>Consider an example of someone living during the Greater
>Darkness, perhaps Cragspider, The Only Old One or Zzabur.
>They performed deeds in the Greater Darkness that can be
>accessed as myths and heroquests. However, after the Dawn,
>when Time appeared, they also did things that followed on
>from the things that they did earlier. To them, there was
>definitely something that happened Before Time as they
>were part of those events.
I don't think such beings experience time, or remember 'past' mythic events in the way you describe, or in fact in a way easily understandable by or communicable to temporal beings such as you and I. They exist simultaneously within time and in myth and so in a sense are permanently heroquesting.
>History in Glorantha can definitely include that which
>happened Before Time.
I've yet to see any actual argument as to why the concept of 'before time' is actualy necessery to explain the world of Glorantha as it is precieved by it's inhabitants. In fact many of it's inhabitants have ample records to prove that time has been continuous for at least several thousand years. Sure the surface of the world has changed and there have ben great events that have shaped it, but there's nothing about the world that obviously shows that these events occured in any way 'before' time.
Myths are not about events, they are about processes. Their apparent nature as events is pretty obviously an illusion as they can be interacted with by multiple questors at different times and in different locations. They explain what the proceses of nature are, how they interrelate with each other, and how they correspond to human experiences and needs. As such they must exist continuously to support (or threaten) human life and the world at large. Myth is metaphor, and any metaphysical analysis of it that relies on literal interpretation is badly flawed and will lead to flawed results such as time travel.
Simon Hibbs
--__--__--
End of Glorantha Digest
Powered by hypermail