Re: Chronological Time and Mythic Time

From: Loren Miller <loren_at_wharton.upenn.edu>
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 10:51:53 EST


David Weihe <weihe_at_gsidanet.danet.com> comments:
> So, since nothing new ever happens *last* year, last year is now part
> of GodTime? And since new things were happening back in the days when
> Yelm and Orlanth were competing in various ways, that was chronos time?
> At least in those days?

A hearty sarcastic yes to all those questions! Of course those questions are silly, but it seems pretty clear from your further commentary that you did understand what I wrote. Anyway, the point is that linear time is purely a measuring device, because the only "time" that actually exists is the very instant in which you are existing, right now. Ooops, there it went. Here's another one.

Anyway, my theory about the reason that the myths include references to time within them, aside from the timely references in the analysis of them, is that the wheels of mythic time are created through mass belief, tradition, ritual, and ceremony, including heroquests. What begins as belief becomes tradition, is marked as ritual, and every time period it reinforces the wheel.

The first Orlanth was a hill barbarian whose wild deeds, and those of his brothers, astounded his neighbors, both friend and foe. He carved out a kingdom in the windy hills by means of brutal conquest. Generations later, as the ice age advanced, one of his descendants, Orlanth VI, travelled in the lowlands looking for a land which he could claim and conquer. In his travels he met an Emperor, called Yelm XXII, who enslaved Orlanth VI's followers and threw Orlanth VI into the gladiatorial ring. Orlanth VI did not dance or orate as prettily as his foe, but he cut his foe in twain with his sword after taking a sore wound from his enemy's arrows. Orlanth VI won his other bouts, and after escaping from slavery made his way to the emperor's chambers, where he slew the emperor and his entourage, and set the palace on fire. Escaping from the conflagration, he freed his followers and fled to the hills, only to return the following fall in full force and conquer the lowlanders who still had no emperor. He built himself a smaller palace on the grounds of the emperor's old palace, and quested far and wide for suitable replacements for the imperial regalia, which had all been destroyed by fire. The new empire of Orlanth VI was unstable, and after he died, his successor Elmal, the only surviving child of the emperor's bloodline, was attacked and driven out by rebellious nobles who had hired trolls to help them regain their empire. In exile in the hills, Elmal strengthened and fortified Orlanth's kingdom in the hills. After seven years the people asked Elmal to come back and become their emperor. He abdicated his kingdom, crowned Orlanth VI's daughter Vinga as Orlanth VII and assumed the imperial mantle as Yelm XXIII. And so did Orlanth reestablish Yelm on the throne of Dara Happa.

> OTOH, this seems to go against published HQ rule attempts, which do
> differentiate between the effects of changes "made" while questing
> in 1 ST vs questing two "years" "before" that.

Hey. The Dara Happans never believed in that stuff anyway. They knew the sun was different in the old days than it is now. "See that in the sky? The sun? It isn't the *real* sun. It's the *new* sun. YOU can't tell it from the real sun, but I can with my secret knowledge." But they don't think time is different. Of course the Orlanthi know that time is different and the sun is the same, and they would say something like this: "You know that which makes us age? Time? It isn't *real* time like the gods knew. It's the *new* kind of time. YOU can't tell it from real time, but I can with my secret knowledge."

And we're supposed to believe the Orlanthi are objectively right?

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