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How Can All Myths Be True Without Being Confusing?

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Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#1: May 14th 2011 at 10:43:25 AM

Okay I have a setting where All Myths Are True, how can the various ideas about the way the world works in different cultures and creation myths be reconciled?

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
annebeeche watching down on us from by the long tidal river Since: Nov, 2010
watching down on us
#2: May 14th 2011 at 11:13:46 AM

Can't. Creation myths and cosmology often contradict.

Take for example the fact that the Norse believed that the entire universe was held together by a giant ash tree called Yggdrasil, with its roots drinking from several important wells in the myths, Nidhogg eating on it, etc.

Non-Germanics don't believe in Yggdrasil, but if you're going to have the universe be Yggdrasil, then they're going to have to.


And another: The Norse believe that our world, Midgarð, was created from the corpse of a giant called Ymir, while the Greeks believe that the earth is the living body of the primordial goddess Gaea. You can't have the world be Ymir's body and Gaea at once, now can you?

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
melloncollie Since: Feb, 2012
#3: May 14th 2011 at 3:51:45 PM

The only way I can see this working out is that all myths have at least one aspect that is true. Maybe each civilization could only see a little bit of the big cosmological picture at a time, and then made up stuff to fill in the blanks or over time the myth got corrupted (like a game of telephone).

Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#4: May 14th 2011 at 3:56:20 PM

[up]That sounds pretty coolsmile

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
annebeeche watching down on us from by the long tidal river Since: Nov, 2010
watching down on us
#5: May 14th 2011 at 4:36:26 PM

[up][up] Actually, since mythology originates from oral tradition, your idea makes a lot of sense. The Norse myths share some deep fundamental similarities with the Persian myths (apparently; these are assessments other people have made; I know nothing of Persian myth).

Some dude called Benjamin Slade also compares the myth of killing Ymir (and killing giants in general) to some Hindu/Sanskrit thing, the note in which he does it can be found here. You know why that makes sense? Like Old Norse, Hindi and Sanskrit are Indo-European.

edited 14th May '11 4:38:01 PM by annebeeche

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
Quoth Pink's alright, I guess. Since: Apr, 2010
Pink's alright, I guess.
#6: May 15th 2011 at 5:13:39 AM

Actually a lot of myths can be found concurrently with little to no change in different cultures. Trickster archetypes are found on all the continents for example.

FrodoGoofballCoTV from Colorado, USA Since: Jan, 2001
#7: May 15th 2011 at 5:58:52 AM

Maybe the incompatable ones being partially true might be explainable with other planets / universes somehow.

SavageHeathen Pro-Freedom Fanatic from Somewhere Since: Feb, 2011
Pro-Freedom Fanatic
#8: May 15th 2011 at 9:19:08 AM

An All Myths Are True story must either be very weird or have a deliberately inconsistent cosmology.

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.
Madrugada Since: Jan, 2001
#9: May 15th 2011 at 10:45:10 AM

All Myths Are True doesn't mean that every single myth the author knew about has to be true. It means that all the mythology of that particular world (or culture) is true — if there's a myth about something, it turns out that that myth is true.

annebeeche watching down on us from by the long tidal river Since: Nov, 2010
watching down on us
#10: May 15th 2011 at 10:50:14 AM

[up] You mean like my Germanic AMAT?

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
Leradny Since: Jan, 2001
#11: May 15th 2011 at 2:41:16 PM

The way I did it works on a sliding scale of sorts.

Magic in the environment is essentially formless, but belief has the ability to channel it into recognizable shapes. Strong followings of believers in one area will generally override that of minorities. Mostly, it's limited to churches/synagogues/temples/other sacred areas, as those are where large congregations assemble.

Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#12: May 15th 2011 at 3:30:14 PM

[up]Interesting. And if gods and stuff like that are affected by faith and the like, how might that affect demigods?

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
Leradny Since: Jan, 2001
#13: May 15th 2011 at 4:48:39 PM

Demigods will generally be stronger than a human but weaker than a god as long as they themselves have some way to channel their spirituality, or are in regular contact with something from the same mythology or another believer. Without at least one of the above, they can only reliably depend on their human side.

Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#14: May 15th 2011 at 5:02:30 PM

So one of my main characters is a god who's forgotten most of his powers, origins, and even his name. What could cause that? Also he phases in an out of existence for years at a time.

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
Leradny Since: Jan, 2001
#15: May 15th 2011 at 5:41:49 PM

Lack of believers in the mythos he was born from, with a resurgence every now and then.

Also, by "their human side" I meant "traits passed down from their human parent". So, if a demigod was only raised by the human parent, they would resemble that one much more closely.

edited 15th May '11 5:45:59 PM by Leradny

Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#16: May 15th 2011 at 5:46:16 PM

Hmm, it' becoming kind of cliche for gods to rely on faith. Maybe it's influence. The Ancient Greeks (and therefore their gods) aren't really around anymore but their cultural influence is huge.

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
Leradny Since: Jan, 2001
#17: May 15th 2011 at 5:49:33 PM

cliche for gods to rely on faith.

...that's like saying it's cliche for math to rely on numbers.

edited 15th May '11 5:50:01 PM by Leradny

nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#18: May 15th 2011 at 5:52:06 PM

[up] I think what s/he's talking about specifically is Gods Need Prayer Badly, which is not inherently connected with the idea of gods, and may indeed be becoming an overused trope in recent years.

Leradny Since: Jan, 2001
#19: May 15th 2011 at 5:58:19 PM

Well. In my universe, if there is enough latent magic then stuff tends to happen regardless of whether or not people believe in it—it just looks different to people depending on what their faith is. As if magic is a black and white outline, while people's beliefs are various colored paints used to color it in and make it specific.

edited 15th May '11 5:59:31 PM by Leradny

Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#20: May 15th 2011 at 6:05:16 PM

Also maybe god's suffer if the thing or people they represent aren't doing so well. Like gods that are in charge of partying don't do so well in overworked societies.

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
Leradny Since: Jan, 2001
#21: May 15th 2011 at 6:08:10 PM

That's basically what I said before, yes.

It's like languages. You won't find a lot of native French-speakers in Finland, for example.

edited 15th May '11 6:09:08 PM by Leradny

Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#22: May 15th 2011 at 6:28:04 PM

I wonder how having a god from a destroyed pantheon as a parent would affect you.

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
Leradny Since: Jan, 2001
#23: May 15th 2011 at 6:29:48 PM

Depends on what you mean by "destroyed".

Zolnier The Odd Lad from A suspiciously dull shop Since: Apr, 2009
The Odd Lad
#24: May 15th 2011 at 6:34:11 PM

Their civalization died and left no influence on the modern world.

Life's Gonna Suck When You Grow Up... But Is It That Great Now?... Also I'm Skylark2 now.
Leradny Since: Jan, 2001
#25: May 15th 2011 at 7:40:31 PM

I'm sure it wouldn't be pretty for the demi-god. A severe spiritual emptiness, perhaps?


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