(urth) Shadow Children and Inhumi
Mark Millman
markjmillman at gmail.com
Tue Nov 30 13:15:17 PST 2010
Dear Mr. Wynn,
On Tuesday 30 November 2010, you replied:
>> No doubt Wolfe also had
>> in mind the fact that Norse
>> mythology is one of the
>> few that predicts the world's
>> ultimate--i.e., not cyclical,
>> with its implication of rebirth--
>> destruction by the forces of
>> chaos, darkness, ice, and
>> fire.
>
> This is a common misapprehension. Odin's
> sons Vidar and Vali (Vidar having slain
> Fenrir) survive Ragnarok (the floods and fires)
> and live in the new fields where Asgard (now
> burned up and washed away) used to be.
> Personally, I can't think of an single end-times
> myth right now that does not involve new
> worlds, lands, and/or people.
I subscribe to the idea that the world's refounding by Odin's sons is
a late addition to the mythology, influenced by Christianity.
>> Please note that it -is- pos-
>> sible to over-interpret. Some
>> of the recent postings, in my
>> opinion, have done so to a
>> tremendous and bewildering
>> extent.
>
> I disagree about "over-interpreting", but "mis-
> interpreting", selecting the wrong key is very
> easy.
For my part, I think that over-interpreting is mis-interpreting.
Humans are pattern-making animals. Adept ones find difficult
patterns; but the most adept know when a perceived pattern is only
apparent, and misleading.
> However, I find that it often happens that some
> will ho-hum interpretations merely because
> they lack the necessary foundations to appre-
> ciate them. Often, what looks like a mere dec-
> orative doorway to the naive is clearly a sup-
> porting structure to an engineer.
That's always a danger. See above on adeptness.
> Also, a lot of whats involved in figuring out a
> Wolfe novel is randomly trying out keys. So,
> I never mind when someone else is doing that.
But some keys don't get discarded even after it's become clear that
they're false leads; and some interpreters are tone-deaf.
> u+16b9
Best,
Mark Millman
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