolf Fenrir, Tyr enters his final duel with a disadvantage, yet he fights with unparalleled courage. The struggle between the one-handed...

The Slaying of Thjazi the Eagle

🪓 Norse MythologyGamla Uppsala, SwedenLoki • Odin • Hœnir

After the trickster Loki betrays the goddess Idunn into the hands of the giant Thjazi, the gods of Asgard begin to age rapidly without her magical apples of youth. Faced with his own demise, Loki is forced to rescue her, leading to a desperate aerial pursuit across the realms. The myth concludes with a spectacular battle at the walls of Asgard where the Æsir use fire to ground and execute the...

Thor Wrestling the Old Woman Elli, the Personification of Old Age

🪓 Norse MythologySvalbard, NorwayThor • Loki • Thjalfi

Thor, the god of thunder, travels to the hall of the giant Utgard-Loki, where he is subjected to several impossible trials of strength and skill. The most humiliating of these challenges involves Thor wrestling an elderly nurse named Elli, only to find himself unable to defeat her. It is later revealed that Elli was the personification of Old Age, a force that no living thing, even a god, can...

The Heavenly Emperor Moving the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains out of Pity

🐉 Chinese MythologyWangwu Mountain, Henan, ChinaYugong (Foolish Old Man) • Zhisou (Wise Old Man) • The Heavenly Emperor (Shangdi)

The elder Yugong, frustrated by two massive mountains blocking his path, resolves to move them by hand with his family. Despite ridicule from a 'wise' neighbor, Yugong persists, believing that successive generations will eventually finish the task. The Heavenly Emperor, moved by such unwavering determination, sends celestial giants to relocate the mountains, rewarding the old man's faith.

Atreus Serving Thyestes His Own Sons

🏛️ Greek MythologyPalace of Mycenae, Peloponnese, GreeceAtreus • Thyestes • Aerope

The myth of the Thyestean Feast depicts the ultimate act of vengeance within the cursed House of Atreus. After his brother Thyestes seduced his wife and stole his throne, King Atreus of Mycenae feigned a reconciliation but instead murdered Thyestes' children and served them as a meal to their father. This horrific event solidified a generational curse that would plague their descendants for...

The Battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths

🏛️ Greek MythologyMount Pelion, Thessaly, GreecePirithous • Hippodamia • Theseus

At the wedding of King Pirithous and Hippodamia, the centaurs became intoxicated and attempted to abduct the bride, sparking a legendary conflict known as the Centauromachy. This violent struggle between the civilized Lapiths and the wild Centaurs serves as a timeless allegory for the conflict between human order and animalistic instinct. With the aid of the hero Theseus, the Lapiths...

Egil Skallagrimsson Raising a Cursed Nithing Pole

🪓 Norse MythologyBorg á Mýrum, IcelandEgil Skallagrímsson • Erik Bloodaxe • Queen Gunnhild

Following a bitter legal dispute and the loss of his property rights in Norway, the legendary warrior-poet Egil Skallagrimsson performed a powerful ritual of scorn known as the nithing pole. By mounting a horse's head on a hazel pole and carving runes of power, he cursed King Erik Bloodaxe and Queen Gunnhild, invoking the land spirits to drive them from the country. This act of spiritual and...

Tang Sanzang Rescuing Sun Wukong from the Mountain to Escort Him to the West

🐉 Chinese MythologyWuzhi Mountain, Hainan, ChinaTang Sanzang • Sun Wukong • Guanyin

After being imprisoned under the Five Elements Mountain for 500 years by the Buddha, the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, is finally discovered by the pious monk Tang Sanzang. Following a divine vision from the Bodhisattva Guanyin, Tang Sanzang removes the sacred seal atop the peak, liberating the monkey. In return for his freedom, Sun Wukong pledges to protect the monk on his perilous pilgrimage to...