The Eight GM Inspiration: Mythology (Specifically Funk & Wagnall's Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend)
It should go without saying that fantasy role playing owes its etymology and origins to mythology and folklore, and while the modern edition of D&D has moved away from these roots somewhat, it's all still there, hidden under the surface, no matter how hard corporate sanitization tries to scrub it.
One of my favorite resources for mythology and folklore is Funk & Wagnall's Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend. Originally published in 1949 and intermittently kept in print ever since, this remains one of the best resources on the subject you can find, with thousands of entries from around the globe on all sorts of interesting lore. Open any random page to this book and you will find useful ideas, inspiration or concepts useful for gaming, or just for your own edification. The copy I have was given to me as a gift for my 13th birthday in 1984 by my mother, and as ragged and worn as it is today it is still my most valued general resource on the subject. One of my first acts with this book was to start looking up random names from my AD&D 1E tomes and find out which monsters and characters had their etymology buried in mythology. This was how I discovered Orcus's origins in Roman myth, that Ed Greenwood really seemed to have a thing for Finnish mythology, and that some things I assumed had a solid origin in myth such as the lich did not, in fact, have such origins (and owed their existence to pulp era writings from Howard and Lovecraft).
Some random examples of how ideas can spring from this book:
Page 734: the start of a lengthy discussion of the topic of mnemonic devices and the mytho-historical importance of this method of memorization and information collection. Also, the mmoatia, a Gold Coast type of little people, perhaps like fairies; and Mixcoatl, the Cloud Serpent, of Aztec mythology.
Page 259: Cranes, and their relevance in myth. The cranes of Ibycus, which drew out his murderer; the start of the topic of creation myths. This is making me think about the use of cranes as symbols in magic or omens.
Page 763: Need some ideas for where to find museums in a modern day or Call of Cthulhu game? This page has that.
Etc. etc.
One of the cool things about this book is, if you are not overly familiar with the deep legacy of myth, folklore and legend behind the foundations of fantasy fiction and gaming, you might find this book well worth a look, it will expose you to a much more interesting and superstitious world that once existed as a matter of fact for our ancestors.
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