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Thinker
2016-06-16, 12:16 PM
I am making a setting based heavily on mythology (which will be the realm of the priests) and folklore (which will be the realm of the people). I want to introduce some sort of magical tournament or competition that will be important on a spiritual level and I am looking for examples in folklore and myths of such competitions.

I have know of the feats from the Celts, the Olympics of Ancient Greeks, and the Coliseum of Rome, which are all historical competitions, but weren't explicitly supernatural and didn't have any divine repercussions for winning or losing.

So, any ideas?

Re4XN
2016-06-16, 04:12 PM
Not exactly 'myth' nor 'folklore', but you could organize a Hunt. Since your world is based on mythology, I am assuming there is a God/Deity that watches over hunters. Here's the competition:

There is the Stag, which is a person (who freely volunteers, or not, it's up to you) who will be hunted during the event. Then you have a group of hunters who will be chasing the Stag, in order to slay it.

A couple of days before the event, a ceremony is held in the Stag's honour, recognizing his/her sacrifice. A lot of people should be present and the Stag is treated like royalty, for all intents and purposes.

When the day of the hunt comes, the Stag will be given a few minutes to make a run for it. There is, somewhere in the area where the event is being held, a bell. Should the bell be rang by the Stag, the event ends and the Hunters lose. Should the Stag be slain, the event also ends. The victor is the one who killed the Stag. No one knows the location of the bell, but the organizer of the event (maybe a priest).

I literally took this from Lost Girl TV series, it seemed fitting, don't know your opinion. I feel like there is a lot of room where you can fit your own explanations, like why is this event happening? Why does the Stag have to die? What happens when hunters/Stag wins/loses?, etc...
In the series the competition was held to elect a new Ash (think of it as a King), but I am pretty sure you can make the reward more appropriate (like a blessing of some sort). Up to you. Also, this is not exactly "supernatural", except for the part where you sacrifice a person to a God, so not sure if this is something you were looking for :P

WantLearn
2016-06-16, 11:29 PM
A couple of good sources might be the Celtic stories about Finn Ac Cul (think that's how it's spelled) he sends some people out on a twelve labors sort of trip for killing his father. If that's not the flavor you want, maybe something like journey to the west or Grimm fairy tales? I'd say try the native American stories, but that might take a bit of hunting

For immediate situations, why not try something like mortal combat? It's for all intents and purposes a basic martial arts tournament deciding if a demigod is going to invade the earth. Or Terry Brooks where an elf girl has to go germinate the seed of a magical tree and is being chased by a Grimm Reaper.

For a more day to day set of events I recommend a manga series called xxxholic. It's about a dude working at a magic shop

Thinker
2016-06-20, 06:17 AM
Thanks for the suggestions. I kind of suspected that there wasn't anything exactly like I wanted, but I appreciate the help.

Benthesquid
2016-06-26, 09:45 AM
The big Supernatural Competition that I see come up a bunch in folklore and fairy tales is the shapeshifting competition in which each competitor in turns takes a shape allowing them to overcome or escape their opponent's shape. I'm sure it has an official name in folklore studies, but I don't know what.

For example, I turn into a chicken, you turn into a fox to eat me, I turn into a hound to run you to ground, you turn into a bird to escape, I turn into a hawk, you turn into an archer, and so on.

You may recognize this from Sword in the Stone, where Merlin ultimately won by turning into a variety of exotic diseases and infecting his opponent, (then a dragon), or from the first arc of Sandman.
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TheYell
2016-06-29, 06:43 AM
interesting you bring it up. apart from Jacob wrestling an angel to a draw i cant think of any. normally i think myth is a narrative with a hero and a plotline rather than an open ended ritual of competition. closest to it would be an olympiad or the chivalric ideal of a joust. you could invent a ritual of competition with divine inspirations

Thinker
2016-06-29, 10:05 AM
you could invent a ritual of competition with divine inspirations

That's the plan. I want the tournament to be the framing device for the story. I'll probably use Mortal Kombat for some inspiration for how the tournament works - the gods enforce it in some way and it is a mechanism for power or justice. The winner gains some great boon. There will be intrigue surrounding the tournament such as the antagonists trying to stop the party from reaching the tournament, mixed loyalties in who the players support, and even at the tournament the players can't presume safety in between matches. Some factions will try to cheat (and so might the players). This will probably end up being a Powered by the Apocalypse hack.

TheYell
2016-06-29, 01:16 PM
if you read the silmarillion you will see that the valar have totems like eagles and horses that Tolkien used in the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings to indicate which side had the sanction and protection of the Valar. also in the iliad the gods interfere in battle to punish or protect the Greeks and Trojans. maybe the various gods have styles of play -- cheating, ruthless, fair, compassionate -- and players earn Endowments like boosts or immunities for modelling their play on a patron deity. Players and npc competitors can also earn a direct Intervention for excellent performance. that would make it more of a sport than war

TheYell
2016-06-29, 01:23 PM
so for instance they have a footrace. The champion of rogues has a dog try to bite the champion of paladins who stops running. The champion of healers stops to help him and the champion of warriors pplows ahead for the win. The race has a winner but each player earns something special for playing the "right" way that they use in the next contest.

Thinker
2016-06-30, 08:53 AM
if you read the silmarillion you will see that the valar have totems like eagles and horses that Tolkien used in the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings to indicate which side had the sanction and protection of the Valar.
I like this and I could see some applications for it. It might be the case that adherents take on qualities of one of the gods' totem animals when they are aligned with the god's ideals.



also in the iliad the gods interfere in battle to punish or protect the Greeks and Trojans. maybe the various gods have styles of play -- cheating, ruthless, fair, compassionate -- and players earn Endowments like boosts or immunities for modelling their play on a patron deity. Players and npc competitors can also earn a direct Intervention for excellent performance. that would make it more of a sport than war

That is also a great idea. Thanks!

Bohandas
2016-06-30, 09:12 AM
In greek mythology there was the weaving contest between the goddess Athena and the mortal weaver Arachne

nrg89
2016-06-30, 10:40 AM
I always loved the scene in Willow where the aspiring sorcerers need to prove themselves intelligent to earn an apprenticeship. Maybe a tournament for magic users where the price is to learn a new spell or a new feat from a master mage by completing a series of tasks and challenges.
The tasks could be puzzles, surviving monsters, clearing an obstacle course (maybe even a mace) or dueling.

kraftcheese
2016-06-30, 10:57 AM
In greek mythology there was the weaving contest between the goddess Athena and the mortal weaver Arachne

And that archery contest between Orion and Artemis...probably a good idea to remember that gods are petty, stroppy and do NOT like to lose.