Blog Tour: Souls of the Dark Sea

Good morning! I know I’ve been missing lately. Trust me, there’s a great story behind that coming up. While I work on writing that in a way I have a prayer of getting you to believe me, I have a special treat for you. The amazing A. F. Stewart has stopped by with a guest post on the mythology of her series Saga of the Outer Islands. Book 2 just released, so be sure to grab your copy today!

Mythological Inspiration

The gods of Souls of the Dark Sea, and the previous book, Ghosts of the Sea Moon, are at least in part, based on the Greek Gods of myth. I’ve had a long interest in Greek mythology, but save for one character in a previous book, I’ve never truly used it for the basis on my writing before. However, if you are at all familiar with Greek myth you know that pantheon of gods has a history that reads a bit like a maladjusted melodrama, which seemed ideal for my family of dysfunctional gods.

Here’s the rundown of the characters and what god inspired them:

Captain Rafe Morrow, also known as Morrannan, God of Souls. My main character was based in part on the Greek God of the Dead, Hades, and partly inspired by the Greek God, Charon, the ferryman who transports the dead to the underworld. Rafe is in charge of the After World in my books and responsible for the dead and all wandering souls.

Reis, Rafe’s father, is the Sovereign of the Gods (as well as another title I can’t mention because spoilers) and is modelled after Zeus. He’s very imperious and controlling, but without the wandering eye for the ladies (although he does have two former wives).

Manume, the Goddess of the Moon. There are various moon goddess figures in Greek mythology: Achelois, Phoebe, Selene, Hecate, even Artemis has an association with the moon. My moon goddess is based mostly on Selene, who is the Greek personification of the moon, but I threw in a bit of Hecate (who is also the goddess of witchcraft) and magic to spice things up.

My Goddess of Night and Shadows, Bevire, is also modelled on Hecate and portrayed as a dark, magical deity. There is also a touch of Erebus, the primordial god of darkness, thrown in for good measure.

Cylla, Keeper of the Gate in the Isle of Shadows, is based on the Greek myth of Scylla and Charybdis. In the myth, there is a strait of water plagued by a six-headed monster, Scylla, and an enormous whirlpool, Charybdis. While my character Cylla is no monster, she does guard the gate entrance to the Isle of Shadows, which is a magical whirlpool.

Lynna, Goddess of the Sea is based on the Greek sea god, Poseidon, with a gender change, of course. Like Poseidon, she controls the seas and its creatures (except Manume’s children, the sea monsters).

Also with Greek origins is my character, the Oracle. While not a god, she is wholly based of the Greek Oracle of Delphi. And as with the Delphi oracle, the character has the gift of prophecy and is a part of a temple.

However, I do have a couple of exceptions to the Greek inspiration.

Death, mentioned in Souls, and playing a major role in the upcoming book three, Renegades of the Lost Sea, is based on the Norse goddess, Hel, with a little Celtic goddess, The Morrigan, tossed in for fun.

And we come to the Nightmare Crow, my primary antagonist. His main basis is also drawn from Norse mythology, specifically Loki, but I also drew inspiration from other trickster type myths and gods as well as the Celtic raven imagery.

And that’s a quick look at my characters and their mythological origins. I hope you enjoyed the behind the pages look at the inspiration behind the Saga of the Outer Islands series.

Follow A. F. Stewart here.