>So my take is that before the Great Compromise there was "Not Time as we
>know it, Jim".
>However, between then and the Dawn Time existed.
>However, before the Dawn myths were still being made (they still are)
>and so the concept of Time entered into mythology.
>
>Thus those who say that there was no time before the Compromise are
>right. And those who say that there the concept of time existed in Mythology
>are right.
A reasonable view. However my view is that "Time was not as we know it" is not the same as "There was no time". I think you are right. The Orlanthi _do_ think there was a change in the nature of the universe at the Compromise. A thing which we call Time was born. BUT this does not mean that before the compromise there were not significant things we might recognise as elements of time. Such as Cause and Effect. And generations of people. Sure, things weren't the same. Maybe there was no ageing or whatever. BUT was the pre-Compromise so incomprehensible as to not have anything understandable as progression of events? The Orlanthi certainly have a good understanding of the pre-Compromise sequence of events, and even that there were Orlanthi worshippers around (ie the Vingkotlings etc.). I posit that this would be impossible if they tried to conceive of a world "without time". Maybe the Time born at the Compromise was Orderly Time, while that before had no constant measurement (such as days and years). That does not mean that there was nothing recognisable as time. This is pretty much my view as it has stood for some time, and I am repeating myself, so I'll bugger off and let other people argue their view for a while.
As an adjunct to Lewis' idea, I would suggest that the Orlanthi would push the 'timeless' period (if they thought there was one) back to the Golden Age of Yelm. This was an 'eternity of unchangingness'. When the Storm Gods arrived and busted everything up, from thence forwards for the Orlanthi we have 'time' or change measurable in ages. However, the 'eternal' reign of Yelm _is_ a storytelling device (sorry Nick, maybe that's the first example of a problem). Actually I would imagine that the Orlanthi just don't care much about this period, since their life- and choice- giving gods aren't around to make existence worthwhile. They call it eternal to make it seem like a _really_ long time. This is where Pre-Dawn existence is incomprehensible to Orlanthi. They cannot imagine a world where there was _no_ freedom.... However their mythology gives the period a beginning and an ending, so...
Pax
Saravan.
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