Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="reanjr" data-source="post: 5674180" data-attributes="member: 20740">The AnalysisThe myth is a composite of historical fact, political propaganda, metaphor, and natural science.  It is probably too muddled in it’s details with too much narrative to identify truths within it alone, but experiences or knowledge may reveal truths within the myth.First of all, the myth specifically mentions the Green Age of Athas.  While the general populace does not put their mind to such things, the Green Age is well known among scholars and other learned individuals.  Those same scholars are much less aware of the Blue Age before the Green Age.  There is no mention of this time in the myth.The myth states “life was so abundant that it sprang unwilled from the world”.  This is in fact the genesis myth.  Life simply springs from nothing - creattion ex nihilo - when the right conditions are present.  Athas has no gods and few typical creation myths, but scholars have a rudimentary understanding of evolutionary biology.  This knowledge has been incorrectly extrapolated to creation ex nihilo, rather than creation ex materia.  Creation ex deo is not a widely held belief on Athas, and is not alluded to in the myth.The golor’ndale is the one of the most fantastic elements of the myth.  This “great beast mother” represents fertility and life as well as displaying protective attributes.  But in a more abstract way, she represents evolution itself (“[she] began to birth more life, each different than the last”) as well as ecological responsibility (“[she] knew instinctively when her progeny neared such numbers as she could not nurture”).The description of the golor’ndale also sheds light on early Athas development.  The description begins with her insectoid head, and then follows to her reptilian tail, her avian wings, and - finally - her mammalian body.  This is an allegory for the relative geneses of the different branches of life.  Namely, the insects came first, followed by the reptiles and birds, to end with the mammals.The slumber of the golor’ndale speaks to the impassivity of nature.  It also speaks to conservation.  Once the great beast mother realized Athas was nearing it’s limits of sustainability, “she fell into a deep sleep, continuing to suckle her children while she slumbered.”The tale then begins to display some of Inenek’s propaganda.  It is unlikely she attempted to directly influence the myth, but over time, her misinformation has colored the story.  So, the myth presents primal spirits as malevolent beings from another plane of existence (which may be true, but most scholars outside of Gulg and many druids would disagree).  That said, there’s probably a confused kernel of truth in the “other places, beyond the Gray... places more fantastic and wondrous than any on Athas”.  These could refer to realms in the Astral Sea or the Elemental Chaos.When the myth describes the spirits corrupting the creatures of Athas, it uses the earlier metaphors used to describe beasts, people, and plants: “the great and the terrible... the noble and the savage... the tall and the stout.”  This could simply be Inenek’s propaganda, but also might represent the rise of druidic power.  It is true that primal spirits inhabit the beasts and plants of Athas.  And it is true that they work closely with the peoples, sharing knowledge.The propaganda continues when introducing the halflings.  While never portrayed as directly culpable, they are presented as too weak or foolish to resists the primal spirits.  The myth tells of the primal spirits teaching the halflings lifeshaping.  This is almost certainly untrue, but the myth is on the mark in that the halflings manipulated life on a grand scale.After the halflings and their abominations are introduced, the myth then begins to reconcile the propaganda with history and science by speaking fancifully of the halflings sneaking their abominations in to drink from the golor’ndale’s teat, commencing the gradual death of Athas.  It’s possible there is some allusion to the events before the darkening of the sun at the Pristine Tower at the end of the Blue Age when the halflings created the Brown Tide, but it could also just be Inenek blaming the halflings for the destruction caused Rajaat’s Champions.  It is certainly true that Athas is on a slow decline, but it’s difficult to find justification to fault the halflings for the events since the darkening of the sun.The myth then delves directly into the heart of the oba myth.  Inenek is presented as noble, beautiful, and maternal.  She resides close to the great beast mother, indicating she is close to nature, and understands the cycles of the world and the sustainability limits of the environment.  She is also presented as vastly powerful, though is seems this is mostly due to her uncorruptable nature.  It might also be said that the protective womb of the obata represents nature’s protection from the malevolent spirits, indicating that giving oneself to nature and working in harmony with the forest can protect the children of Athas from the spirits’ lies.  The narrative then links this back in with the struggle between the spirits and Athas, as “the oba was witness to the halflings and their abominations”.It is noteworthy that the oba “at once became more powerful in the sun’s giving rays.“  During her transformation at the Pristine Tower, Inenek would have received vast power from the sun.  This is likely a simple coincidence as the nature of the Champion transformation is unknown to most anyone except the Champions themselves, and it seems unlikely they would divulge any information about the process.The first act the oba undertakes after leaving her mother’s womb is to begin a hunt.  This part of the story reinforces the social constructs Inenek has created for Gulgs.  To this day, the Red Moon Hunt initiates Gulgs into a station of nobility, and hunting is held in high regard by all citizens of Gulg.  In the same way, the oba’s hunt legitimizes her place as ruler in modern times.The myth then presents the oba’s preeminence over the spirits.  While it is made clear she is unable to root them all out, it is also made clear that toe-to-toe, the primal spirits are no match for Inenek.  While this is likely true for most primal spirits, there are certainly powerful spirits for which the statement “even in large groups, the spirits were no match for her“ does not hold.  This could be a mixture of propaganda and a bit of truth.The oba’s allies in the battle - the kreen, the mekillots, and Hesper - are though to illustrate the righteousness of her battle.  The oba - a mammal - allies with the insect kreen, the reptile mekillots, and the avian Hesper, indicating all life on Athas is being represented in her army.  The reason for the kreen being chosen to represent insects is understandable.  They are the most intelligent, civilized, populous insect on Athas and their pack mentality is widely respected among the hunting culture of Gulg.  It is less clear why the mekillots are chosen to represent the reptiles.  One theory puts forward the idea the mekillots not only represent reptilian life, but also a specific geographic region where the battle took place, namely past the Mekillot Mountains in the east of the Ivory Triangle.  If the choice of mekillots is unclear, the choice of Hesper is opaque.  She is presented as the oba’s equal, or near to it, but the meaning behind this is unknown.  Perhaps she represents the other Champions.  Or maybe she is an interloper god, representing some clash of cultures in Gulg.  Or maybe she represents the city-state of Nibenay or the Gallard, it’s king.  The Nibenese are known for their astronomers and Hesper is still named in the Athasian sky as a constellation.  It may even be a mixture of the three, as Gallard is a Champion, and Gulg’s proximity to Nibenay means there may very well have been some mythic bleed.Drum circles are a prominent part of Gulg culture.  It may be that this was influenced by the tale of the mekillot drum the oba uses to wake the slumbering golor’ndale.  It seems more likely it was added as part of the narrative at some point as one of many ways the oba tried to wake the great beast mothe.  This could have resonated with the Gulgs, making it a permanent fixture on the story.  Additionally, it shows the oba’s harsh nature.  She calls her allies to send her one of their own and promptly slays it with no remorse or even word to it’s people.  In this story at least, the mekillot serves a higher purpose.  Inenek herself in reality is much more dangerous to her people and allies than even the mekillot drum passage suggests.The halfling weapon seems to be an allusion to the Pristine Tower, though the oba myth seems to conflate the Tower’s use to turn back the Brown Tide and it’s use by Rajaat in creating his Champions.  From an historic perspective, the use of the weapon represents the end of the Green Age.The myth then wraps up with the passage about the oba staying behind to protect the people of Gulg.  This part of the story is certainly disseminated by the oba as part of her propaganda to maintain her power.  It is meant to endear the queen to her subjects, a job for which is has proven most effective.</blockquote>

Verification