I was binge-watching The Witcher's second season when I recognized one of the monsters. I realized that the rest of the monsters were likely pulled from mythology as well.
Mythology is one of my favorite writing tools.
The Witcher isn't the only story that reimagines legends of old. In fact, I've noticed this trend in several books, movies, and TV shows.
So, how can you use mythology in your own writing?
Mythology
“People like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the Bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live.” ―Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish
Andrzej Sapkowski is from Poland. So, it's not surprising that he drew from Polish mythology.
According to Meet the Slavs, "Polish mythology and folklore stem from the folklore and beliefs rooted in Slavic religion also known as Slavic paganism which was observed by the Slavs."
I love mythology. I'm most familiar with Greek and Egyptian mythology though. I wasn't familiar with Slavic mythology until a few months ago. So, I'm not surprised that I didn't recognize The Witcher's monsters until now.
According to Meet the Slavs, "Dozens of bloodthirsty monsters populate the Witcher universe and not all of them come from Slavic folklore and mythology. In creating the monsters both Sapkowski and the game developers at CD Projekt drew from Nordic, Germanic, and Arabic folklore."
The thing is we're familiar with some of these monsters without realizing it. An example of this would be the leshy who is a Slavic spirit of the forests.
The leshy is the monster that I recognized, but I also realized that I'd seen him before. Specifically, Treebeard from The Lord of the Rings was likely inspired by a leshy. This is where the writer's imagination comes into play because the leshies in The Witcher and The Lord of the Rings are completely different!
Countless myths have appeared in fiction and television such as dragons, unicorns, and vampires. Despite being based on the same myths, they're never portrayed in the same way. Sure, there might be some similarities, but there's so much room to reimagine an old legend!
I incorporate mythology into my own writing by following these steps.
RESEARCH
The first thing I do is research. I start by googling Slavic mythology. I'll read the first thing that pops up which is usually Wikipedia. I prefer to find websites like Meet the Slavs that is a website dedicated to a people group and their culture.
EVALUATE
After I've researched Slavic mythology. I collect and evaluate the myths that I want to incorporate into my story. For example, the Upir, Leshy, and Baba Yaga.
ABSORB
What I mean is what parts of Slavic mythology are you actually using? For instance, Baba Yaga has chicken feet in most of her myths. Does that work with my story?
DABBLE
Finally, I play around with the myths and legends. I might write more than one version of the myth to see what fits best with my story. Ultimately, you're drawing from mythology, but you're still trying to make it yours.
The Witcher's mythology definitely pulls from some of the scarier depictions of myths, but there's more than one way to reimagine a legend of old.
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