2021-07-08 00:06![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
redthedragon
redthedragonA fantasy creation myth with some serious footnote action going on. I'm not a historian and its been a while since I read a proper paper; if anyone wants to chime in with some realism-ifying concrit, that'd be cool. This is intended to be a "basic" scholarly translation, in line with the dominant line of thinking on pretty much all parts, and without any creative liberties taken in the translation.
Also, do you think it would be better to include the (made up, conlang-ified) 'original text' in verse as well? because then i'd need to learn how to write in meter and also flesh out my conlang significantly. lol
Footnotes:
1: Literally written as "Two thousand of two and two, and two hundred before that" but typically considered either to refer to 4200 or 3800 years ago. This number had been preserved for more than six hundred years, suggesting that the metaphorical value of the number two in Radasyx theology is more important than an accurate numerical count during the telling of the story. Popular wisdom holds that it happened between 3000 and 10,000 years ago, but the best evidence thus far suggests it was between 5000 and 8000 years ago.
2: The first "dark" is literally "dark," the word for unlighted or dim. The second word is blue, a word not often associated with representing darkness. However, it may have been used as a poetic attempt to convey the color of the night sky. For similar examples: the "wine-dark sea" of the Odylliad, the "azure skies" of the Lost World epic, the "diamond-studded velvet" of the Themyris Manuscript. An alternate theory suggests that this is not actually describing the sky, but possibly a distance. There is increasing evidence that in the distant past, the cloud layer was higher and less dense.
3: The word for "one" is the word Radasim, also the word for the entirety of the Radasim people. It's theorized that this may have been the name for the place they came from, rather than the original word for whole, but either way it is still the more theological radasim and not the less theologically-charged radim, the common word for "one" in daily use.
4: The gods of the Radasim are not gods in the traditional mythological sense but rather traits and elements associated with different numbers. However, in nearly every version of the legend the word used here is a personal word translated as "gods", rather than the word in common usage.
5: The world is here being split by the god of Three, the element of conflict. This may refer to a war or great conflict, rather than an individual or an environmental cataclysm. Originally it was believed to be in reference to a catastrophic explosion, but this is no longer considered to have much merit.
6: This refers to the two forms that dragons can take- reptilian dragonlike form and hominid elflike form.
7: The Negative aspect, in Radasim theology, is considered to be a dark or evil version of the Radasim numbers. A similar concept in the other prevalent religion on this continent would be the Warist Demonlord, though the Negative Aspects are not considered to be the enemies of the Positive Aspects in the same way the Demonlord is considered to be the enemy of the Warist Prophet.
8: Crawler is a direct translation of the word Ardanlax, used to refer to the various non-sentient creatures of the wastes and the ancient ruins, many of whom appear insectoid in body, and most often appear segmented and long, almost like a centipede. Ardanlymel, the word for centipedes and millipedes, translates literally to "little crawler." It is not known if there was an older word used for centipedes and/or millipedes before the cataclysm described in the legend that passed out of usage, or if the continent that the Radasim came from did not have any centipede-like insects.
9: This is attested in the historical record as a massive cloud of ash, silica, and poisonous gas, rather than an illness, but the word used is the same word used for tuberculosis in non-theological circumstances. As a result, it is generally believed that it would cause the afflicted to cough up blood, something supported by the recent discoveries of high amounts of silica in the geological record, a highly damaging irritant while airborne. This would be further supported by the circumstantial evidence suggesting that the earth "rending itself apart" and "sealing back together" refers to volcanic activity. 10: The word for light is white, which is sometimes translated as clouded, and dark, and light again; but these translations are considered to be on shaky ground, as most ancient Radasim storytelling holds that clouds are silver or black.
11: Given that there are three moons as well as the Shards, it is a matter of some debate as to why the singular is always used here. There is some theorizing that there is a missing section here. The meter is also different in the final stanza, but the change in meter has existed as long as there have been records of the story existing, so if it were to be missing a section it is most likely that the section was removed very early on.
Also, do you think it would be better to include the (made up, conlang-ified) 'original text' in verse as well? because then i'd need to learn how to write in meter and also flesh out my conlang significantly. lol
Two and two times thousand years ago, and two hundred years before that[1], the world was dark, and we were but one in it. The sky was dark[2], and the world was one[3]. The Gods[4] were with us, and they were among us.
But with a great clamor, and with a terrible destruction, the world was rent to three. And as the world was split by Three[5], we became two.[6] It was an awful and terrible journey, through darkness and through blue and black and a sea of Three and Nine. And from this tearing of the world sprang forth the Negative Aspect[7]. And from this tearing of the world sprang forth also the Crawlers[8]; and so also came forth the Shaidbloods.
And when the tear was done, and they had all come forth, there came forth also a great plague[9] upon the animals, and a pox upon the land, and men and beasts fell sick and did not rise. The sun became light, and dark, and light[10] again; and the moon was shattered[11] in the sky. And the earth rent itself apart to seal the hole through which they had come, and the way back was forever sealed away.
1: Literally written as "Two thousand of two and two, and two hundred before that" but typically considered either to refer to 4200 or 3800 years ago. This number had been preserved for more than six hundred years, suggesting that the metaphorical value of the number two in Radasyx theology is more important than an accurate numerical count during the telling of the story. Popular wisdom holds that it happened between 3000 and 10,000 years ago, but the best evidence thus far suggests it was between 5000 and 8000 years ago.
2: The first "dark" is literally "dark," the word for unlighted or dim. The second word is blue, a word not often associated with representing darkness. However, it may have been used as a poetic attempt to convey the color of the night sky. For similar examples: the "wine-dark sea" of the Odylliad, the "azure skies" of the Lost World epic, the "diamond-studded velvet" of the Themyris Manuscript. An alternate theory suggests that this is not actually describing the sky, but possibly a distance. There is increasing evidence that in the distant past, the cloud layer was higher and less dense.
3: The word for "one" is the word Radasim, also the word for the entirety of the Radasim people. It's theorized that this may have been the name for the place they came from, rather than the original word for whole, but either way it is still the more theological radasim and not the less theologically-charged radim, the common word for "one" in daily use.
4: The gods of the Radasim are not gods in the traditional mythological sense but rather traits and elements associated with different numbers. However, in nearly every version of the legend the word used here is a personal word translated as "gods", rather than the word in common usage.
5: The world is here being split by the god of Three, the element of conflict. This may refer to a war or great conflict, rather than an individual or an environmental cataclysm. Originally it was believed to be in reference to a catastrophic explosion, but this is no longer considered to have much merit.
6: This refers to the two forms that dragons can take- reptilian dragonlike form and hominid elflike form.
7: The Negative aspect, in Radasim theology, is considered to be a dark or evil version of the Radasim numbers. A similar concept in the other prevalent religion on this continent would be the Warist Demonlord, though the Negative Aspects are not considered to be the enemies of the Positive Aspects in the same way the Demonlord is considered to be the enemy of the Warist Prophet.
8: Crawler is a direct translation of the word Ardanlax, used to refer to the various non-sentient creatures of the wastes and the ancient ruins, many of whom appear insectoid in body, and most often appear segmented and long, almost like a centipede. Ardanlymel, the word for centipedes and millipedes, translates literally to "little crawler." It is not known if there was an older word used for centipedes and/or millipedes before the cataclysm described in the legend that passed out of usage, or if the continent that the Radasim came from did not have any centipede-like insects.
9: This is attested in the historical record as a massive cloud of ash, silica, and poisonous gas, rather than an illness, but the word used is the same word used for tuberculosis in non-theological circumstances. As a result, it is generally believed that it would cause the afflicted to cough up blood, something supported by the recent discoveries of high amounts of silica in the geological record, a highly damaging irritant while airborne. This would be further supported by the circumstantial evidence suggesting that the earth "rending itself apart" and "sealing back together" refers to volcanic activity. 10: The word for light is white, which is sometimes translated as clouded, and dark, and light again; but these translations are considered to be on shaky ground, as most ancient Radasim storytelling holds that clouds are silver or black.
11: Given that there are three moons as well as the Shards, it is a matter of some debate as to why the singular is always used here. There is some theorizing that there is a missing section here. The meter is also different in the final stanza, but the change in meter has existed as long as there have been records of the story existing, so if it were to be missing a section it is most likely that the section was removed very early on.
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