The New Mythology Project: Structure, Means and Methods

[Snaga]

Here is an outline for the project, and how it will work.

AIMS: To create a secondary world, and its myths and legends

OBJECTIVES: To create for this world:
- Geography
- History
- Peoples and cultures
- Languages
- And a body of tales that take place therein.

SCOPE:
- The wider the better!

APPROACH:
- Ways of working: We will work together will a collective effort. Everything we do is shared.

- Method of Approach:
The project will work on a number of levels simultaneously. We will build up our world piece by piece, and we will allow it to evolve naturally based on what we feel is right. This requires a balance between structure and freedom.

Wave 1: An initial form

We will need to set out a structure for the mythology as a whole.
- An outline of everything (in terms of 'Ages' or similar. What was the 'Age of Light' about etc...
- We will need to get a feel for some of the characters, and what some of the key myths in the 'cycle' might be
- We need the bare bones at least of a creation myth

Wave 2: Creating: a thousand flowers bloom

In this phase we need to start writing in earnest. These first versions would not be at great length at all.

As and when some tales evolve into a reasonable length we should have established some elements of places, people, names, culture etc etc

Wave 3: Integrating and developing

This part will all be about seeing how the pieces we create in phase 2 fit together. It is when a lot of the secondary writing can take place: the essays on history, language and so forth can be produced. It should also spark further ideas for stories. This is the stage at which we know what from Wave 2 is right to go forward, and what needs reconsidering.

Wave 4:

The fuller length stories told in a form that suits the scale of the work.:)

... That's as far as I can forsee....

ISSUES:
(1) Is the universe basically good? Neutral? Evil?
(2) How was the world created?
(3) How old is the world?
(4) Who are its peoples?
(5) What/who is central to the tales?
(6) Who are the protagonists and what is their 'epic significance' - e.g. Prometheus as the stealer of fire

ARRANGEMENTS FOR OVERCOMING DISAGREEMENTS:

I suggest we co-opt a council of 5 (say) who will operate informally to resolve any disagreements as they arise. The five most committed to the project at any point in time I guess. I don't think we need this yet!

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Comments please?:) I'll try to update this as needed.

[Bethelarien]

Snaga, I like your ideas. I think you officially qualify as brilliant. Some questions:

OBJECTIVES:
-Languages--What kind of language are we talking about? What will it be based on? Who the heck is going to come up with this? We're going to need someone who is extrememly familiar with languages. May I suggest collaborating with Cian or Jallan for this part?

Wave 1:
-Ages. How are they determined? How many will there be? Or is this something we'll have to come up with?

Wave 2:
-Who will be writing in earnest? Will anyone be allowed to work on anything they want in conjunction with this? Or will topics/tales be assigned to certain people whose writing ability is what is being looked for?

ISSUES:
-I think all of these need to be addressed before work on Wave 1 can even be begun. We need to know the point of view of the tale, as well. Who is telling it? Is it one of the "gods" (i.e., if Manwe had told the story of, say, the Creation of Ea), or an outside observer (i.e., an Elf observing the ruin of Numenor), or is it being passed on (i.e. Eriol in HoME) to another person?

I think your council idea is a good one as well. However, I think you should set one up soon, that way we know who to run things by, say, by PM if you are unavailable. Hierarchy is a good thing. :D

Just my two cents'.

[Lantarion]

Just about the languages, I think there should be more than one; at least two or three, to make the world more realistic and anthropologically correct. ;)
Now that might seem like a huge amount of work, and it is, but it can be made less huge if all of the languages, or two of them, have the same root-language or origin (i.e. all of the languages in Europe, including English, have their ultimate roots in the Indo-European root system; as far as I have understood).

:)

[Zale]

To be correct we will need a different language (or at the very least dialects) for every different culture; depending on the level of development of communication in the world, there may or may not be a common tongue (Westron, English) that most people will speak.
I would be willing to help with pretty much everything but unfortunately I can hardly commit any time because I have a HUGE pile of academic work to be getting on with. It should be better after Christmas; I doubt we'll be finished by then.