Creating a Mythology

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DarkTyrany22
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Creating a Mythology

#1 Post by DarkTyrany22 »

Alright, so I'm currently taking a World Mythology class and as part of that class every week we must write something that proves we understand some facet of mythology. This seemed like a great opportunity to begin a mythology of my own, and so every such assignment will be part of the same 'universe.' The assignments are only a page long each, so I'll likely expand, embellish, and alter these as time goes on. I'll use this space to post the original works, as well as the expanded versions. The plan is for this mythology to be of a fantasy universe (magic, elves, etc., etc.) although the initial assignments themselves will be more real world oriented (humans only), which is the primary need for re-doing the original assignments. Also they lack in detail...

Blah. I hope that made some kind of sense. Anyways, I have two installments for this opening post. The first is a creation myth, and the second is a myth based on the Sumerian myth of the me, or gifts of civilization. These being rough drafts, I'm quite open to comments, criticism, and suggestion.

~Rebirth~

A cataclysm of flames consumes the formless surface of the planet. The conflagration is fed by the lives, experiences, hopes, and dreams of the previous inhabitants, erasing any trace of their existence. An aeon of cleansing radiance passes, and the turbulent lave flows settle into a more natural rhythm. An eddy of the wrathful red liquid forms at Locus Primordium, “the place of origin,” and from its tumult emerges a massive winged quadruped colored a deep violet. Displeased at its own namelessness, the being proclaims itself Eos to the land of fire, and in elation lightened to a soft lavender. Inspired by its elation, Eos soothes the surface lava into a new world landscape of rock and water, excepting the eddy of its birth.

Content with its creation, Eos fragments into several separate immortal beings which are to be charged with the governance of the world. From its legs come the Terran, gods of the land. From its wings come the Aera, gods of the sky. From its torso come the Undan, gods of the waters. From its head comes the Mentis, gods of logic and reason. These constitute the greater gods, given reign over the planet and a fragment of the power of Eos. With its body consumed, Eos, in the pure form of near-white light, withdraws back into Locus Primordium to reign over the realm of fire until the next rebirth.

Without the guidance of Eos, the Mentis step forth as the leaders of the greater gods. The Mentis reasoned that as Eos did give them life, they too should give life to lesser beings, though the Mentis would abstain from creation as they had no realm to create beings for. Instead, while the other greater gods were busy creating, the Mentis would contemplate the return of Eos.

Having only a portion of the supremacy of Eos, the Terran, Aera, and Undan found they were unable to create immortals on their own. Their first attempts at creation failed, the creatures were hideous and incapable of survival. The Terran were the first to succeed, and created the immobile plant life that covers the land. The Undan, essentially copying the Terran design, fashioned a few varietes of plants living in the seas. Unwilling to simply duplicate the other gods’ creations, the Aera, after many attempts, fashioned the first mobile creatures - the birds of the sky. Quickly thereafter the Terran and Undan began creating their own true creatures. The Undan created many fascinating forms of aquatic life of many brilliant colors. Of all three, however, the Terran put forth the most varied and the most excellent of beasts, with their prize creation being the humans.

The Terran, unwilling to attempt a greater being than the human, became jealous of the Mentis, for while they had toiled to bring life unto the world the Mentis had done nothing. And so, feeling empowered by their wondrous creations, the Terran challenged the Mentis for supremacy of the greater gods. Though the Terran were more powerful, the Mentis quickly devised a plan to quell their rebellion. They sent one of their own named Venaliter to corrupt the highly valued humans. Distraught at seeing their greatest creation fall from grace, the Terran vowed to surrender if the Mentis would return the humans to normal. The Mentis agreed, but Venaliter did not completely remove the seed of corruption. The power of the Mentis over the humans is what keeps the Terran subservient.


~Establishment of Man~

There came to be a great leader in the realm of men named Delanith who longed for prosperity for his people. He met with the mystics, and asked of them, “What can I provide for my people that they may flourish.” The mystics spoke to Delanith of the powers that the greater gods possessed over the environment and many other things, so Delanith resolved to venture to Aethyr, the dwelling place of the greater gods. There he would plead with the gods to share the gifts that they alone enjoyed.

First Delanith approached the Terran, creators of humankind and other land creatures, and explained his wish for the empowerment of his people. With humans being their prized creation, the Terran quickly agreed to bestow upon Delanith several gifts to aid in his goal. Among these were the call of the hunt, the patience of agriculture, the art of battle, and the skill of craftsmanship.

Delanith went to the Undan next, the gods who reigned over the watery realm. At first the Undan were unwilling to support Delanith’s cause, pronouncing him the Terran’s creation and thus the Terran’s problem. However, Delanith reasoned that as the land and sea were neighbors it would be beneficial to the subjects of the Undan if humans were strengthened. And so the Undan also bestowed their gifts upon Delanith, including aquatic transportation, the science of damming, and the science of irrigation. In exchange for these gifts, humankind would forever require water to survive, ensuring an alliance between humans and the Undan.

The Aera, rulers of the sky, received a visit from Delanith next. Anticipating that the Aera, like the Undan, would not initially accept his request, Delanith brought with him the corpse of a slain Caelessum, renowned for hunting the creatures of the sky. With the promise that humankind would continue to hunt the Caelessum, the Aera gifted Delanith the art of archery, the construction of shelter from storms, and several land dwelling birds for man to eat, amongst other things. Like the Undan, the Aera struck this deal with the caveat that humans would require air to live.

Delanith approached the final group of greater gods, the Mentis, with apprehension. It was widely known that the relationship between mankind’s makers the Terran and the Mentis was strained. Also, these masters of reason and logic would not be swayed as the Undan were, nor did they have any earthly subjects for Delanith to protect as the Aera. Before Delanith could speak, the Mentis boomed, “we know why you have come leader of men.”

Shocked, Delanith could only reply, “and what say you?”

“We will give you what you seek, Delanith.” And so the Mentis bestowed their gifts upon Delanith such as the establishment of government, the virtue of law, the foundation of science, and others. To this day it is a mystery why the Mentis helped Delanith so willingly.



Alright, so there they are. As far as detail goes, I'm pretty pleased with the opening of Rebirth.
Last edited by DarkTyrany22 on Mon Sep 21, 2009 5:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Prince_Asuryan
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Re: Creating a Mythology

#2 Post by Prince_Asuryan »

I'm not sure I fully understand the assignment, but nevertheless, you're rebirth myth is especially interesting and fun to read. I'd have thought though, that a myth would have to be longer...
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Re: Creating a Mythology

#3 Post by Arellion Sapher »

You seem to have distilled the fundamentals of most world creation myths pretty well. I look forward to seeing your take on the apocalypse.
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Re: Creating a Mythology

#4 Post by DarkTyrany22 »

Prince_Asuryan wrote:I'm not sure I fully understand the assignment, but nevertheless, you're rebirth myth is especially interesting and fun to read. I'd have thought though, that a myth would have to be longer...
I'll try to explain it a bit better. Each week we write one page that proves we understand the fundamentals of a type of myth. Most all mythologies have the same basic myths - creation, apocalypse, heroic journey, etc.

Week 1 - Creation
Week 2 - Gifts of Civilization

I believe Week 3 will be a Heroic Journey, and Week 4 will be an underworld/afterlife type myth... not 100% sure though.

Regarding their length, I will expand them however the original size of each will only be a single typed page.
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Re: Creating a Mythology

#5 Post by Paraicj »

It's good stuff DT, a nice slant on a fairly simple idea. The Gifts Vs Caveats is especially well thought out.
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Re: Creating a Mythology

#6 Post by DarkTyrany22 »

Update: Week 3 - Resurrection
Week 4 - Egyptian Heiroglyphic representation of our name

Alright, so I'll have my Resurrection myth up by Thursday, but next week I'll probably not do an update. As you can see, it's not really a myth we're writing on week 4, though perhaps I'll write something just for the hell of it.
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Re: Creating a Mythology

#7 Post by Cyrannoc »

most interesting, well structured and compelling to say the least - all the hallmarks of a good mythology any chance you might be able to tell us more about your course structure/teachings etc.. sounds really interesting... its a shame none of the institutes near me offer such a similar course.

really very interesting. I for one (and I think others also) would certainly appreciate some more of your writings and some further elaboration on the course itself.
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Re: Creating a Mythology

#8 Post by Madeline Merri »

Man, I wish there were courses like this when I was going through Uni. Somehow English 2202 doesn't have the same ring to it. Take everything you can from this course, because quite literally, what they're giving you is a credit for writing the backstory to a book or series of novels. If you think you've got enough ammunition and experience in this universe, it'll give you a lot of freedom when you want to do something with it.

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