Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr.

Weaving the Threads of Reality: Mythology in High Fantasy Worldbuilding

Jonathan Aalto

Worldbuilding is a key component of high fantasy storytelling. Narratives set in

unfamiliar realities survive on the creativity, completeness, and consistency of their

surroundings. Across the genre, authors have developed a variety of mechanisms – among them

maps, timelines, and genealogies – to imbue their imaginary worlds with these strengths. Chief

among them is the use of mythology to inspire and unite natural, philosophical, and societal

constructs. In doing so, mythologies can serve as the nexus of a world’s structure and

development. Exploring this role will hopefully expand upon the existing academic discourse on

worldbuilding, creating a new lens with which to analyze one of the most prominent genres

within modern literature.

Worldbuilding as an Art

A fictional world is more than a location or a backdrop. It is a living, dynamic entity,

often acting upon and reacting to a story. It is a delicate interplay of constructs, both tangible and

abstract, which come together to form an immersive whole. A good world can exist in the

absence of narrative, as a place for the mind to venture, the destination of daydreams. Building

such a world is a passion, an act of care and diligence.

In his book, Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation,

author Mark J.P. Wolf explores the history of worldbuilding, cataloguing the art’s development

from The Epic of Gilgamesh to modern digital storytelling. Across numerous case studies, Wolf

contrasts the role of constructs – sets of information that physically or ideologically comprise an

Page 1
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

imagined world, such as geography, nature, and social systems – with mechanisms, the tools

used to organize and codify a world’s constructs, such as maps, timelines, and genealogies. He

uses Tolkien’s notion of “subcreation,” [1] to describe how constructs that define our world, the

Primary World, are re-arranged, modified, and excised. As God created form from matter,

believed Tolkien, so too does the author reshape the matter of the human experience. Some

constructs survive the process un-besmirched; few worlds abandon the basic laws of physics or

the five senses, for how can immersion occur if we abandon too many of the basic assumptions

of reality? Yet, as Wolf describes, those aspects which are subject to variation in the Primary

World – terrain, political organization, social norms, and belief in the supernatural – are prime

candidates in worldbuilding. One can imagine themselves in a subcreated continent, or beholden

to a subcreated moral framework, and if an element of fiction has existed in the popular

conscience for centuries, like magic, it, too, becomes familiar.

As objects, characters, and themes begin to populate a world, it can become difficult to

assemble the pieces into a cohesive whole. To this end, Wolf describes the interaction among

constructs as mediated by three key considerations: invention, completeness, and consistency. [2]

Invention is the degree to which a subcreator’s constructs differ from those of the Primary

World. If an imaginary world is to be allegorical, or if it is to examine the human condition in

uncharted waters, it must be unique enough to recontextualize the themes and conflicts therein,

but not so unfamiliar as to break a reader’s connection to its reality. Thomas More could not

place his Utopia in any existing country – his reimagination of culture and politics was meant to

be independent of nationality and tradition – yet he could not place it on the moon or populate it

with fish-people, for such inventions would distract from the central theme of aligning the

human experience with More’s ideals. [3]

Page 2
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

Understanding which constructs of the Primary World to modify is only the first step.

Imagined worlds exist as gestalten, as “details [that] together imply the existence of an imaginary

world and cause the audience to automatically fill in the missing pieces of that world, based on

the details that are given.” [4] In order for such synthesis to occur, a reader must be presented

with enough raw material. One does not need to provide the answer to every question, but

enough information should be provided to suggest that every question has a plausible answer

[5]; this is Wolf’s notion of completeness. A subcreated medieval landscape need not broach the

exact hierarchy of lords and retainers, nor the specifics of the peasants’ daily lives – but these

areas should not be wholly ignored. Perhaps a scene takes place in the marketplace of a small

village, with a character excited about the variety of fruits available for purchase. The peasants

probably cannot afford to import fruit, so clearly many of them must grow and pick them

themselves, but what do they eat for the rest of the year? This leads to other inquiries about the

climate and viability of crops, means of food preservation and processing, and the economic

exports of the village – questions which other references or pieces of exposition might address,

either directly or tangentially.

This interconnectedness of information, Wolf describes, necessitates a consideration of

consistency. Contradictions lead to cognitive dissonance, which risks shattering the cohesion of

the gestalten reality. Small discrepancies are normally unnoticeable, even intentional – a

character misremembering major details of a location may be used to underscore just how long it

has been since they were last there, while two societies offering different accounts of shared

events may shed light on their values and biases. Blatant, unplanned discrepancies, on the other

hand, are the bane of an imagined world, and their removal is paramount to the success of

subcreation.

Page 3
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

Mythology as a Mechanism of Worldbuilding

Balancing invention, completeness, and consistency is not easy, and efforts in one area

can undermine progress in another. Subcreators employ a variety of mechanisms in pursuit of

this harmony, and in Chapter 3 of Building Imaginary Worlds, Wolf delves into a few of the

more common examples. Maps, mainstays of high fantasy, allow both authors and readers to

contextualize locations and journeys within a larger spatial framework. [6] Maps codify the

world’s unique natural and geographic structure; populate the fringes of the story with people

and places that stoke the flames of curiosity; and establish relationships between societies by

demarcating trade routes and national boundaries. Maps can proffer and integrate a world’s

constructs, but their impact is most applicable to the spatial and political. Other mechanisms are

more apropos for addressing a world’s historical, cultural, and moral systems.

Wolf includes mythology among these mechanisms, touting their ability to “provide

historical depth, explanations, and purpose to the events of a world” [7], but his analysis of the

topic is limited. Over the course of three pages, he briefly invokes Tolkien and his legendarium,

as well as the works of Lord Dunsany, H.P. Lovecraft, and C.S. Lewis, succeeding in

establishing that mythology can be a mechanism of worldbuilding, even one of great import, but

he does not establish a framework by which mythology’s role can be studied further. The aim of

this paper is to build upon Wolf’s theory of worldbuilding, specifically his discussion of

mechanisms, by exploring mythology across high fantasy. Where do myths sit in relation to other

mechanisms of worldbuilding? How do different types of myths serve to codify and unify a

world’s constructs? How does a mythology address the key considerations (invention,

completeness, and consistency) necessary to unite world gestalten? Answering these questions

Page 4
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

will not only expand upon Wolf’s theory, but will also provide a novel approach to the study of

high fantasy.

A mythology is a set of narratives that people use to describe the structure and origins of

their world and their place within it. [8] In the Primary World, mythologies are usually

associated with a particular culture or religion. A quintessential example is that of ancient

Greece, with a wide pantheon of deities and stories ranging from the creation of the world to the

petty arguments amongst gods and mortals. [9] Some mythologies place greater emphasis on a

creation story and its attendant characters, while others may be much more fragmentary, but

across this diversity there exist similarities. Nearly all mythologies involve gods, spirits, or other

supernatural elements; most explore origin of the world and its fundamental phenomena to some

degree; and many form the basis of a society’s cultural norms and influence (or are used to

justify) their practices. Common narratives include the origin of humanity; explanations of

natural cycles like the movement of the sun and moon; stories of mortals challenging or

otherwise confronting the supernatural; tales of epic heroes vanquishing fell beasts; and, of

course, the cosmic struggle between good and evil.

The mythology of high fantasy retains these fundamental narratives and social niches, but

with added complexity and significance borne of its role as a mechanism of worldbuilding. One

use of mechanisms is as personal references – used by the author to organize their thoughts, to

codify a historical progression they intend to reference, etc, [10] – which are later adapted for

consumption by the reader. Timelines commonly fill this role, helping a subcreator arrange the

seminal events of their world in a way that helps them understand their progression.

The Wheel of Time is a fourteen-book high fantasy series written by Robert Jordan, which

follows the journey of Rand al’Thor, the prophesied Dragon Reborn, as he and his companions

Page 5
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

overcome the political factionalism, cyclic destinies, and human faults of the Westlands to

counter the world’s ancient enemy, Shai’tan. [11] The Aiel War is a conflict preceding the events

of the series by decades, yet its impact is nonetheless tangible. Those old enough to have

experienced the conflict were fundamentally changed in the chaos – Carheinin lords were

deposed and scattered, the Aes Sedai became the scorn of both sides as they fruitlessly attempted

to mediate, the Aiel were emboldened by their march through the Eastlands, the forces of Andor

and the Borderlands finally overcame their differences and allied, and Tam Al’thor came upon

the baby Rand on the slopes of Dragonmount, becoming a father. Fragmentary tales from old

warriors, Tam’s musings, the songs of the Aiel, and the writings of Verin Sedai provide different

perspectives on a conflict that comes alive in the mind’s eye because of the clear chronology

between events. [12] Timelines need not specify exact years nor remember minor events; rather,

they are considered successful when they organize events of their world in a way that creates a

consistent, cohesive historical framework. One can then draw upon this well to facilitate

dialogue, backstory, or exposition. The timeline is now a fixture of the world that integrates

jagged, disparate pieces into a smooth continuum.

Mythologies also involve historical progressions, often the transition from void to matter,

the rise and fall of primordial beings, legendary ancient civilizations, and the fate of people and

societies. But where timelines lend their focus to what happened and when, mythology explores

why things are as they are and how the world’s phenomena are related to one another. In some

ways they are like genealogies, but for societies and natural processes rather than people.

J.R.R. Tolkien, often considered the founder of high fantasy, constructed the beautiful

and detailed world of Middle Earth across The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of The Rings (1954),

whose history and mythology he later expanded upon in The Silmarillion (1977) [13]. His hobbit

Page 6
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

genealogy traces the great families of Brandybuck, Took, and Baggins through generations,

connecting the great leaders and heroes of the past to the contemporary characters, illuminating

the class disparities and marriage practices of their society; clarifying how Frodo, Merry, and

Pippin came to know each other; and explaining the hospitality shown to the young Baggins at

Brandy Hall. Similarly, a mythology may relate the quotidian magic used to perform routine

tasks, such as the printing and building construction practiced by the Aes Sedai, to the primordial

forces that drive the most crucial of natural processes. An enchanted sword may be related to a

mysterious monolith if both trace their origins to an ancient hero or legendary battle. A

mythology may connect the nature of man to the motives of their creator, or may link disparate

elements of nature and society under the locus of a deity.

In its capacity to codify and synthesize the development of a world from its primordial

state, mythology’s gaze can extend from the broadest cosmic cycles to the quotidian phenomena.

In the Primary World, the myths espoused by different cultures and societies tend to be most

similar in their descriptions of broad, all-encompassing narratives, with increasing distinction as

myths become more narrow, as they become tied to specific individuals or locations. The ancient

Greek and Mesopotamian pantheons, both descendants of the proto-Indo-European mythology,

share many features (and even equivalencies) among their head gods and goddesses (Aphrodite

and Ishtar is a great example), and their creation myths are also similar, but when attention is

turned to the exploits of demigods and heroes, or the stories espoused by cults of worship within

each pantheon, there is little overlap. [14] The same pattern is observed in high fantasy. Myths

governing the fundamental, primordial processes are mostly consistent among a world’s

inhabitants (often because they are explicitly dictated by the author as what actually happened),

while those which concern the actions of individual heroes, or that explain localized phenomena,

Page 7
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

exhibit greater variation in both veracity and interpretation. By separating mythology along this

continuum, we may gain a greater general sense of how mythology is used to bolster and connect

a world’s constructs, alongside a more specific understanding of the niches that myths can fill

within subcreation.

Creation Myths

Creation myths lie at the broadest end of this spectrum. How did the world come into

existence? What great and weighty events followed its inception that brought it to where it is

now? Such are the questions that authors and their worlds’ inhabitants answer using these

narratives. As a means of worldbuilding, creation myths serve an integral role as the basis for a

world’s inventions and the flashpoint from which the geographic, natural, and immaterial threads

of its reality are spun.

Perhaps the most fundamental of these threads is that of the immaterial, the ethereal,

those primordial forces that drive the world’s development and establish its moral fabric. In

Tolkien’s Arda, this is Eru Illuvatar and his Ainur. Eru is a transcendent being, existing

independently of the world or reality. As described in The Silmarillion, he first willed into

existence the Ainur, the angelic spirits of Middle Earth, and together they sang the music of

creation, the Ainulindale, bringing forth matter from the void, and bringing form to that matter,

thus creating the world. Each among the Ainur made their own contributions within this

primordial hymn. Aule created the dwarves and much of world’s geology, Yavanna used her

voice to imbue the world with terrestrial animal and plant life, including the beloved Ents; and

Ulmo, fascinated by water, served as progenitor and protector of Arda’s oceans. [15] Most of the

Ainur used the music of creation to further Eru’s harmony, but there was one discordant voice,

that of the powerful Melkor, who rebelled against the melody out of pride and spite. His desire

Page 8
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

for control led him to corrupt Arda as he attempted to re-shape creation in his image, bringing

forth orcs, goblins, dragons, trolls, and all manner of misery and danger. His voice even

corrupted some of the lesser Ainur, leading to evils such as Sauron and the Balrog.

In Tolkien’s creation myth, music and language are the vessels of creation, the primordial

forces which shape the world. Gandalf’s “magic,” Celebrimbor’s enchantments, Sauron’s gaze –

all these powers are derived from the ethereal hymn. The Black Speech of Mordor, the force

which binds the servants of Sauron to his will, corrupts the unifying power of language, its

capacity for harmony, and re-tools it into a mechanism of control and spite. [16] By establishing

the central importance of language in his creation myth, Tolkien adds significance and

complexity to the conlangs present in his stories (Elvish, Quenya, etc.), and also establishes

valuable consistency, one which leaves ample room for creative variation – clearly Sauron and

Gandalf, for example, have very different abilities – but, crucially, maintains a sense of cohesion

across the world’s phenomena.

Where Tolkien draws on language and a combination of mono- and polytheism, Robert

Jordan’s The Wheel of Time codifies and connects its primordial elements through a unifying

force known as the One Power. Drawing from tenets of Taoism, the One Power is the impetus

and substance of the world’s processes and can be molded by individuals with the right training.

[17] This Power is divided into male and female elements, which is further subdivided into

threads corresponding to the major elements (earth, water, fire, etc.). To wield this Power, to

generate form or energy from the primordial Source, is to weave its elemental threads in a

careful pattern, much as the Creator, the first sentient being and a counter to primordial chaos, is

said to have woven the threads of the Power to create the world and its beings. Learning to draw

from the Source is an involved process, requiring concentration, planning, and patience, and each

Page 9
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

elemental thread presents its own risks and challenges. The spells of the Aes Sedai, the

supernatural phenomena tied to different parts of the world, and the origin of Trollocs, Fades,

and other monsters – all are unified under the multi-faceted, pliable One Power. As an all-

encompassing construct, separated into attendant elements, the One Power, codified in the story

of the Creator [18] and the origin of the universe, creates a comprehensive framework that

establishes the origin and purview of magic in the Westlands (invention), makes possible indexes

of spell formulae and descriptions of supernatural phenomena (completeness), and allows readers

to place individual magical phenomena within a larger context (consistency).

Creation myths are just as essential to the world’s geographical and natural structure as

they are to its immaterial and cosmic elements. In Tolkien’s Arda, the Misty Mountains, which

are a major obstacle in the adventures of both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and which

are central to the geography and climate of northern Arda, are a product of Melkor’s scheming,

who erected the range to stymie the efforts of another Ainar, the hunter Orome. [19] Mordor’s

jagged peaks and its Mount Doom are another product of Melkor’s wrath. Proximity to Mordor

is associated with evil, foul landscapes, such as the Dead Marshes and the harsh desert lands of

Far Harad. The Ainar Yavanna covered the landscape with great forests and a proliferation of

plant life, while the Numenoreans, arriving in Middle Earth after their Fall (another early myth),

cut down most of the trees as they established the realms of Arnor and Gondor. We, thus, have

an explanation for why some areas are meadowed and tilled, while others remain forested,

protected by their inhabitants, such as the Ents of Fangorn or the wood-elves of Lothlorien.

Page 10
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

Figure 1: Map of Tolkien’s Middle Earth (part of the planet Arda), [20]. Numbers correspond to 1) the
Misty Mountains, 2) the great forests of Greenwood, Fangorn, and Lorien, 3) the Dead Marshes, and 4)
the unnatural, jagged terrain of Mordor.

The Wheel of Time displays a similar relationship between mythology and geography.

Like Mordor, the lands surrounding Shayol Ghul – the mountain home to the Bore and the nexus

of the Dark One’s taint upon the world – are rotting and derelict, the Creator’s natural harmony

corrupted, its terrain shattered into the jagged edges of the Blasted Lands. Echoes of the great

Page 11
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

struggle at the beginning of the world, between the forces of Light and those beholden to the

Dark One, Shai’Tan, are seen across the Westlands. Massive rifts in the ground, immense

monoliths peering from the ground where they are buried, fragments of ancient civilizations

appearing far from their origin – all are connected to that mythical conflict, to the Breaking of

the World. By applying significance and continuity across a world’s geological structures,

creation myths not only add completeness to a world’s physical structures, but also aid in the

development of maps, further adding to the visual and spatial consistency.

Figure 2: Map of Jordan’s Westlands, [21]. Numbers correspond to 1) Shayol Ghul, 2) the desolate
Blasted Lands 3) the dry and dangerous Northern Kingdoms, and 4) the verdant, prosperous Southern
Kingdoms, far removed from the evil of Shayol Ghul.

Page 12
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

Creation myths can also serve as inspiration for other mechanisms of worldbuilding,

especially if the term is extended to include seminal myths that occurred after the birth of the

world, but long before the main events of a story. Sauron’s manipulation of the Numenoreans

and the subsequent drowning of Numenor led the faithful and uncorrupted to the lands of Middle

Earth, establishing the line of high kings which began with Elendil and continued through the

ages to Aragorn. Dwarven and Elven lineages similarly find their roots in the legendary First

Age, such as with Durin the Deathless and Luthien, respectively. The Aiel of Jordan’s Westlands

trace their origins to the nomadic Tuatha’an, and many others exalt their connections to the

people and societies of the Age of Legends. Timelines of the reigns of Amyrlin Seats (the rulers

of Tar Valon and leaders of the Aes Sedai) and great works such as the Stone or Tear connect

institutions and nations to their mythical past. The use of genealogies and timelines to connect

characters to ancient legends and events toward the beginning of the world provides consistency

across the narratives that societies tell themselves, creating analogs between extant characters

and the great names of the past, and underscoring the contrasts between the current world and the

primordial world.

In the legendariums of Tolkien and Jordan, creation myths serve as the nexus for

physical, natural, and supernatural constructs. Key inventions find their origins within these

myths, and disparate fragments of geography, magic, and conflict are united by the narratives

contained therein. Creation myths need not be so comprehensive, however, to set the stage for an

effective mythology. Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher lacks a detailed creation mythos. The

primordial force of Chaos was introduced during the Conjunction of the Spheres, an ancient

event which also brought forth the world’s monsters, but that is largely the extent of our

knowledge. [22] Even in the absence of deities, eon-spanning conflicts, or a framework

Page 13
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

governing the behavior of Chaos, Sapkowski defines a nexus, a place where the world’s

peculiarities may converge. The Conjunction connects the strigas and basilisks that Geralt fights

to the spells cast by mages or the curses laid upon outcasts. As a mechanism of worldbuilding,

the scope of this creation myth is limited, for it pertains almost exclusively to the construct of

Chaos itself, providing few details and doing little to connect other threads of the world’s reality.

How does Chaos influence people and the world’s natural processes? What framework (if any)

governs its behavior? Is it changing over time? Though Sapkowski’s creation mythos may be ill-

equipped to address these queries, mythology is far from limited to tales of ancient events and

primordial developments. As we move on down the spectrum from well-defined to uncertain,

from the past to the future, and from universal to local, we reach the intermediate realm of

continuation myths. Here we find new applications of mythology and different relationships

between the world’s constructs and mechanisms.

Page 14
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

Figure 3: Map of the Continent of Sapkowski’s Witcher. [23] Notice the limited focus given to
geographic features, with greater emphasis placed on the names and relative sizes and locations
of kingdoms and cities.

Page 15
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

Continuation Myths

Where creation myths explore the legendary narratives and primordial forces that govern

a world’s inception and early development, continuation myths explore these processes as they

pertain to the present. How is the world currently changing? What narratives govern common

phenomena? These questions often turn the focus of mythology from addressing a world’s

physical and natural constructs to establishing completion and consistency among tonal, moral,

and temporal elements. These myths can be tied to creation myths, such as how Sauron’s actions

in Lord of the Rings are a continuation of past struggles, but they can also exist independently.

In Sapkowski’s Witcher series, continuation myths can fill much the same niche as

creation myths. On the Continent, the contemporary narrative surrounding Chaos, its

continuation mythos, is more impactful, from a worldbuilding standpoint, than its role in the

origin or development of the world’s fundamental processes, a.k.a. its creation mythos. Its

mysterious behavior is rectified with observed patterns – such as the observation that

concentrated will or emotion can lead to curses, prophecies, or other magical phenomena – to

create an often-inconsistent, yet still valuable mythology that describes, roughly, its role in

relation to humanity. Children are told not to speak of people in certain ways, lest they

unintentionally lay a curse or invoke terrible monsters [24], while soldiers attribute the

desolation of war to the whims of the primordial magic. The general narrative likens Chaos to a

fickle entity whose capacity for disarray and destruction is far more accessible than its potential

for healing and unity, a wild animal that is best avoided, but which can (by mages and witchers)

be tamed and harnessed through concentration. Different aspects of Chaos, including Destiny

and Curses [25], are used in an attempt by the world’s inhabitants to categorize the unknowable

forces that surround them, and also to justify elements of their own lives and societies that they

Page 16
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

would rather attribute to an external entity than to their own misdeeds. What results from this

fragmented mythos is a framework which is somewhat effective at establishing consistency

across magical phenomena, but is most effective at reinforcing the series’ central themes – the

illusion of moral duality and the tumultuous nature, and capacity for violence and hate, which

characterize the human condition. After all, the various short stories contained within The Last

Wish and Storm of Swords are largely about overcoming spite, pettiness, miscommunication, and

other barriers that prevent people from living in peace and working together, and the

characterization of Chaos as a fickle, petty, destructive entity reflects the internal struggles faced

by many of the story’s characters.

Across high fantasy, this is perhaps the most important function of continuation myths. In

Building Imaginary Worlds, Wolf describes the use of philosophy as a mechanism of

worldbuilding, and how “the many default assumptions that are reset can be used to introduce

new ways of thinking, just as encountering a new culture can force one to see the world in a new

way.” (pg. 193) Embedding a philosophical or ideological message within a worldbuilding

endeavor can challenge our default assumptions about morality, pose new questions about our

relationship to the world, and establish a context within which a story’s narrative threads or

natural phenomena can be examined. Because these myths are less about codifying concrete

historical events and more about echoing a particular message, there is often more variation

among these myths, which are more commonly espoused by characters or manifested through

story than explicitly dictated by the author.

Within Lord of the Rings, a major continuation myth involves the decay of the music of

creation across the world’s “Ages.” The First and Second Ages of Middle Earth were

characterized by great confrontations between the Ainur, the splendor of grand civilizations

Page 17
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

(especially Gondolin and Numenor), and the rise of legendary heroes such as Glorfindel and

Elendil. The creations of the Ainur, especially the Elves, were ascendant, and the echoes of the

Ainulindale expressed themselves through the grandeur of the world’s events. The conflict

between Morgoth and Sauron, the adventures of Beren and Luthien, the downfall of Numenor –

these great and weighty events, most of which directly involved the greatest of the Ainur, were

integral to the development of the world, establishing great lineages, re-shaping the landscape,

and (in Morgoth’s case) even threatening reality itself.

Sauron, by contrast, was only Morgoth’s lieutenant, a lesser Ainur, and the War of the

Ring is a conflict that only merits a few pages within Tolkein’s The Silmarillion [26]. Gandalf is

the only Ainur who plays a major role in opposing Sauron, and the Elves, those immortal beings

who embody the timelessness and natural beauty of the Ainulindale, are much diminished. The

destruction of the One Ring not only removes Sauron from Middle Earth, but also quickens the

decline of the Elves. Other Ainur also depart the scene; Gandalf journeys to the Undying Lands,

Saruman’s physical form is vanquished, and Radagast abandons his role as Istarii. Without its

ancient entities, Middle Earth becomes detached from the music of creation, and the Fourth Age,

the “Age of Men,” commences. In many ways, this mythological progression is bittersweet. On

one hand, the defeat of Saruman and the ascension of the Reunified Kingdom under its

prophesied king Elessar (Aragorn) marks a rapid proliferation of civilization, an age of

prosperity for Men and Hobbits. On the other, Elves and Wizards are no longer present to tend to

the health of the world, so the fate of Middle Earth, most worryingly the treatment of its natural

beauty and majestic creatures, is now the purview of human civilization.

The result of Eru’s Gift of Men – the myth used to explain the free will, creativity, and

motivation exhibited by Men, as well as their detachment from the Music of Creation [27] – and

Page 18
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

the decline of the Elves and Ainur is that Middle Earth is no longer beholden to ancient

prophesies or the involvement of the Ainur. Morgoth’s rebellion incited the conflict of the First

and Second Ages, his creatures (dragons, orcs, and goblins) were the enemies of The Hobbit, and

his servant was the foe of The Lord of the Rings, but now the world’s problems are no longer

derived from Morgoth. As established by Arda’s continuation mythos, the fate of the world is

now the responsibility of Men and Hobbits, elevating the motif of personal responsibility by

making it a part of the world’s mythological progression, connecting the minds and motives of

the characters to the fabric of the world itself. As Gandalf says, “All we have to decide is what to

do with the time that is given us.” [28]

A world’s embedded philosophy also extends to its moral structure and the nature of

conflict. As aforementioned, the fickle, uncertain structure of Chaos in Sapkowski’s Witcher

places the spotlight on the shortcomings of human nature, while most of the conflict in Tolkien’s

stories is derived from the myth of Morgoth and his corruptive influence upon Arda, through

beings like Sauron and Smaug. Jordan’s mythology is fundamentally cyclic, as “the Wheel of

Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend, legend becomes

myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again.” (The Eye of

the World, Ch. 1). This cycle is called the Pattern, and opposing its flow is the Dark One, a

primordial entity whose goal is to break the Pattern and reshape creation in his own image. The

Dark One’s touch is like a rot upon the world’s processes, turning people against each other and

disrupting the flow of natural phenomena. At first glance the series’ conflict is a battle for

influence between the Forces of Light and those loyal to the Dark One, but this is an incomplete

analysis. As Rand Al’Thor, the central character, realizes, the Dark One cannot enact change

directly, but relies on the actions of people, people who follow it for the promise of eternal life

Page 19
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

[29], out of fear, or in the hopes of being on “the winning side.” People choose to do evil on the

Dark One’s behalf, and it is this choice, not the Dark One’s power, that sits at the heart of the

conflict in The Wheel of Time. As a result, the series’ conflict shifts from a classic moral duality

to a more nuanced approach, forcing us to ask why people are tempted to make the choice. By

establishing this moral complexity, this central continuation myth redirects focus to issues of

social inequality, domestic violence, poverty, and ostracism – to the flaws in the societies of the

Westlands that ferment desperation or spite, unifying them through their relationship to the

Choice and the Dark One, and making the reader consider their analogs in the Primary World.

Continuation myths can also establish a world’s tonal consistency. Within the cyclic

mythology of The Wheel of Time, each new age begins with a fresh world, upended and

unrecognizable. As a result, even if the Dark One’s threat to the Pattern itself is thwarted, the

transition to a new age will almost certainly involve tremendous loss of life. One can either

accept this eventuality and aid the key actors of the transition (namely the Dragon Reborn and

his attendant ta’veren), or one can attempt to stave off the inevitable by attempting to disrupt or

prevent prophesized events. Moiraine Damodred and Siuan Sanche, driven by the acceptance

mindset, attempt to aid the Dragon Reborn and accelerate the events of the Transition to cause

minimal carnage, while the Red Ajah Aes Sedai become hell-bent on imprisoning the Dragon

and preventing him from fulfilling key events. This tonal duality manifests itself in other groups,

from the Whitecloaks, who are too blinded by their hatred of Aes Sedai to even consider the

impending conflict, to the Green Ajah, a group of Aes Sedai solely dedicated to preparing for the

final battle of the Age at Tarmon Gai’don. Again, we see a continuation myth both establishing a

construct (invention) and connecting key events within the narrative (consistency).

Page 20
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

As can be seen in the previous example, it is often the reaction to a myth by a world’s

inhabitants that truly establishes its role in worldbuilding. This back and forth between a world’s

mythology and its adherents often leads to disparate interpretations that have been molded by the

values and circumstances of a society. These narratives shall be deemed local myths.

Local Myths

Understanding the cosmic processes underpinning a world’s natural phenomena and

moral fabric is easy from the bird's-eye perspective of an author or reader. With all the

information at their fingertips, a subcreator can codify his mythology for the reader’s digestion,

adding completeness and consistency to their world, but transporting this framework within the

world, making it part of the lives of the world’s inhabitants, requires a consideration of the filters

through which this information must travel. To what elements of a mythology might a society

have access? Are they likely to have kept a historical record that stretches back to the legends of

old? How does their location or environment influence their lives and ideologies, and by

extension, their myths? The product of these considerations is a fragmented mythos, one which

usually maintains some of the broader concepts of the world’s “true” mythology (if one is

codified by the author), while differing in key ways to shed light upon how a society or

institution operates and the values they hold.

Local myths are often associated with political organizations, common constructs within

high fantasy. The Children of the Light are one such group in The Wheel of Time, whose founder,

Lothair Mantelar, was a preacher during a time of great political instability. He became

disillusioned with the One Power, blaming it, and those who utilized it, for the hardships

befalling the common folk. [30] As a result, the Children, who, at the time of the main narrative

are the de facto leaders of the nation of Amadicia, have adopted their own mythology. They

Page 21
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

conflate the One Power with the Dark One’s influence, and they believe the Creator to be

separate from these “corrupting” forces. As a result, they are hostile to the Aes Sedai, ta’veren,

and other wielders of the One Power, as well as their neighboring kingdoms, all of whom take a

far more accepting stance to mages and channelers. This hostility breeds paranoia, and the

Children operate Amadicia as a police state, with Inquisitors and Questioners who scour the

population for any hints of dissent. Social mobility is achieved by rising through the military

hierarchy of the Children, mostly through loyalty, corruption, and zeal. The local mythology of

Amadicia establishes the ideology of the Children, provides background for their political

structure and diplomatic relationships, and sheds light on the values that are held by (i.e. forced

upon) the Amadician society. This is not to say that the local myths necessarily beget these

structures, for the relationship between a society’s myths and political constructs is a two-way

street, but it is to say that, once established, a localized mythos adds depth and consistency to a

society and establishes its place within the larger geopolitical landscape.

A similar pattern is observed with cultural constructs. The Cult of Melitele within

Sapkowski’s The Last Wish reimagines the general idea of Chaos into a multi-faceted deity with

the capacity for both great benefit and harm, choosing to idolize one such aspect, Melitele, as a

goddess of motherhood, healing, and fertility. [31] Her temples double as hospitals and

sanctuaries, her priestesses doctors and caregivers. Given the accepting, non-judgemental

character of their goddess, members of the Cult are not prone to the types of discrimination,

particularly those against witchers and mages, that are common across the Continent. Refugees,

peasants, nobility – all are equal under the goddess’s gaze. This puts them at odds with groups,

such as the Order of the White Rose, who adhere to a more stringent view of Chaos as a

predominantly destructive force.

Page 22
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

Melitele’s influence is seen beyond her main temple in Ellander, where Geralt spends

much of The Last Wish recovering from a neck wound. Shrines to her, and other fertility

goddesses with whom she is syncretized, are common throughout the Northern Realms, her

worship unifying disparate villages and peoples. The narratives surrounding Melitele are a

testament to the ability of local myths to codify the culture and humanitarian values present

within a society. A priestess within Nenneke’s temple may live a life very much unlike a peasant

in the rural countryside near Gors Velen, but through the mythos of Melitele, they are connected.

Conclusion

Mark J.P. Wolf separated worldbuilding into constructs and mechanisms, mediated by

invention, completion, and consistency. He identified mythology among his mechanisms, but his

discourse was focused on the whole of the worldbuilding process, inviting others to expand upon

specific genres and mechanisms. Surveying the literature of Tolkien, Jordan, and Sapkowski

reveals that mythology is unique in both scope and integration. As separate realities governed by

novel processes, imbued with allegory and metaphor, the worlds of high fantasy contain such a

breadth of constructs that it would be nigh inconceivable for a single mechanism to unite them

all. Yet, across these disparate threads of reality, from the primordial to the philosophical to the

geopolitical, mythology always seems to find a role. Creation myths excel in defining a world’s

natural elements, from the structure of magic to the layout of terrain and its flora and fauna,

creating an origin point from which a world’s harmonious threads emerge, and to which they

converge. Continuation myths occupy a similar role, helping to establish a world’s moral and

philosophical constructs and explore the evolution of its structure through time. Local myths,

meanwhile, are more intimate, highlighting humanity’s relationship with mythology and the role

Page 23
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

of myths in shaping sociopolitical and cultural conventions. A mythology can contextualize a

world’s timelines, set in motion its genealogies, and define its map’s parameters, serving almost

as a mechanism of mechanisms while establishing and connecting the world’s constructs in its

own right. Taken together, these roles exalt mythology to a seminal role within high fantasy

worldbuilding, as the great loom that both begets and weaves the threads of its reality into a

vibrant, immersive whole.

Works Cited:

● [Theory Source] Wolf, Mark J.P. Building Imaginary Worlds: the Theory and History of
Subcreation. Routledge, New York, 2012,
ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/washington/reader.action?docID=1211703.
● Tolkien, J R. The Silmarillion. Mariner Books, 2014.
● R., Tolkien J R. The Fellowship of the Ring. Highbridge Company, 2001.
● R., Tolkien J R. The Two Towers. Highbridge Company, 2001.
● R., Tolkien J R. The Return of the King. Highbridge Company, 2001.
● Jordan, Robert. The Eye of the World. Tor, 2003.
● Jordan, Robert, and Brandon Sanderson. A Memory of Light. Tor, 2013.
● Sapkowski, Andrzej. The Last Wish. Danusia Stok, 2007
● Sapkowski, Andrzej. Sword of Destiny. Danusia Stok, 2007

● Hesiod, et al. Theogony. Oxford University Press, 1988.

● Marcovich, Miroslav. “From Ishtar to Aphrodite.” Journal of Aesthetic Education, vol.
30, no. 2, 1996, p. 43., doi:10.2307/3333191.
● “Myth.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth.
● “Proto-Indo-European Mythology.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Mar. 2021,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_mythology.

Page 24
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

Numbered References:

Worldbuilding as an Art

[1] – Wolf introduces Tolkien’s thoughts on worldbuilding on pg. 22, but the most explicit
definition he gives is on pg. 24, where Wolf says, “Subcreation, then, involved new
combinations of existing concepts, which, in the building of a secondary world, become the
inventions that replace or reset Primary World defaults (for example, new flora and fauna, new
languages, new geography, and so forth).”

[2] – Wolf introduces these concepts on pg. 33 and spends the next fifteen pages exploring these
concepts and invoking examples of worlds that are either successful or unsuccessful at meeting
these goals.

[3] – Wolf explores More’s Utopia on pg. 86-88

[4] – Building Imaginary Worlds, pg. 52

[5] – Wolf invokes this perspective of completeness on multiple occasions, but it is most
apparent on pg. 61.

Mythology as a Mechanism of Worldbuilding

[6] – Wolf discusses maps on pg. 156-165

[7] – Building Imaginary Worlds, pg. 189

[8] – This definition is drawn from the Wikipedia page for “Myth”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth), which has a helpful set of definitions for key terms like
“mythology” and “mythos,” as well as interesting examples of myths throughout history.

[9] – A great primary source for ancient Greek myths is the Theogony, in which the poet Hesiod
compiled many local myths into a creation and succession story that covers the origin of the gods
of the Pantheon, as well as the birth and development of humanity.

[10] – Wolf describes the dual role of mechanisms, as references for the author and resources for
the reader, on pg. 154

[11] – The Wheel of Time consists of fourteen main books and one prequel. The central character,
Rand al’Thor, is first introduced in “Chapter 1 – The Empty Road” of the first book, The Eye of

Page 25
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

the World, and the conflict with Shai’tan extends until the closing chapters of A Memory of
Light, the final book.

[12] – The Aiel War is most frequently referenced in New Spring, the prequel novel to The
Wheel of Time, which takes place in the aftermath of the War. Rand learns of his father’s role in
the War in “Chapter 6 – The Westwood” of The Eye of the World.

[13] – The Silmarillion is more of a mythological compendium than a standalone story, but it is
still a brilliant read with tons of context and explanation for the mythological elements within
Tolkien’s earlier stories. Most of the Tolkien material in this article is referenced using The
Silmarillion, although some of these concepts are mentioned (albeit more briefly and with less
background) in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings.

[14] – A great source for the evolution and syncretization of gods and goddesses within the
ancient Mediterranean and Mesopotamian world is Miroslav Marcovich’s From Ishtar to
Aphrodite. Additionally, the WikiPedia page for “Proto-Indo-European mythology” is an
excellent source that compiles many scholarly topics on the subject.

Creation Myths

[15] – Tolkien discusses the roles of the various Ainur in the world’s creation in the section
“Valaquenta” (pg. 23-35) of The Silmarillion.

[16] – Most of the words and information we have on the Black Speech of Mordor is derived
from Appendix F of The Return of the King.

[17] – An early explanation of the One Power is given in “Chapter 16 – The Wisdom” of The
Eye of the World, and countless bits and pieces of information are given throughout the series.

[18] – Most of the information we have on the Creator itself, beyond the commonly held
narrative about his role in the world, comes from two places, “Chapter 51 – Against the Shadow”
in The Eye of the World and “Chapter 23” from A Memory of Light. These are the instances
where the Creator directly speaks to Rand al’Thor.

[19] – This story is related in “Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor”, the
third section of Quenta Silmarillion.

[20] – This map is nearly identical to the map printed in most editions of The Lord of the Rings,
but is has been given color and detail to make it resemble a weathered piece of parchment. It is

Page 26
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

actually designed to be a poster (https://www.amazon.com/Middle-Earth-Lord-rings11x17-

Litho/dp/B07CPKVQVP).

[21] – This is the map of the Westlands as printed in the hardcover version of The Eye of the
World.

[22] – Chaos is introduced tangentially in The Last Wish, the first book in the series. The Last
Wish is a collection of short stories, rather than a single narrative, and chaos is discussed in
Geralt’s conversations with the priestess Nenneke (“The Voice of Reason”) and with Yennefer
(“The Last Wish”).

[23] – There is no canon map of the Continent. All maps are either produced by fans or included
in paratexts (such as the map that comes with the Witcher video games produced by
CDProjektRed). This map is drawn from Pinterest
(https://www.pinterest.com/pin/597712181774665272/) . It agrees with the more accurate (and
most widely accepted) map produced by the community, which is found on r/Witcher.
(https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/3cep25/probably_the_most_detailed_map_of_the_
continent/).

Continuation Myths

[24] – This concept is introduced as early as the first chapter in The Last Wish, titled “The
Witcher,” where Geralt confronts a monstrous striga that is the product of a curse inadvertently
cast by a man consumed by envy and spite.

[25] – Destiny is both introduced and plays a major role in “A Question of Price,” the fourth
(fifth?) short story in The Last Wish.

[26] – The events of The Lord of the Rings are condensed to a mere few paragraphs between pg.
302-304 in The Silmarillion.

[27] – This is most explicit in the twelfth chapter of The Silmarillion, “Of Men.” (pg. 103-106)

[28] – This quote is from The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, Chapter 2.

[29] – Rand’s realization occurs in “Chapter 43 – A Field of Glass” of A Memory of Light.

Local Myths

Page 27
 Jonathan Aalto, Honors 345 A, Dr. J

[30] – This story is most comprehensively recounted in

(https://wot.fandom.com/wiki/Lothair_Mantelar). This fan wiki has a lot of helpful information
and references.

[31] – The cult of Melitele is explored in “The Voice of Reason” in The Last Wish, during which
Geralt spends time at one of the goddess’s temples.

Page 28