Colum published several collections of myths, spanning a wide variety of cultures and time periods. The Adventures of Odysseus is Colum's version of Homer's Odyssey, while The Children of Odin is a collection of Germanic myths.

Orpheus: Myths of the World, is a wideranging collection of myths, some of which date back to ancient Egypt and Babylonia. Colum published two volumes of Polynesian and Hawaiian myths, At the Gateways of the Day and The Bright Islands.