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Table of Contents
Links to Other Pages on Mythology
Deities
Various cultures have various ideologies and my gaming worlds are no
different. I love to have my gaming reinforce one's real-world
knowledge, so I try to stick to the real-world names used for deities.
The Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse pantheons are dominant in my fantasy
game worlds. The Celtic deities are more prominent in forest communities,
and in mysterious jungles and such the meso-american pantheon holds
sway. In my game, there are no conquistadors bent on supplanting
cultures and religions. In the colony lands where the bulk of
adventures will take place, a mix of deities have risen to prominence.
I feel the best way is to list the dominant deities by bailiwick and
alignment. R denotes Roman, E denotes Egyptian, N denotes Norse,
MA denotes Meso-American, and C denotes Celtic. I did not use
Finnish deities, call me "lazy".
| Agriculture |
|
|
| Archery |
Flidais |
|
| Brewing |
Goibhniu |
|
| Cats |
|
Bast |
| Celebration |
|
|
| Craft/Smith |
Credne (metalwork)
Goibhniu (craft/brew)
Luchta (artifice) |
|
| Death |
|
Osiris
Anubis
Nephthys (protects CG souls)
Seker (protects NG souls) |
| Disease |
|
|
| Earth |
|
Geb/Seb/Qeb |
| Evil |
|
Set
Apep (embodiment of evil, not deity) |
| Fire |
Aedh
Brigit
Daghda |
|
| Healing |
Dioncecht
Sirona |
|
| Hunt |
Cernunnos (wild hunt)
Flidais (huntress) |
|
| Insects |
|
Apshai |
| Justice/Vengeance |
|
Horus (vengeance) |
| Law |
|
|
| Lightning |
Eochaid |
|
| Love |
Aine (desire)
Brigit (marital) |
Isis (fertility) |
| Luck |
|
Bes |
| Magic |
|
Isis |
| Moon |
Arianrhod |
|
| Nature/forest |
|
Osiris |
| Oceans |
Manannan
Ler |
|
| Peace |
Nisien (peace)
Efnisien (not peace) |
|
| Prophecy |
|
|
| Purification |
|
|
| Sky |
|
Shu |
| Sun |
Daghda
Eochaid |
Ra
Seker (light) |
| Strength |
Cernunnos |
|
| Thunder |
Taran |
|
| Travelling |
Nehalennia (sea) |
|
| War |
Morrigan (frenzy)
Taran |
Anhur |
| Wind |
|
|
| Wisdom |
Daghda
Oghma |
Ptah (& invention) |
| Agriculture |
Demeter |
|
| Archery |
Apollo
Artemis (sort of) |
|
| Bats |
|
Camazotz |
| Brewing |
Hephaestus |
|
| Celebration |
Dionysios |
|
| Craft/Smith |
Hephaestus |
|
| Death |
Hades |
Mictlantecuhtli |
| Disease |
|
|
| Earth |
Gaea |
|
| Fire |
Prometheus (sort of) |
Huheteotl |
| Healing |
Aristaeus |
Itzamna (medicine) |
| Hunt |
Artemis |
|
Justice/
Vengeance |
Apollo
Dike (divine)
Nemesis (& vengeance) |
|
| Law |
Themis
Athene |
|
| Lightning |
Zeus (sort of) |
|
| Love |
Aphrodite (passion/beauty)
Eros (love) |
Chalchiuhtlicue |
| Luck |
Tyche |
Xochipilli (gambling, chance) |
| Moon |
Luna
Artemis
Hekate |
|
| Nature/forest |
Artemis
Pan |
|
| Oceans |
Poseidon
Proteus
Thaumas |
|
| Peace |
Irene |
|
| Prophecy |
Apollo
Dionysios
Themis |
|
| Purification |
Apollo |
|
| Rain |
|
Rain |
| Sky |
|
Quetzalcoatl |
| Sun |
Apollo |
Tezcatlipoca |
| Strength |
|
|
| Thunder |
Zeus (sort of) |
|
| Travelling |
Hermes
Hekate (night) |
|
| Vice |
|
Tlazolteotl |
| War |
Ares (carnage)
Athene (skill) |
Huitzilopoctli |
| Wind |
Boreas (north)
Eurus (east)
Notus (south)
Zephyr (west) |
Quetzalcoatl |
| Wisdom |
Athene
Proteus (vast knowledge)
Prometheus (forethought) |
|
| Agriculture |
Gefjun |
Ceres |
| Archery |
Uller
Skadi |
|
| Brewing |
|
Vulcan |
| Celebration |
|
Bacchus |
| Craft/Smith |
Volund |
Vulcan |
| Death |
Hel |
Pluto |
| Disease |
|
|
| Earth |
Nerthus
Rind |
|
| Fire |
Surt (lord of fire giants) |
Vesta |
| Healing |
Eir |
|
| Hunt |
Skadi |
Diana |
| Justice |
Uller
Thor (champion of ) |
Justicia |
| Law |
Tyr |
|
| Lightning |
Thor |
Jupiter (sort of) |
| Love/fertility |
Frigga (marital)
Freya (love)
Nanna (vegetation)
Ostara (rebirth/spring)
Siofn (affairs/liaisons) |
Cupid (passion)
Venus (beauty, sex)
Faustitas (benificence,f)
Fecunditas (growth,f) |
| Luck |
|
Fortuna |
| Nature/forest |
|
Fauna (grove)
Faunus (forest)
Silvanus (primeval) |
| Oceans |
Aegir (surface conditions)
Njord (winds, seamanship)
Uller |
Castor & Pollux
Neptune (irrigation) |
| Peace |
Nerthus |
Minerva |
| Prophecy |
Freya
Hoenir |
|
| Purification |
|
|
| Sky |
Uller |
Jupiter |
| Sun |
|
|
| Strength |
|
|
| Thunder |
Thor |
Jupiter (sort of) |
| Travelling |
Njord (sea) |
Mercury (and roads) |
| War |
Tyr |
Mars
Minerva
Bellona |
| Wind |
Njord (and the sea) |
Mercury |
| Wisdom |
Kvasir (knowledge of gods)
Mimir (wisest being)
Odhinn (inner knowledge) |
Minerva |
| Women |
|
Juno |
The Months of the
Roman Empire
I use these month names for my fantasy campaign, even though I don't
bother with the same number of days.
- Januaris
- Februaris
- Martius
- Aprilis
- Maius
- Junius
- Julius
- Augustus
- Septembris
- Octobris
- Novembris
- Decembris
Weeks
How many days?
Well, the ancient Greeks and ancient Egyptians had 30-day months and
10-day weeks until the week was changed to seven days to reflect the
seven heavenly bodies they could see: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter,
Venus, Saturn.
Days of the week
- What to call them
I will only address the seven-day week here because I stick with the
28-day lunar cycle, lunar phases are often significant in fantasy games,
I don't want to have to think very hard about what day a given lunar
phase will start, and I don't want to make up names for more days.
I bastardized the French, German, and English names for my fantasy campaign,
so I will list those names as starting points for other gamers.
| Sun |
Sunday |
Sonntag |
Dimanche |
Day of the Sun. The only anomaly here is the French name
for the day which derives from the New Testament reference of
the day as "Lord's Day" |
| Moon |
Monday |
Montag |
Lundi |
Day of the moon. The French name simply uses the latin
root for moon, lunae. |
| Mars |
Tuesday |
Dienstag |
Mardi |
Day of Mars, but because the Romans venerated Mars as the god
of war, it is the day of the war god. Tuesday comes from
the Norse war god, Tiu or Tyr. The German name means "assembly
day." |
| Mercury |
Wednesday |
Mittwoch |
Mercredi |
Day of Mercury. This one makes the least sense.
The Anglo-Saxon's decided to venerate Odin or "Woden" on this
day and the roles of Mercury and Odin in their pantheons are completely
unrelated. Mittwoch was created to replace the pagan reference
to Odin and means "middle of the week" |
| Jupiter |
Thursday |
Donnerstag |
Jeudi |
Day of Jupiter or Jove, Roman god of thunder and rain.
The English name comes from the Anglo-Saxon replacement of Jupiter
with Thor, the Norse god of thunder. "Donnerstag" literally
means "Thunder day." |
| Venus |
Friday |
Freitag |
Vendredi |
Day of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. Frigga and Freya
were variously goddeses of love in the Norse mythos and replaced
Venus in the German, English names. |
| Saturn |
Saturday |
Samstag |
Samedi |
Day of Saturn, ancient Roman god of agriculture. I am
not sure why the French word is "Samedi;" it is not consistent
with the Latin root, dies Saturni. |
An example of how to apply this . . .
In my AD&D campaign I kept the order established by the Egyptians,
but I chose the days from various times and cultures. I standardized
the suffix, and modified the prefixes, lengthening them to the full
name in most cases, truncating in the case of Mercury. The comments
about the days are meant to reflect gameworld stuff, not cultures
in the real world.
- Sundei - This day tends to be a favorite for festivals of sun
deities and believed by some to be the day when the creatures
of the night hold least sway
- Moondei - The day of new, half, and full moons. Lunar
mythologies vary widely. Some view the full moon as a dangerous
thing, others see it as the eye of their deity of the Sun peering
through the veil of night, keeping vigil
- Tyrsdei - Named after Tyr, this day reflects his two-fold nature
of war and law. It is often when tournaments are held, military
campaigns are held, militia drills performed, and courts convened
- Merdei - Named after Mercury, this day is considered a good
day to travel and is often chosen over other days for ceremonious
departures and arrivals
- Thorsdei - A common day for carrying out sentences and delivering
appeals for those convicted
- Freyadei - A day of lovers and liaisons, the most . . . friendly
festivals occur on this day.
- Saturndei - From the ancient god Saturn, which I take to represent
the general big daddy agrarian deity, creator, destroyer, fertilizer,
etc. Generally a day of thanksgiving and other farm happy
stuff.
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