List of Religions in Fantasy

[Dustin]

I've become interest in all the different religions in fantasy books and was wondering if I could get some help putting a list together.


-----In Curse of Chalion there were the five gods----



1) The Bastard

2) The Father of Winter

3) The Mother of Summer

4) The Daughter of Spring

5) The Son of Autumn



-----In Lock Lamora there's the 13 gods---------------



1) Iono, Lord of the Grasping Waters, Stormbringer

2) Aza Guilla, Lady of the Long Silence, the Lady Most Kind

3) Gandolo, Father of Opportunities, Lord of Coin and Commerce

4) Morgante, the City Father, Lord of Noose and Trowel

5) Sendovani

6) Nara, Plague Mistress, Lady of Ubiquitous Maladies

7) Dama Elliza

8) Azri

9) Callo Androno, Eyes-on-the-Crossroads, god of travel, languages and lore.

10) Perelandro, Father of Mercies, Lord of the Overlooked

11-12 (Unknown)

13)The Nameless Thirteenth, Crooked Warden, the Benefactor, Father of Necessary Pretexts


------Elantris had the a few religions and one cult:-------

1) Shu Dereth: is a highly militaristic religion, and is based on a regimented ranking that worships Jaddeth.

2) Shu Korath

3) Shu-Keseg

4) Jeskeri Mysteries: a religious cult which involved human sacrifice.

5) Jesker

[Wastrel]

You want a list of every god, and every religion, in every fantasy novel?

...this is going to be a REALLY long list.

I count between about 210 and 290 named gods in the Forgotten Realms books alone...

...and even putting them all together you're unlikely to find anything interesting about religions, which are a sadly underused element in fantasy novels (slapping down a 'pantheon' of god names is not the same as actually devising a religion).

[Baelor]

ASoIaF has many religions:

1) The Old religion -- polytheistic naturalistic religion.

2) The Faith of the Seven: Father, Mother, Smith, Warrior, Crone, Maiden, Stranger

3) The Lord of Light (R'hllor)

4) The God of Death

among others.

[Matthew]

Wow. Hmm.........For the Malazan Book of the Fallen series

Elder Gods
Burn
Draconus
Edgewalker
Eres'al
Errant
Fanderay
Grizzin Farl
K'rul
Kilmandaros
Mael
Mother Dark
Olar Ethil
Pinosel
Sechul Lath
Sister of Cold Nights
Tiam
Togg
Ursto Hoobutt
T'riss

Then you have the new gods or Ascendents. (Warning some spoilers below)
Apsalar, the Lady of Thieves
Beru, the Lord of Storms
Cotillion, the Rope
D'rek, the Worm of Autumn
the Crippled God, the Chained One
Dessembrae, the Lord of Tragedy
Fanderay, the She-Wolf of Winter
Fener, the Boar of War
Gedderone, the Lady of Spring and Rebirth
Jhess, the Queen of Weaving
Mowri, the Lady of Beggars, Slaves and Serfs
Nerruse, the Lady of Calm Seas and Fair Wind
Oponn, the twins of chance
Poliel, the Queen of Disease
The Redeemer, a new God in Coral
Shadowthrone, also known as Ammanas
Soliel, the Lady of Health.
Togg, the Wolf of Winter
Trake, the Tiger of Summer and Battle
T'riss, the Queen of Dreams, or the Enchantress

Now most gods and Ascendents have a card in the Deck of Dragons, which I won't list here as it is huge. Add on top of that is a magic system based upon warrens which are other plains of existence (for lack of a better term) which also tie directly to an elder god for which I won't spoil. Then you also have the "Holds" which are and older form of realms and magic which are older and more "raw". Some of those sort of tie into the warrens.

[Dustin]

Those will aid me well for now, thank you.

Wastrel wrote: "You want a list of every god, and every religion, in every fantasy novel..."

No. Just a few examples to compare against one another and see what similarities they share, what sort of gods are common and their relationships. I'm also interested in their origin, mythology, doctrine, and history, for I'm trying to put a small pantheon together myself, but as you say they rarely have explanation beyond names and rituals.

However, when Sanderson gets called out for being preachy for the little bit he does in Mistborn, and it is miniscule, I can understand why it's avoided.

Yet I found that Chalion gave me the most through explanation on the involvement of god/s in the lives of men that I've ever heard.

[Michele]

Edding's Belgariad/Mallorean series has some very interesting gods, that each pop up during the quests.

Ul the father, Belar the bear, Issa who is snake-ish, Nedra who likes money, Mara who mourns his lost people, Torak the evil one, and a couple more, plus a new one at the end.

[Sara]

NK Jemisin's books have gods in them.

Inheritance Trilogy:
It's been a while since I read these books so I don't remember the specifics. I think there were three original gods, and between them they made lesser gods, and one of the gods made mortals. A mortal and a god can made a demigod? I know there were people in the human population with a bit of god blood in their veins.

The Dreamblood Duology:
Hananja -- She created the dreaming world within herself for the other gods to enjoy. She is also connected with healing magic used in the city the story is set in. People have four dreaming humors that can be collected by people affiliated with the religion and used to heal mental and physical injuries.

(I love how clearly the religion in Chalion is explained, too.)

[Joe Informatico]

There are 21 gods in the Rose of the Prophet Trilogy, but not all of them are named in the books. A list of named gods is here.

The three religions in The Lions of al-Rassan are the Kindath, who worship the two moon goddesses; the Asharites, who worship the stars; and the Jaddites, who worship the sun god. As the setting is a fantasy version of Moorish Spain, the three religions are analogues to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity respectively. In terms of their social role, position in society, and historical treatment, anyway. I.e., the Kindath and Jaddites must pay special taxes to their Asharite rulers, the Jaddite kingdoms in the north are trying to reconquer the lands the Asharites conquered centuries ago, etc. The fictional religions' beliefs and practices are otherwise different.

In Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories, many gods are worshipped in the city of Lankhmar. Temples abound along the length of the Street of the Gods, and a temple's position on the street indicates its current level of popularity among the people. (Religions are trendy things in Lankhmar, they come and go a lot.) The one exception is the black temple of the Gods of Lankhmar (as opposed to all the gods in Lankhmar), which has always been at the end of the Street of the Gods. No one worships them, but if a crisis threatens the whole city, they can be summoned by sounding the bell in their temple's belltower, whereupon they'll emerge from the temple and deal with the threat. Then they might destroy parts of the city to remind the populace not to call on their aid too often.