Together they form their own mythic world in which Gaiman tells his story. Gaiman blended his original mythology with elements of myth from around the world there are locations from Norse mythology and figures from ancient Greek stories. Gaiman's America is populated with Irish. He fashioned his own deities, each representing an aspect of the universe: Destiny, Death, Dream, Desire, Despair, Delirium and Destruction. Neil Gaiman borrowed gods from legends and mythologies he found around the world and used them to construct his epic fantasy novel American Gods. In his graphic novel series Sandman Gaiman created his own pantheon and mythic structure.

Norse Mythology runs like a retelling for the most part, as Gaiman tells selected stories from both, the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda, but he does so in a manner that reflects his own self in it he personalises his. This love has continued, and been made manifest across Gaiman’s work. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman differs from the books that it has been inspired by in the way that it is a little bit of both. He has said that as a child he read Roger Lancelyn Green’s Myths of the Norsemen until the book fell apart. Gaiman’s love of myths began early in life. This was where I learned about Zeus and Hermes, Hera. There are few better examples of this than the work of Neil Gaiman. I vividly recall being captivated by the stories of Greek gods and heroes in Edith Hamiltons Mythology. These mythic characters, themes, and narrative arcs are resurrected, reused, and reshaped by countless fantasy authors. The ancient stories of heroic endeavours and magical interventions, hideous monsters and deadly battles can be seen as the direct ancestors of today’s fantasy genre. The influence of myths on modern fantasy fiction can hardly be understated. This Sandman (real name Wesley Dodds) fought crime with a gas mask and a sleep gun and was part of the Justice Society of America, the first super team in comics.

Greek mythology neil gaiman