top of page
Writer's picturejamespederson5

Against Popular Convention

Updated: Apr 27

As a mythology enthusiast, I love to learn about the diverse myths and legends from cultures around the world.


However, as a creative soul, I also like to push against conventional wisdom.


This chaotic cacophony of colors represents my creative free spirit.


One way I do this is through my art (both here on Mythology Worlds and my social media), wherein I challenge the way the general population imagines certain things (usually because of media).



When one hears "Viking", one typically imagines a brazen and barbaric seafarer on a dragon boat ready to plunder a village...and they often use "Viking" and "Norse" interchangeably.


However, the way I portray Norse mythology and Viking Age Scandinavia shows greater dimension than what the media portrays...and also tries to be as historically and mythology accurate as possible.

"Viking" is really a term for Norse pirates anyway, not the whole of Norse society.


Hence, I portray Norse gods and mythical figures dressed in typical Medieval European fashion based on the time and place in which they resided.


Even Thor is modeled after a Norseman of Viking Age Scandinavia...and is also portrayed as a bearded redhead, as he is described in the original mythology.

He is a far cry from how Disney protrays him in the Marvel movies.

(also in the original comics)


Calling the Norse of Early Medieval Scandinavia "the Vikings" is akin to calling New Englanders during the American Revolution "the Minutemen".



When many people of all backgrounds hear the word "mythology", they always deviate towards Greek mythology.


However, Greek mythology is represented on Mythology Worlds to be more culturally Greek instead of just being part of the canon of so-called "Western civilization".


I have always wanted to make a Greek god say "Opa!"

This is exactly what Zeus utters here after defeating the Titans (with help from his siblings, and his one-eyed and 100-armed/50-headed allies)


In this collage based on Homer's Odyssey, the Siren is singing a Greek folk song (as per a comment inside her panel).

The way her notes are organized are supposed to suggest that she is singing traditional Greek music.



Usually when people hear the word "bear", they most often think of a brown bear, a polar bear, or a giant panda.

I, however, try to be inclusive towards the other bear species.


Thus, this cartoon that explains Native American cultures' relationship with bears represents an American black bear next to a grizzly (the two North American native bear species).


This representation of the Korean myth of Tangun portrays the bear in the story as an Asiatic black bear.



Inspired by a book called All Yesterdays (which envisions dinosaurs as normal animals rather than as Jurassic Park monsters, and presents modern-day animals as how they will be envisioned millennia in the future), I have established a movement throughout my social media art portraying people in different cultures, countries, and time periods as relatable human beings instead of as some exotic curiosity or mysterious entity; as well as representing a future world that proves the general public's predictions wrong...and also envisions us the way we envision our ancestors.


Furthermore, being interested in mythology as well as different cultures and countries (including mine) has set my mind free of the constraints of trope-ridden popular culture...and it can set your mind free too.


Check out my social media to view my innovative take on anthropology and history!

The links are on the very bottom of every webpage.



I hope you have enjoyed learning about the chaotic side of my creative mind.



Have a wonderful freethinking day!

9 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page