Re: My masterpiece, part 1 (long)

On Wed, 20 Feb 2002 01:09:33 -0500 John Cowan <cowan@...>
writes:
> Jesse Bangs scripsit:
>
> > Why, thank you.  I'm glad you said that the similarity to Quenya was
> > distant, since Yivríndil was designed mostly free from Tolkeinian
> > influences, although JRRT and I do share somewhat similar tastes.
Not
> > exactly the same, though--I find Quenya rather syrupy and
over-pretty.
>
> Nevertheless, your creation myth shows definite influence from the
> Ainulindale.  Which is not to say it's not an amazing piece of
> work -- after all, JRRT didn't write *his* myth in Quenya.
I was rather surprised when I first found this out, actually.  With all
of the hubbub made over Tolkein's languages, the documentation and
textual sources for them are rather thin.  A good many of the members of
the list have doubtlessly surpassed him in recorded grammatical
information and size of the corpus.

But anyway, the Ainulindale was one of the myths that inspired this,
contributing the ideas of the song and the idea of one god "finding" the
world.  Also important were Christian ideas (the fall of an angel and of
humankind; an Edenic paradise lost) and Taoist/Buddhist ideas
(transcending dichotomy; suffering created by desire; salvation through
nullification).  The myth's meta-history is very syncretic.


Jesse S. Bangs     Pelíran
jaspax@ juno.com
"Skin and tragedy always attract a crowd."
    --Pedro the Lion

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