I'd just like to add my own theories to Peter's excellent summary of the facts.
I believe that the timelessness of mythic events means that they did no occur
in a timeless mythic pre-history 'before' time, but rather that they
exist outside
time altogether. This means that it is just as accurate to say that all of myth
exists simultaneously in the present moment. This is why myths of any age
can be visited through heroquesting at any time in history.
The apparent history of myth is due to the fact that there is a
history to the human
exploration of myth. In other words myth appears to develop in a historical
fashion because Gloranthans project the history of their exploration of myth
on to it. The Vinkotlings were a historical people that predate the Heortling
and so the myths form their time appear to exist in a mythic era predating the
mythic world developed and explored by the later Heortlings - yet the Hoertlings
can still visit the mythic landscape of Vingkotling times if they know how.
I believe that the Dark Age corresponds to a historical period that
happened within
time, and that during that time many new myths were discovered and heroquest
paths created to deal with the catastrophic events of that time. When
that period
of history ended, the myths still existed but were nolonger as vital
for day to day
existence (except to the Trolls), and so were forgotten or fell into
disuse, but they
are stil available to those with the right knowledge.
In the future, the current age of Glorantha will be viewed in a
historical and also a
mythical context. The new heropaths discovered and myths 'created' will be
added to the religious and cultural heritage of the survivors and will
layer upon
previous mythical material in a historical fashion.
Simon Hibbs
End of Glorantha Digest, Vol 11, Issue 274
Powered by hypermail