Written by The Specusphere | 29 November 2010

This article doubles as a stand alone article about myths and legends and as essential background reading for writers who were submitting a story to The Specusphere's first anthology, which is now closed.

Myths and legends have wielded enormous power over cultures for millennia. Damsels in distress, ghosts haunting ruined towers, werewolves running with the pack, vampires draining blood, King Arthur drawing the sword from the stone … These are familiar images in the speculative fiction genre, but what about Greek myths, legends of the dreamtime (see update), folk tales?

Is there such a thing as a modern myth, a modern legend, a modern folk tale? Surely such a concept is an oxymoron. It takes time to grow myths and legends; it isn't by chance that the deepest myths and legends in Western culture are thousands of years old. Similarly, folk tales are usually the result of local stories being passed on orally for generation upon generation. So how on earth can you have a modern version?

Consider Joseph Campbell's functional definition of a myth:

• The Mystical Function — experiencing the awe of the universe
• The Cosmological Function — explaining the shape of the universe
• The Sociological Function — supporting and validating a certain social order
• The Pedagogical Function — how to live a human lifetime under any circumstances.

Using those criteria, it isn't too difficult to imagine a contemporary story that fits into the definition of a myth. In fact, almost all stories, given the appropriate spin, could be said to fit the criteria. So a true myth must go beyond that definition.

A myth has a kind of timeless quality, a universal connection to a culture. It has a depth that goes far beyond, say, the latest romantic vampire or sexy zombie craze; legends have a lot more to do with archetypes than they do with kick-ass heroes and heroines; and folk tales dig deeper into the psyche than does a fairy at the bottom of the garden granting three wishes. In short, myths, legends and folk tales are about creating new images to inhabit the collective unconscious rather than stories that are derivative of such archetypes, the stuff of generic sci fi, fantasy and horror.

But perhaps that overshoots the mark and makes writing a short story on the subject almost too daunting to even try. There's no doubt that only the most skilled writers could even attempt such a thing and hope to succeed — and it would be a challenge, even for them.

Fortunately there is another way to tackle the subject, one that requires just as much imagination and skill, and that is to rewrite a myth or legend in a new and creative way. It may be the re-telling of an existing myth from any time or culture, or it may be a new slant on an old myth, a journey to fabled lands, a quest to find El Dorado, or the search for immortality, but with an interesting speculative fiction twist — Jason commanding the starship Argo, for instance. Bringing a new and speculative insight to a theme, fashioned with as much speculative passion as you can muster can refresh an old myth and make it applicable to the modern day.

And what about urban legends — those stories that float through email in-boxes on a regular basis? How can they be turned into interesting tales layered with meaning and originality, with strong characters and speculative plots? Choose any one of a million topics doing the rounds of the internet. These stories are, in effect, templates for modern folk tales.

Here are some further definitions to consider:

Legend: a nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.

Myth: a story, with or without a basis in fact and usually involving a hero or an event and deities or demigods, which explains some practice, rite or phenomenon of nature.

Folk tale: a tale passed on orally in a community, usually without an identified author and often valued for its moral qualities.

Urban legend: a modern story believed to be true, often including elements of humour or horror, but which has little or no supporting evidence.

The common thread in all these story types is that they could possibly be true. In fact, the closer to 'possibly true' the story gets while still remaining fantastic, the better a myth, legend or folk tale it is.

It is all about originality. Any treatment of a story in a new, experimental, courageous, creative or inventive way is always to be encouraged, and any guideline whatsoever can be stretched to accommodate a brilliant narrative.

Be bold. Be brave. Be a legend.