What this tool is for

Myth Explorer picks out stories from the world's mythologies that tend to slip past the usual retellings. You choose a culture or a theme, and it hands back a myth you probably haven't read before, along with enough background to make sense of it.

Most of us grow up with a handful of familiar tales, often Greek or Norse, and perhaps a few from whichever country we were raised in. This tool is a way to look further afield, or to find the quieter stories from traditions you already know a little about.

Who it's for

It suits anyone curious about folklore, from casual readers who enjoyed a mythology book as a child to students, writers, teachers and worldbuilders looking for material. If you're planning a lesson, hunting for inspiration for a story or game, or just want something interesting to read with a cup of tea, it should give you a useful starting point.

It's also handy if you've been reading about a particular culture and want to go beyond the headline gods and heroes. Pick a theme such as creation, tricksters, the underworld or shapeshifters, and you can compare how different societies treated the same idea.

How it works

You select a culture or a theme from the options, answer a couple of short prompts about what you're interested in, and the tool returns a retelling of a myth in plain English. Each response includes who the characters are, where and when the story comes from, and why it mattered to the people who told it. You can run it as many times as you like to compare traditions or follow a thread that catches your eye. Nothing you enter is saved, so feel free to experiment with different combinations.