Re: Myths are not truth.

From: Jonas Schiott <jonas.schiott_at_...>
Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 22:59:06 +0100


"morganconrad" 02-02-16 22.21:

> Sorry, absolutely wrong. The word "myth", by definition, means
> something untrue or not provable.

Sorry, absolutely wrong. The word "myth", like any other word, means different things to different people at different times. Trying to prove a point by stipulating what a word 'really' means or how it should be used, when the other party manifestly does not use it that way, is simply futile.

A dictionary of modern colloquial English might give the definition you're using, but that's irrelevant to Glorantha. In Gloranthan writings, "myth" is used in two ways. One is the anthropological or historical sense cited by others on this list, in very general terms "a story that describes something important about the culture it stems from", usually its ethical values and worldview. The other is a much stronger magical sense - "a story, which when reenacted changes the world". You will have a hard time understanding much about Glorantha until you understand this.

Of course, nobody likes to be proven wrong, so I don't expect you to give up this argument just because that has happened. I expect it to drag on endlessly, or until the list admin puts his foot down...

(On a related note, I kind of wish Garreth would stop abusing the term "relativism". But I'm not very optimistic about that happening, either.)



Jonas Schiött
Göteborg

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