Hi! In my fantasy world there is gonna be a lot of different creatures, even though I'm focusing on the humans. I've decided to have trolls and dwarves in this book, as we follow the main character when she unknowingly stumbles into their world in the heart of the forest. What I would like help with is inspiration for other things that might live here. My main character is loosely inspired by the Norse culture, which is why I guess my mind made dwarves and trolls for me. Any ideas? I'm gonna change a lot about them of course, but I don't want to just make up new creatures.
Thanks! You mean white walkers like in Song of Ice and Fire? Or is it some kind of other white walker I don't know? I'll try and see where these suggestions takes me
If you're going with the Norse theme you could check Norse/Scandinavian mythology for ideas. It's full of ice giants and wolves. You could possibly look to others for inspiration too like Greek griffins and harpies. I think it might be a Japanese legend but snow spirits for example might be interesting. It's worth looking around at that kind of thing. Other than that...humanised snow leopards?!
I was actually thinking of things that might live in the mountains, I want some kind of challenge to make their stay with the dwarfs and trolls more exciting. The trolls and dwarves aren't evil in this novel, so I need something that is. My main character is from a place that is loosely based un Norse mythology. I'm Norwegian though, so I know a fair deal about this exact religion. What I need is to add some creatures from other mythologies, as the world is much bigger than my main character knows. These creatures in the mountain is supposed to let the reader know this is not a story strictly inspired by Norse mythology. Make sense? I see that I didn't explain that in my post, but that's the idea.
I see there's a mistake in my first post here. It's supposed to be "heart of the mountains", not "heart of the forest". I was actually looking to get help with other creatures that might live in the mountains. The story starts in a corner of the world which is based on the Norse mythology, but loosely so. I want some creatures to make their stay with the dwarves and trolls harder, as my first fight scene will take place here. It's also meant to be a hint of other inspirations for the book, so that the readers might expect more characters which have nothing to do with Norse mythology. Your ideas are good though, @Lancie, I've actually decided to use ice giants I'm Norwegian myself, so I know quite a bit about our myths, even though I have to look up the specifics some times.
I understand you were looking for mountain dwelling creatures, those are creatures that typically live in mountains. Didn't notice you were Norwegian though! Should have checked Good luck with your story.
Well I live in the Rockies of North America. I'm not sure how much I can help, but as far as creatures in the mountians we have bear, deer, elk, moose, cougars, big horn sheep, and mountain goats. I could fill you in on Native American mountain legends if you wanted to move this entirely away from the Norse roots.
Or, if you want to use Norse monsters, why not use the interesting ones like the Draugr or something.
I'm open to using Native American legends! This is something I haven't thought of, but it's always fun using real life animals as mystical creatures. Plese do fill me in! =) @Lemex: I will use more than just trolls and dwarves later on in my book (maybe even books). Haven't thought of Draugen, though, so this is good advice! A lot of scary stories from my childhood comes to mind, as the grown ups used to scare us with Draugen! Thanks!
@Lancie : I didn't know the ice giants lived in the mountains, so I guess I stand corrected Thanks! I'm just starting it up, so we'll see how it goes. I would love it if you would fill me in! I haven't thought about using Native American legends, but it's always fun using the animals we know in a more fantastical sense. @Lemex: Thanks! I haven't thought about using Draugen, but it does sound promising. I've actually got some insight as to how scary they would be. The old Norse Draugr is far more scary then the one they scared us with as children, but still. This helped me start one more chapter, you rule!
Haha, lol! I managed to post two versions of that last one. Sorry! Hope I'll get better used to this forum soon
Hi, depending on what your mountains are like (rocky, snow, ice etc) or a mix, you could have most that have been mentioned above, but also evolved versions. You say that you have trolls, you could also have ice trolls that have evolved to this habitat. The same goes for ice wolves, or you could even have some kind of mutated dwarf race hope this gives you a few more ideas!
The best Indian monster would have to be the Wendigo. They're Ojibwe so it's not actually the mountains In fact as far from mountains as you get. The Michigan plain is so flat you can see 9 miles in every direction, 18 if you stand on a penny. I digress. The Ute and the Cheyenne (pronounced SHY-anne) and the Shishone all lived here, and pretty much all of them have some kind of legend of cannibals/giants/cannibal giants. But they never name the cannibals, they're just around eating people. Wendigo are different. They're emaciated men-like monsters, craving man meat but never full of it. They eat and eat and eat and are never satisfied. And you turn into a Wendigo by eating human flesh.
This has actually made me think quite a bit. Seems like just the kick start my imagination needed right now. I had a few images popping into my head, that usually means I'll have an idea soon. Thanks for making my imagination start work again! Cool! Probably I won't use these kinds of monsters anywhere in the mountains. But they're making me think. I may use them as inspiration later in the book. Maybe even make my main character watch them eat someone she loves. Thanks! This may have solved a death I'm nowhere even close to writing yet. I know this one character will die at some point, so why not make it gruesome?
Google is your friend. Don't forget the birds and especially check out the animals at the bottom of the page : http://www.skyenimals.com/browse_habitat.cgi?habitat=mountains
