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121-602: American Gods (2001) is a novel by British author Neil Gaiman . The novel is a blend of Americana , fantasy , and various strands of ancient and modern mythology , all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shadow. The book was published in 2001 by Headline in the United Kingdom and by William Morrow in the United States. It gained a positive critical response and won the 2002 Hugo and Nebula awards. A special tenth anniversary edition, which includes

242-706: A battle between a Thunder God and a snake-like adversary . In their proposed reconstruction, the Snake lives under the World Tree, sleeping on black wool. They surmise this snake on black wool is a reference to a cattle god, known in Slavic mythology as Veles . Further studies show that the usual tree that appears in Slavic folklore is an oak: for instance, in Czech , it is known as Veledub ('The Great Oak'). In addition,

363-438: A Lafferty pastiche he had written. Lafferty sent Gaiman an encouraging and informative letter back, along with literary advice. Gaiman has named Roger Zelazny as the author who influenced him the most. Gaiman claims that other authors such as Samuel R. Delany and Angela Carter "furnished the inside of my mind and set me to writing". Gaiman takes inspiration from the folk tales tradition, citing Otta F Swire 's book on

484-728: A biography of the band Duran Duran , and co-edited Ghastly Beyond Belief , a book of quotations, with Kim Newman . Although Gaiman thought he had done a terrible job, the book's first edition sold out very quickly. When he went to relinquish his rights to the book, he discovered the publisher had gone bankrupt. After this, he was offered a job by Penthouse . He refused the offer. He also wrote interviews and articles for many British magazines, including Knave . During this, he sometimes wrote under pseudonyms, including Gerry Musgrave, Richard Grey, and "a couple of house names". Gaiman has said he ended his journalism career in 1987 because British newspapers regularly publish untruths as fact. In

605-408: A bodyguard for a mysterious con man , Mr. Wednesday, and travels with him across the United States. Shadow meets a leprechaun named Mad Sweeney, who gives Shadow a magical gold coin after Shadow beats him in a fight. Shadow later tosses the coin into Laura's grave at her funeral, inadvertently bringing her back from the dead as a revenant . Shadow meets Czernobog and the three Zorya Sisters. One of

726-519: A chain of grocery stores, changing the family name from Chaiman to Gaiman. His father, David Bernard Gaiman , worked in the same chain of stores; his mother, Sheila Gaiman (née Goldman), was a pharmacist. Neil has two younger sisters, Claire and Lizzy. The Gaimans moved in 1965 to the West Sussex town of East Grinstead , where his parents studied Dianetics at the Scientology centre in

847-721: A direct sequel to American Gods but he has revisited the characters. A glimpse at Shadow's travels in Europe is found in a short story which finds him in Scotland, applying the same concepts developed in American Gods to the story of Beowulf . The 2005 novel Anansi Boys deals with Anansi ('Mr. Nancy'), tracing the relationship of his two sons, one semi-divine and the other an unassuming bookkeeper, as they explore their common heritage. It debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list . In 2002, Gaiman entered

968-494: A four-part mini-series that provided a tour of the mythological and magical parts of the DC Universe through a frame story about an English teenager who discovers that he is destined to be the world's greatest wizard. The miniseries was popular, and sired an ongoing series written by John Ney Rieber . Gaiman's adaptation of Sweeney Todd , illustrated by Michael Zulli for Stephen R. Bissette 's publication Taboo ,

1089-449: A half thousand years old. But with comics I felt like – I can do stuff nobody has ever done. I can do stuff nobody has ever thought of. And I could and it was enormously fun." Gaiman wrote two series for Marvel Comics . Marvel 1602 was an eight-issue limited series published from November 2003 to June 2004 with art by Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove . The Eternals was a seven-issue limited series drawn by John Romita Jr. , which

1210-505: A leather bag as a keepsake. Shadow performs a simple sleight-of-hand coin trick, which delights Odin, who asks for a repeat performance. Shadow then performs a small piece of real magic, pulling a golden coin from nowhere like Mad Sweeney did when they first met. He then flips the coin up into the air and walks away, wondering if the coin will ever come back down. The novel's dedication reads "for absent friends – Kathy Acker and Roger Zelazny and all points in between." Gaiman has discussed

1331-648: A separate Greek myth the Hesperides live beneath an apple tree with golden apples that was given to the highest Olympian goddess Hera by the primal Mother goddess Gaia at Hera's marriage to Zeus. The tree stands in the Garden of the Hesperides and is guarded by Ladon , a dragon. Heracles defeats Ladon and snatches the golden apples. In the epic quest for the Golden Fleece of Argonautica ,

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1452-508: A sequel even while writing the first book and has said that he is likely to focus on the New Gods in the sequel. In addition to the planned sequel, Gaiman has written two short story sequels featuring Shadow Moon. "The Monarch of the Glen", a novella first published in the 2003 anthology Legends II , takes place in Scotland two years after American Gods . The second short story, "Black Dog",

1573-576: A series of comic books based on the novel. The comic books were co written by Gaiman and P. Craig Russell . With art by Russell and Scott Hampton , among others. Starz developed a television series from the novel with Bryan Fuller and Michael Green . The series debuted in April 2017. At the end of season 1, Fuller stepped down as showrunner and was replaced by Jesse Alexander . The two had previously worked together on Star Trek: Discovery and Hannibal . The power metal band Blind Guardian wrote

1694-557: A series of graphic novel adaptations based on his short stories "Troll Bridge", "Chivalry", and "Snow, Glass, Apples", Gaiman and the Terry Pratchett estate chose Doran to adapt Good Omens into graphic novel form, and to self publish the work via the Pratchett estate's Dunmanifestin label. It was financed on Kickstarter where it became a record-setter in less than a week as the top fan-supported and top-earning comics project in

1815-632: A sign and suddenly a "serpent gliding from the Caucasus mountains" appears and coils around the grove as to protect it. In Roman mythology the world tree was the olive tree , that was associated with Pax . The Greek equivalent of Pax is Eirene , one of the Horae . The Sacred tree of the Roman Sky father Jupiter was the oak , the laurel was the Sacred tree of Apollo . The ancient fig-tree in

1936-547: A similar origin of deities ( thoughtform ). While Gaiman says that he did not read the book by Terry Pratchett , he thought they shared a worldview due to their same geographic origins and, more importantly, their daily phone conversations. He had also sought advice from Pratchett on resolving plot elements of American Gods . According to Gaiman, American Gods is not based on Diana Wynne Jones 's 1975 novel Eight Days of Luke , "although they bear an odd relationship, like second cousins once removed or something." When working on

2057-563: A snake that menaces its nestlings. A similar imagery is attested in Hittite literature : a snake encircles the base of a tree, an eagle perches atop it, and a bee occupies its middle, which Craig Melchert considers to be a version of the "world tree" or "tree of life" motif. Professor Amar Annus states that, although the motif seems to originate much earlier, its first attestation in world culture occurred in Sumerian literature , with

2178-482: A song titled "Secrets of the American Gods" based on the novel, on their 2022 album The God Machine . Gaiman's next novel, Anansi Boys (2005), was conceived before American Gods and shares a character, Mr. Nancy ( Anansi , the spider god of African legend). In an interview with MTV News published on 22 June 2011, Gaiman said that he had plans for a direct sequel to American Gods . Gaiman had plans for

2299-494: A spear for nine days. During these nine days, he is visited by Horus , who has become mad from living too long as a hawk. Shadow dies and visits the land of the dead, where he is judged by Anubis. Shadow learns that he is Wednesday's (Odin's) son, conceived as part of the deity's plans. During this time, Mr. Town arrives at the World Tree, ordered by Mr. World to cut a branch from it. Horus finds Easter and convinces her to bring Shadow back to life. Shadow realizes Mr. World

2420-417: A special collector's edition of American Gods , with many corrections to the author's preferred text version. In April 2017, Starz began airing a television adaptation of the novel. Bryan Fuller and Michael Green served as showrunners, and Gaiman is an executive producer. Fuller and Green departed the show after the first season. Shadow Moon is an ex-convict set to be released from prison. Just as he

2541-615: A special impact on him. Another work that made a particular impression was J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings , which he got from his school library. Although they only had the first two of the novel's three volumes, Gaiman consistently checked them out and read them. He later won the school English prize and the school reading prize, enabling him to finally acquire the third volume. For his seventh birthday, Gaiman received C. S. Lewis 's The Chronicles of Narnia . He later recalled that "I admired his use of parenthetical statements to

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2662-406: A standard novel and in an illustrated text edition. This novel was highly influenced by Victorian fairytales and culture. American Gods became one of Gaiman's best-selling and multi-award-winning novels upon its release in 2001. A special 10th Anniversary edition was released, with the "author's preferred text" 12,000 words longer than the original mass-market editions. Gaiman has not written

2783-462: A translation of the Japanese script. After his disappointment with the production limitations of Neverwhere , Gaiman asked his agent to pull him out of an (unnamed) UK television series that was to begin production immediately afterwards. "I didn't want to do it unless I had more control than you get as a writer: in fantasy, the tone of voice, the look and feel, the way something is shot and edited

2904-410: A winged mythical creature" that represents a heavenly realm. The eagle seems to be the most frequent bird, fulfilling the role of a creator or weather deity. Its antipode is a snake or serpentine creature that crawls between the tree roots, being a "symbol of the underworld". The World Tree has also been compared to a World Pillar that appears in other traditions and functions as separator between

3025-466: A world tree. Some scholars have argued that the religious importance of the horizontal and vertical dimensions in many animist cultures may derive from the human body and the position it occupies in the world as it perceives the surrounding living world. Many Indigenous cultures of the Americas have similar cosmologies regarding the directionality and the world tree, however the type of tree representing

3146-433: Is "fuck", which is to help inform readers of a nervous disposition that they can stop reading there, or at least by the end of the extremely peculiar sex scene that closes Chapter 1. Neil Gaiman, writing on Tumblr While Gaiman was writing American Gods , his publishers set up a promotional web site featuring a weblog in which Gaiman described the day-to-day process of writing, revising, publishing, and promoting

3267-457: Is a god and is also responsible for the children's kidnappings and deaths. Hinzelmann explains that he regretfully must take one child as a sacrifice each year in exchange for the town's prosperity. The townspeople are unaware of this and Hinzelmann's control of the town as he tries to sacrifice children that no one will greatly miss. Shadow thinks of killing Hinzelmann, but finds he cannot as Hinzelmann saved his life. However, Chad Mulligan overhears

3388-626: Is actually Low Key ( Loki ) Lyesmith, and that Odin and Loki have been working a " two-man con ". They orchestrated Shadow's birth, his meeting of Loki in disguise in prison, and Laura's death. Loki had arranged for Odin's murder, thus making the battle between the New and Old Gods a sacrifice to Odin, restoring Odin's power, while also allowing Loki to feed on the chaos of the battle. Laura chooses to hitchhike to Rock City and meets Mr. Town, who does not realize who she is, and they agree to travel together. During their travels, Laura learns who Mr. Town

3509-457: Is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and the novels Good Omens , Stardust , Anansi Boys , American Gods , Coraline , and The Graveyard Book . He co-created the TV series adaptations of Good Omens and The Sandman . Gaiman has won numerous awards, including

3630-472: Is and, once they arrive at their destination, kills him and takes the branch he took from the World Tree. She meets with Loki and manages to stab him with the World Tree branch, which turns into a spear as she stabs. Shadow arrives at Rock City and confronts Loki, now gravely wounded, and the ghost of Odin, who reveal their plans. Shadow travels to the site of the battle and explains that both sides have nothing to gain and everything to lose, with Odin and Loki as

3751-499: Is central and considered very holy. The Æsir go to Yggdrasil daily to hold their courts. The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations: one to the well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the spring Hvergelmir , and another to the well Mímisbrunnr . Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the harts Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór ,

American Gods - Misplaced Pages Continue

3872-482: Is his family's religion. About his personal views, Gaiman has stated, "I think we can say that God exists in the DC Universe. I would not stand up and beat the drum for the existence of God in this universe. I don't know, I think there's probably a 50/50 chance. It doesn't really matter to me." Gaiman was able to read at the age of four. He said, "I was a reader. I loved reading. Reading things gave me pleasure. I

3993-406: Is released, he learns that his wife, Laura, has been killed in a car accident. Shadow is devastated by her death, and is distraught to learn that she died alongside his best friend Robbie, with whom she had been having an affair. As he was supposed to get a job from Robbie upon his release from prison, Shadow is out of luck and has to figure out what to do now. With nowhere to go, Shadow takes a job as

4114-459: Is the oak, and the one at Dodona (famous for the cultic worship of Zeus and the oak) was said by later tradition to have its roots furrow so deep as to reach the confines of Tartarus. In a different cosmogonic account presented by Pherecydes of Syros , male deity Zas (identified as Zeus ) marries female divinity Chthonie (associated with the earth and later called Gê/ Gaia ), and from their marriage sprouts an oak tree. This oak tree connects

4235-486: Is vital, and I wanted to be in charge of that." He co-wrote the script for Robert Zemeckis 's Beowulf with Roger Avary , a collaboration that has proved productive for both writers. Gaiman has expressed interest in collaborating on a film adaptation of the Epic of Gilgamesh . He was the only person other than J. Michael Straczynski to write a Babylon 5 script in the series' last three seasons, contributing to

4356-523: The Ashvattha (a Ficus religiosa ). Scholarship states that many Eurasian mythologies share the motif of the "world tree", "cosmic tree", or "Eagle and Serpent Tree". More specifically, it shows up in "Haitian, Finnish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Norse, Siberian and northern Asian Shamanic folklore". The World Tree is often identified with the Tree of Life , and also fulfills

4477-583: The Comitium at Rome, was considered as a descendant of the very tree under which Romulus and Remus were found. In Norse mythology , Yggdrasil is the world tree. Yggdrasil is attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda , written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson . In both sources, Yggdrasil is an immense ash tree that

4598-674: The Garden of Eden story in the Book of Genesis in the Bible . According to Jewish mythology , in the Garden of Eden there is a tree of life or the "tree of souls" that blossoms and produces new souls , which fall into the Guf , the Treasury of Souls . The Angel Gabriel reaches into the treasury and takes out the first soul that comes into his hand. Then Lailah , the Angel of Conception, watches over

4719-1020: The Hugo , Nebula , and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, The Graveyard Book (2008). In 2013, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was voted Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards . It was later adapted into a critically acclaimed stage play at the Royal National Theatre in London. In 2024, it

4840-501: The Monty Python comedy troupe , he owned a copy of Monty Python's Big Red Book as a teenager. During a trip to France when he was 13, Gaiman became fascinated with the visually fantastic world in the stories of Metal Hurlant , even though he could not understand the words. When he was 19 or 20 years old, he contacted his favourite science fiction writer, R. A. Lafferty , requesting advice on becoming an author and including

4961-683: The Pahlavi Bundahishn , it is said that evil god Ahriman created a lizard to attack the tree. Bas tokhmak is another remedial tree; it retains all herbal seeds and destroys sorrow. Remnants are also evident in the Kalpavriksha ("wish-fulfilling tree") and the Ashvattha tree of the Indian religions . The Ashvattha tree ('keeper of horses') is described as a sacred fig and corresponds to "the most typical representation of

American Gods - Misplaced Pages Continue

5082-527: The "author's preferred text" and 12,000 additional words, was published in June 2011 by William Morrow. The tenth anniversary text is identical to the signed and numbered limited edition released in 2003 by Hill House Publishers, and to the edition from Headline, Gaiman's publisher in the UK since 2005. The tenth anniversary edition marked the first time the author's preferred text had been available in wide release outside

5203-412: The "author's preferred text" and 12,000 additional words, was published in June 2011 by William Morrow. Two audio versions of the book were produced and published by Harper Audio : an unabridged version of the original published edition, read by George Guidall, released in 2001; a full cast audiobook version of the tenth anniversary edition, released in 2011. In March 2017, The Folio Society published

5324-560: The "bird-peaked" tree holds the sun and the moon, and the underworld is "a land of snakes, lizards and frogs". In the mythology of the Samoyeds , the world tree connects different realities (underworld, this world, upper world) together. In their mythology the world tree is also the symbol of Mother Earth who is said to give the Samoyed shaman his drum and also help him travel from one world to another. According to scholar Aado Lintrop,

5445-615: The BBC mini-series Neverwhere was his first solo novel. The novel was released in tandem with the television series, though it presents some notable differences from the television series. Gaiman has since revised the novel twice, the first time for an American audience unfamiliar with the London Underground , the second time because he felt unsatisfied with the originals. In 1999, the first printings of his fantasy novel Stardust were released. The novel has been released both as

5566-521: The Baltic and Slavic patterns there was an image of an inverted tree, "growing with its roots up, and branches going into the ground". Scholarship recognizes that Baltic beliefs about a World Tree, located at the central part of the Earth, follow a tripartite division of the cosmos (underworld, earth, sky), each part corresponding to a part of the tree (root, trunk, branches). It has been suggested that

5687-560: The End of the Lane was voted Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards . The novel follows an unnamed man who returns to his hometown for a funeral and remembers events that began forty years earlier. Themes include the search for self-identity and the "disconnect between childhood and adulthood". It was later adapted into a critically acclaimed stage play at the Royal National Theatre in London. In September 2016, Neil Gaiman announced that he had been working for some years on retellings of Norse mythology . Norse Mythology

5808-654: The Gaiman- Roger Avary -penned Beowulf film. Neil Gaiman was featured in the History Channel documentary Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked . Several of Gaiman's original works have been optioned or greenlighted for film adaptation, most notably Stardust , which premiered in August 2007 and stars Charlie Cox , Robert De Niro , Michelle Pfeiffer , Claire Danes and Mark Strong , directed by Matthew Vaughn . A stop-motion version of Coraline

5929-505: The Spooks, abduct Shadow; Laura rescues him, killing several Spooks in the process. Wednesday tells Shadow to hide with Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel, who run a funeral parlor in Cairo, Illinois . Sweeney appears and asks Shadow to give back the coin, which holds all of Sweeney's power. Shadow admits that he no longer has the coin and Sweeney dies. His body is tended to by Ibis and Jacquel, who lament

6050-587: The Sun, the Moon, God, Laima, Auseklis (the morning star), or the daughter of the Sun rest[ed]". According to Slavic folklore, as reconstructed by Radoslav Katičić , the draconic or serpentine character furrows near a body of water, and the bird that lives on the treetop could be an eagle, a falcon or a nightingale. Scholars Ivanov and Toporov offered a reconstructed Slavic variant of the Indo-European myth about

6171-517: The UK. Two audio versions of the book were produced and published by Harper Audio : an unabridged version of the original published edition, read by George Guidall, was released in 2001. A full cast audiobook version of the tenth anniversary edition, including the author's preferred text and 12,000 additional words, was released in 2011. A comic book series, American Gods: Shadows , was published by Dark Horse Comics starting in March 2017. A book of

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6292-467: The World Tree is "a powerful tree with widespread branches and strong roots, reaching deep into the earth". The recurrent imagery is also present in Lithuanian myth: on the treetops, the luminaries and eagles, and further down, amidst its roots, the dwelling place of snakes and reptiles. The World Tree of Lithuanian tradition was sometimes identified as an oak or a maple tree . In Latvian mythology

6413-416: The aspects of the book that did not age well or were offensive to some cultures. Beyond this, academics have claimed the work has ontological and epistemic implications, and, as part of the body of Gaiman's work, explored the appropriative style. The book was published in 2001 by Headline in the United Kingdom and by William Morrow in the United States. A special tenth anniversary edition, which includes

6534-487: The belief of the original settlers of Iceland), who is much closer than Wednesday to the Odin of mythology. Shadow accuses Odin of Wednesday's actions, but Odin retorts: "He was me, yes. But I am not him." He indicates that Wednesday was the part of him that went with his followers when they traveled to the new world and became corrupted as he was gradually forgotten. Shadow gives Wednesday's glass eye to Odin, which Odin places in

6655-404: The book received "positive" reviews based on nine critic reviews, with two being "rave" and four being "positive" and two being "mixed" and one being "pan". In May 2010, American Gods was selected in an online poll to be the first "One Book One Twitter" book. In 2014, when the television show adaptation was announced, author Abraham Riesman criticized the move as being a "bad idea", highlighting

6776-470: The complete text of American Gods would be available to the public on his publisher's website. The book won the 2002 Hugo , Nebula , Locus , SFX and Bram Stoker Awards, all for Best Novel, and likewise received nominations for the 2001 BSFA Award , as well as the 2002 World Fantasy , International Horror Guild and Mythopoeic , and British Fantasy awards. It won the 2003 Geffen Award . According to Book Marks , based on American publications,

6897-514: The conversation and shoots Hinzelmann, killing him. Shadow and Chad drive away, with Chad guilty to the point of suicide. Shadow concludes this is a fail-safe created by Hinzelmann so that whoever killed him would die soon after. Using magic, Shadow takes Chad's memory of overhearing Hinzelmann and the killing. He leaves Chad and Lakeside behind, understanding that the town's prosperity will likely wither away without Hinzelmann's protection. In Iceland, Shadow meets another incarnation of Odin (created by

7018-781: The creator of the characters, he was not involved in writing any of the above-mentioned books. Gaiman wrote a semi-autobiographical story about a boy's fascination with Michael Moorcock 's anti-hero Elric of Melniboné for Ed Kramer 's anthology Tales of the White Wolf. In 1996, Gaiman and Ed Kramer co-edited The Sandman: Book of Dreams . Nominated for the British Fantasy Award , the original fiction anthology featured stories and contributions by Tori Amos , Clive Barker , Gene Wolfe , Caitlín R. Kiernan , Tad Williams , and others. Asked why he likes comics more than other forms of storytelling, Gaiman said: "One of

7139-479: The earth and the skies, upholding the latter. Another representation akin to the World Tree is a separate World Mountain. However, in some stories, the world tree is located atop the world mountain, in a combination of both motifs. A conflict between a serpentine creature and a giant bird (an eagle) occurs in Eurasian mythologies: a hero kills the serpent that menaces a nest of little birds, and their mother repays

7260-542: The eighth issue of The Sandman , Gaiman and artist Mike Dringenberg introduced Death , the older sister of Dream, who became as popular as the series' title character. The limited series Death: The High Cost of Living launched DC's Vertigo line in 1993. Comics historian Les Daniels called Gaiman's work "astonishing" and noted that The Sandman was "a mixture of fantasy, horror, and ironic humor such as comic books had never seen before". DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz observed that " The Sandman became

7381-620: The embryo until it is born. According to the Gnostic codex On the Origin of the World , the tree of immortal life is in the north of paradise , which is outside the circuit of the Sun and Moon in the luxuriant Earth. Its height is so great it reaches Heaven. Its leaves are described as resembling cypress , the color of the tree is like the Sun, its fruit is like clusters of white grapes and its branches are beautiful. The tree will provide life for

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7502-483: The favor – a motif comparativist Julien d'Huy dates to the Paleolithic. A parallel story is attested in the traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Americas , where the thunderbird is slotted into the role of the giant bird whose nest is menaced by a "snake-like water monster". Romanian historian of religion, Mircea Eliade , in his monumental work Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy , suggested that

7623-511: The first extraordinary success as a series of graphic novel collections, reaching out and converting new readers to the medium, particularly young women on college campuses, and making Gaiman himself into an iconic cultural figure." Gaiman and Jamie Delano were to become co-writers of the Swamp Thing series following Rick Veitch . An editorial decision by DC to censor Veitch's final storyline caused both Gaiman and Delano to withdraw from

7744-437: The giant in eagle-shape Hræsvelgr , the squirrel Ratatoskr and the wyrm Níðhöggr . Scholarly theories have been proposed about the etymology of the name Yggdrasil , the potential relation to the trees Mímameiðr and Læraðr , and the sacred tree at Uppsala . In Baltic , Slavic and Finnish mythology, the world tree is usually an oak . Most of the images of the world tree are preserved on ancient ornaments. Often on

7865-525: The heavens above and its roots grew into the Earth, to reach the depths of Tartarus . This oak tree is considered by scholarship to symbolize a cosmic tree, uniting three spheres: underworld, terrestrial and celestial. Besides the oak, several other sacred trees existed in Greek mythology . For instance, the olive , named Moriai , was the world tree and associated with the Olympian goddess Athena . In

7986-508: The history of the platform. In a collaboration with author Terry Pratchett , best known for his series of Discworld novels, Gaiman's first novel Good Omens was published in 1990. In 2011, Pratchett said that while the entire novel was a collaborative effort and most of the ideas could be credited to both of them, Pratchett did a larger portion of writing and editing if for no other reason than Gaiman's scheduled involvement with Sandman . The 1996 novelisation of Gaiman's teleplay for

8107-452: The idea of American Gods and finishing it. After it was published, I actually sat down and allowed myself to read it for the first time in 15 years, and discovered it was just as good as I thought it was." In his introduction to Fritz Leiber's The Knight and Knave of Swords , Gaiman acknowledges Leiber's portrayal of Odin and Loki had "definitely smudged into" and informed his take on the characters. The fifteenth word of American Gods

8228-460: The imagery of the world tree. Another line of scholarship points to a "recurring theme" of the owl as the mediator to the upper realm, and its counterpart, the snake, as the mediator to the lower regions of the cosmos. Researcher Kristen Pearson mentions Northern Eurasian and Central Asian traditions wherein the World Tree is also associated with the horse and with deer antlers (which might resemble tree branches). Mircea Eliade proposed that

8349-554: The innocent during the consummation of the age . Mandaean scrolls often include abstract illustrations of world trees that represent the living, interconnected nature of the cosmos. In Mandaeism , the date palm ( Mandaic : sindirka ) symbolizes the cosmic tree and is often associated with the cosmic wellspring ( Mandaic : aina ). The date palm and wellspring are often mentioned together as heavenly symbols in Mandaean texts . The date palm takes on masculine symbolism, while

8470-657: The joys of comics has always been the knowledge that it was, in many ways, untouched ground. It was virgin territory. When I was working on Sandman , I felt a lot of the time that I was actually picking up a machete and heading out into the jungle. I got to write in places and do things that nobody had ever done before. When I'm writing novels I'm painfully aware that I'm working in a medium that people have been writing absolutely jaw-droppingly brilliant things for, you know, three-four thousand years now. You know, you can go back. We have things like The Golden Ass . And you go, well, I don't know that I'm as good as that and that's two and

8591-570: The late 1980s, he wrote Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion in what he calls a "classic English humour" style. Following this, he wrote the opening of what became his collaboration with Terry Pratchett on the comic novel Good Omens , about the impending apocalypse. After forming a friendship with Alan Moore , who taught him how to write comic scripts, Gaiman started writing comic books and picked up Miracleman after Moore finished his run on

8712-495: The legendary bird Simurgh (alternatively, Saēna bird ; Sēnmurw and Senmurv ) perches atop a tree in the center of the sea Vourukasa . This tree is described as having all-healing properties and many seeds. In another account, the tree is the very same tree of the White Hōm (Haōma). Gaokerena or white Haoma is a tree whose vivacity ensures continued life in the universe, and grants immortality to "all who eat from it". In

8833-626: The legends of the Isle of Skye as his inspiration for The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains . In the early 1980s, Gaiman pursued journalism, conducting interviews and writing book reviews, as a means to learn about the world and to make connections that he hoped would later assist him in getting published. He wrote and reviewed extensively for the British Fantasy Society. His first professional short story publication

8954-530: The limited series Black Orchid . Karen Berger , who later became head of DC Comics 's Vertigo , read Black Orchid and offered Gaiman a job: to re-write an old character, The Sandman, but to put his own spin on him. The Sandman tells the tale of the ageless , anthropomorphic personification of Dream that is known by many names, including Morpheus . The series began in January 1989 and concluded in March 1996. The various artists who contributed to

9075-521: The loss of another Old God. On the way to the Wisconsin community of Lakeside, Shadow picks up the hitchhiker Samantha Black Crow and drops her off at her house. Once in Lakeside, Shadow hides under the alias "Mike Ainsel" and spends time with several Lakeside residents who all live simple but happy and prosperous lives. Wednesday periodically takes Shadow on jobs to meet other gods. They are pursued all

9196-486: The meeting. This act is witnessed by and galvanizes the Old Gods, and they rally to face their enemies in battle at Rock City . While retrieving Wednesday's body, Shadow is surprised to discover his old prison cellmate and mentor, Low Key Lyesmith, is working as a driver for the New Gods. Shadow is bound by his contract with Wednesday to hold his vigil by re-enacting Odin's time hanging from a " World Tree " while pierced by

9317-460: The most important literary award there ever was" and "if you can make yourself aged seven happy, you're really doing well – it's like writing a letter to yourself aged seven." Lewis Carroll 's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was another childhood favourite, and "a favourite forever. Alice was default reading to the point where I knew it by heart." He also enjoyed Batman comics. Gaiman

9438-422: The novel. After the novel was published, the website evolved into a more general Official Neil Gaiman Web Site. As of 2021, Gaiman sporadically adds to the weblog, describing the writing, revising, publishing, or promoting of his current projects; but tends to use social media like Tumblr or Twitter for more personal details or reader questions. On 28 February 2008, Gaiman announced on his journal that for one month

9559-705: The object of the quest is found in the realm of Colchis , hanging on a tree guarded by a never-sleeping dragon (the Colchian dragon ). In a version of the story provided by Pseudo-Apollodorus in Bibliotheca , the Golden Fleece was affixed by King Aeetes to an oak tree in a grove dedicated to war god Ares . This information is repeated in Valerius Flaccus 's Argonautica . In the same passage of Valerius Flaccus' work, King Aeetes prays to Ares for

9680-492: The only true winners. Shadow tells them the United States is a bad place for Gods, and he recommends they return to their original homelands. The gods depart, Loki dies, and Odin's ghost fades. Laura asks Shadow to take the coin from her, which he does, and she finally dies. After resting with Mr. Nancy, Shadow remembers a dream where the Hindu god Ganesha told him to "look in the trunk". He returns to Lakeside and walks onto

9801-514: The origin point for American Gods as a novel, citing his experience as an immigrant in America in 1992, where he began to form the vague idea of the book in his mind. Additionally, while experiencing a layover in an airport in Reykjavik in 1998, Gaiman states that he thought “I wonder if they brought their gods with them, when they went to America?” The Discworld novel Small Gods explores

9922-446: The parts of the tree: between its roots, figure "chthonic animals", such as snakes and frogs, but he also mentions aquatic animals such as otters, beavers, and fishes, as well as dragons; the middle part of the tree is reserved for hoofed animals such as deer or elk (sometimes bees), and on the topmost part perches the "principal" bird, or a pair of birds sat on either side of the tree crown. A bird perches atop its foliage, "often ....

10043-479: The reader, where he would just talk to you ... I'd think, 'Oh, my gosh, that is so cool! I want to do that! When I become an author, I want to be able to do things in parentheses.' I liked the power of putting things in brackets." Narnia also introduced him to literary awards, specifically the Carnegie Medal , won by the concluding volume in 1956. When Gaiman won the 2010 Medal himself, he said "it had to be

10164-633: The realm of Patala (a netherworld where the Nāga dwell), or in an inverted position, rooted in the Heavens. Like other accounts, this tree may also function as an axis mundi . The world tree is also represented in the mythologies and folklore of North Asia and Siberia . According to Mihály Hoppál, Hungarian scholar Vilmos Diószegi located some motifs related to the world tree in Siberian shamanism and other North Asian peoples. As per Diószegi's research,

10285-506: The role of an axis mundi , that is, a centre or axis of the world. It is also located at the center of the world and represents order and harmony of the cosmos. According to Loreta Senkute, each part of the tree corresponds to one of the three spheres of the world (treetops – heavens; trunk – middle world or earth; roots – underworld) and is also associated with a classical element (top part – fire ; middle part – earth , soil, ground; bottom part – water ). Its branches are said to reach

10406-431: The root is the dwelling place of snakes and every sort of reptiles. The imagery of the World Tree is sometimes associated with conferring immortality, either by a fruit that grows on it or by a springsource located nearby. As George Lechler also pointed out, in some descriptions this "water of life" may also flow from the roots of the tree. According to Vladimir Toporov , animal species are commonly distributed along

10527-456: The same name, collecting issues 1 through 9 of the comic book series, was published by Dark Horse Books in February 2018. In March 2017, The Folio Society published a special collector's edition of American Gods , with many corrections to the author's preferred text version. Gaiman described this edition as 'the cleanest text there has ever been' of the novel. Dark Horse Comics publishes

10648-509: The season five episode " Day of the Dead ". The series also features a recurring alien race called the Gaim, who resemble the character of Dream and are named after Gaiman. Gaiman has also written at least three drafts of a screenplay adaptation of Nicholson Baker 's novel The Fermata for director Robert Zemeckis , although the project was stalled while Zemeckis made The Polar Express and

10769-480: The series include Sam Kieth , Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson , Shawn McManus , Marc Hempel , and Michael Zulli , with lettering by Todd Klein , colours by Daniel Vozzo, and covers by Dave McKean . The series became one of DC's top selling titles, eclipsing even Batman and Superman . The 75 issues of the regular series, along with an illustrated prose text and a special containing seven short stories, have been collected into 12 volumes that remain in print. In

10890-754: The series. He continued his professional relationship with Moore by contributing quotations for the supplemental materials in the Watchmen comic book series. Gaiman and artist Mark Buckingham collaborated on several issues of the series before its publisher, Eclipse Comics , collapsed, leaving the series unfinished. His first published comic strips were four short Future Shocks for 2000 AD in 1986–87. He wrote three graphic novels with his favourite collaborator and long-time friend Dave McKean : Violent Cases , Signal to Noise , and The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch . Impressed with his work, DC Comics hired him in February 1987, and he wrote

11011-417: The serpent and the other residents escape. In fragments of the story of Etana , there is a narrative sequence about a snake and an eagle that live on opposite sides of a poplar tree ( şarbatu ), the snake on its roots, the eagle on its foliage. At a certain point, both animals swear before deity Shamash and share their meat with each other, until the eagle's hatchlings are born and the eagle decides to eat

11132-692: The sisters gives Shadow a silver coin, coming from the Moon, to protect him. Shadow learns that Wednesday is an incarnation of Odin the All-Father, and that he is recruiting American manifestations of the Old Gods, whose powers have waned as their believers have decreased in number, to participate in a battle against the New Gods – manifestations of what humanity now worships, such as technology, media, pop-culture, and modern means of transport. Shadow meets many of Wednesday's allies, including Mr. Nancy, Easter , Whiskey Jack, and John Chapman. The New Gods henchmen,

11253-407: The skies and its roots to connect the human or earthly world with an underworld or subterranean realm. Because of this, the tree was worshipped as a mediator between Heavens and Earth. On the treetops are located the luminaries ( stars ) and heavenly bodies, along with an eagle's nest; several species of birds perch among its branches; humans and animals of every kind live under its branches, and near

11374-482: The snake's young ones. In revenge, the snake alerts god Shamash, who agrees to let the snake punish the eagle for the perceived affront. Later, Shamash takes pity on the bird's condition and sets hero Etana to release it from its punishment. Later versions of the story associate the eagle with mythical bird Anzû and the snake with a serpentine being named Bašmu . A world tree is a common motif in Persian mythology ,

11495-569: The structure of a story linking gods and days of the week, he realised that this idea had already been used in Eight Days of Luke . He abandoned the story, but later used the idea when writing American Gods to depict Wednesday and Shadow meeting on the god's namesake day. Of John James ' 1966 novel Votan , Gaiman stated: "I think probably the best book ever done about the Norse was a book that I couldn't allow myself to read between coming up with

11616-521: The tale of " Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld ". According to this tale, goddess Innana transplants the huluppu tree to her garden in the City of Uruk, for she intends to use its wood to carve a throne. However, a snake "with no charm", a ghostly figure ( Lilith or another character associated with darkness) and the legendary Anzû -bird make their residence on the tree, until Gilgamesh kills

11737-418: The thinning ice toward the car resting there. He picks the lock and opens the trunk to find the body of the missing teenager inside. He falls through the ice and, while trapped beneath, sees cars from past winters resting on the lake floor. Each one presumably has a child's body locked inside. Shadow is saved by Hinzelmann, who takes him to his house and treats him for hypothermia. Shadow realizes that Hinzelmann

11858-524: The title. Gaiman produced two stories for DC's Secret Origins series in 1989. A Poison Ivy tale drawn by Mark Buckingham and a Riddler story illustrated by Bernie Mireault and Matt Wagner . A story that Gaiman originally wrote for Action Comics Weekly in 1989 was shelved due to editorial concerns but it was finally published in 2000 as Green Lantern/Superman: Legend of the Green Flame . In 1990, Gaiman wrote The Books of Magic ,

11979-520: The town; one of Gaiman's sisters works for the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles. His other sister, Lizzy Calcioli, has said, "Most of our social activities were involved with Scientology or our Jewish family. It would get very confusing when people would ask my religion as a kid. I'd say, 'I'm a Jewish Scientologist. ' " Gaiman says that he is not a Scientologist, and that like Judaism, Scientology

12100-493: The typical imagery of the world tree (bird at the top, snake at the root) "is presumably of Oriental origin". Likewise, Roald Knutsen indicates a possible origin of the motif in Central Asia and later diffusion into other regions and cultures. A common theme in most indigenous cultures of the Americas is a concept of directionality (the horizontal and vertical planes), with the vertical dimension often being represented by

12221-463: The wellspring takes on feminine symbolism. Armenian professor Hrach Martirosyan argues for the presence, in Armenian mythology , of a serpentine creature named Andndayin ōj , that lives in the (abyssal) waters that circundate the World Tree. According to scholarship, Georgian mythology also attests a rivalry between mythical bird Paskunji, which lives in the underworld on the top of a tree, and

12342-434: The while by the Spooks, particularly Mr. Town, who blames Shadow for the death of his friends. When a teenager in Lakeside goes missing, Shadow helps the other residents search for her, to no avail. Shadow learns that children and teenagers often go missing from Lakeside. He is then arrested for breaking his parole, but escapes with help from Czernobog and Mr. Nancy. The New Gods seek to parley with Wednesday, but murder him at

12463-624: The word for "tree" in Baltic languages ( Latvian mežs ; Lithuanian medis ), both derived from Proto-Indo-European *medh- 'middle', operated a semantic shift from "middle" possibly due to the belief of the Arbor Mundi . The world tree ( Lithuanian : Aušros medis ) is widespread in Lithuanian folk painting, and is frequently found carved into household furniture such as cupboards, towel holders, and laundry beaters. According to Lithuanian scholars Prane Dunduliene and Norbertas Vėlius ,

12584-463: The world of children's books with the dark fairy tale Coraline . In 2008 he released another children's book, The Graveyard Book . It follows the adventures of a boy named Bod after his family is murdered and he is left to be brought up by a graveyard. It is heavily influenced by Rudyard Kipling 's The Jungle Book . As of late January 2009 , it had been on The New York Times Bestseller children's list for fifteen weeks. In 2013, The Ocean at

12705-453: The world tree ( Latvian : Austras koks ) was one of the most important beliefs, also associated with the birth of the world. Sometimes it was identified as an oak or a birch , or even replaced by a wooden pole. According to Ludvigs Adamovičs's book on Latvian folk belief, ancient Latvian mythology attested the existence of a Sun Tree as an expression of the World Tree, often described as "a birch tree with three leaves or forked branches where

12826-527: The world tree also appears in folk medicine of the Don Cossacks . According to scholar Aado Lintrop , Estonian mythology records two types of world tree in Estonian runic songs, with similar characteristics of being an oak and having a bird at the top, a snake at the roots and the stars amongst its branches. The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of life are both components of

12947-602: The world tree appears in the Island of Buyan , on top of a stone. Another description shows that legendary birds Sirin and Alkonost make their nests on separate sides of the tree. Ukrainian scholarship points to the existence of the motif in "archaic wintertime songs and carols": their texts attest a tree at the center of the world and two or three falcons or pigeons sat on its top, ready to dive in and fetch mud to create land (the Earth diver cosmogonic motif). The imagery of

13068-472: The world tree depends on the surrounding environment. For many Indigenous American peoples located in more temperate regions for example, it is the spruce rather than the ceiba that is the world tree; however the idea of cosmic directions combined with a concept of a tree uniting the directional planes is similar. Like in many other Indo-European cultures , one tree species was considered the World Tree in some cosmogonical accounts. The sacred tree of Zeus

13189-626: The world tree in India", upon whose branches the celestial bodies rest. Likewise, the Kalpavriksha is also equated with a fig tree and said to possess wish-granting abilities. Indologist David Dean Shulman provided the description of a similar imagery that appears in South Indian temples : the sthalavṛkṣa tree. The tree is depicted alongside a water source (river, temple tank, sea). The tree may also appear rooted on Earth or reaching

13310-606: The world tree was an important element in shamanistic worldview. Also, according to him, "the giant bird ... hatches shamans in the branches of the World Tree". Likewise, Roald Knutsen indicates the presence of the motif in Altaic shamanism . Representations of the world tree are reported to be portrayed in drums used in Siberian shamanistic practices. Some species of birds ( eagle , raven , crane , loon , and lark ) are revered as mediators between worlds and also connected to

13431-608: Was "Featherquest", a fantasy story, in Imagine Magazine in May 1984. While waiting for a train at London's Victoria Station in 1984, Gaiman noticed a copy of Swamp Thing by Alan Moore , and read it. Moore's approach to comics had such an impact on Gaiman that he later wrote "that was the final straw, what was left of my resistance crumbled. I proceeded to make regular and frequent visits to London's Forbidden Planet shop to buy comics". In 1984, he wrote his first book,

13552-547: Was announced that a number of commercial ventures linked to him would halt production, owing to allegations of sexual assault towards women. Neil Richard Gaiman was born on 10 November 1960 in Portchester , Hampshire. Gaiman's family is of Polish-Jewish and other Ashkenazi origins. His great-grandfather emigrated to England from Antwerp before 1914 and his grandfather settled in Portsmouth and established

13673-700: Was collected in Gaiman's 2015 Trigger Warning . It takes place a year later in Derbyshire 's Peak District. In the introduction for Trigger Warnings Gaiman said that he had one final standalone story that would take Shadow to London before he returns to the US and the start of American Gods 2. List of joint winners of the Hugo and Nebula awards Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ m ən / ; born Neil Richard Gaiman on 10 November 1960)

13794-671: Was educated at several Church of England schools, including Fonthill School in East Grinstead, Ardingly College (1970–1974), and Whitgift School in Croydon (1974–1977). His father's position as a public relations official of the Church of Scientology was the cause of the seven-year-old Gaiman being forced to withdraw from Fonthill School and return to the school which he had previously attended. He lived in East Grinstead for many years, from 1965 to 1980 and again from 1984 to 1987. He met his first wife, Mary McGrath, while she

13915-516: Was introduced into the Marvel Universe in the last issue of the Age of Ultron miniseries in 2013. Gaiman oversaw The Sandman Universe , a line of comic books published by Vertigo. The four series — House of Whispers , Lucifer , The Books of Magic , and The Dreaming — were written by new creative teams. The line launched on 8 August 2018. After teaming with Colleen Doran for

14036-783: Was published from August 2006 to March 2007. In 2009, Gaiman wrote a two-part Batman story for DC Comics to follow Batman R.I.P. titled " Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? " a play-off of the classic Superman story " Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? " by Alan Moore. He contributed a twelve-part Metamorpho serial drawn by Mike Allred for Wednesday Comics , a weekly newspaper-style series. Gaiman and Paul Cornell co-wrote Action Comics #894 (December 2010), which featured an appearance by Death. In October 2013, DC Comics released The Sandman: Overture with art by J. H. Williams III . Gaiman's Angela character

14157-441: Was released in February 2017. Several of his novels have been published as paperbacks with retro covers by artist Robert McGinnis . Gaiman wrote the 1996 BBC dark fantasy television series Neverwhere . He co-wrote the screenplay for the movie MirrorMask with his old friend Dave McKean for McKean to direct. In addition, he wrote the localised English language script for the anime movie Princess Mononoke , based on

14278-867: Was released on 6 February 2009, directed by Henry Selick and starring the voices of Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher . World Tree Specific world trees include Égig érő fa in Hungarian mythology , Ağaç Ana in Turkic mythology , Kenac' Car in Armenian mythology , Modun in Mongol mythology , Yggdrasil in Norse mythology , Irminsul in Germanic mythology, the oak in Slavic , Finnish and Baltic , Jianmu ( Chinese : 建木 ; pinyin : jiànmù ) in Chinese mythology , and in Hindu mythology

14399-478: Was stopped when the anthology itself was discontinued. In the mid-1990s, he also created a number of new characters and a setting that was to be featured in a title published by Tekno Comix . The concepts were then altered and split between three titles set in the same continuity: Lady Justice , Mr. Hero the Newmatic Man , and Teknophage , and tie-ins. Although Gaiman's name appeared prominently as

14520-502: Was studying Scientology and living in a house in East Grinstead that was owned by his father. The couple were married in 1985 after having their first child. Gaiman has mentioned several writers who have influenced his work, including Mary Shelley , Rudyard Kipling , Edgar Allan Poe , Michael Moorcock , Dave Sim , Alan Moore , Steve Ditko , Will Eisner , Ursula K. Le Guin , Harlan Ellison , John Crowley , Lord Dunsany , G. K. Chesterton and Gene Wolfe . A lifetime fan of

14641-415: Was very good at most subjects in school, not because I had any particular aptitude in them, but because normally on the first day of school, they'd hand out schoolbooks, and I'd read them—which would mean that I'd know what was coming up because I'd read it." When he was about ten years old, he read his way through the works of Dennis Wheatley ; The Ka of Gifford Hillary and The Haunting of Toby Jugg made

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