The stuff of legend

Fantasy fiction, as a genre, has largely focused on the grand, the sweeping, the truly epic in scale. And in that way it’s not hard to argue that the field has taken much inspiration from the myths and tales of old – and rightly so. Using these classic – and often well-known – tales can add a strong added element to fantasy, not to mention that it (arguably) adds further cachet to use known folklore rather than created. Mind you, making your own is probably a harder task, as I’m sure many writers in the field would attest to.

But how do you call upon classic mythology to create your own fictional tales? There are rich pickings from thousands of years of storytelling, both written and oral, so where do we begin?

Points of interest

This initial statement might go without saying, but you should absolutely start with mythology that interests you in particular. If you happen to have the pre-existing knowledge