To paraphrase his answer:
None of them are true, but all contain some truth.
Each of the stories is intended to tell something about the teller of the story rather than be a cut and dried theological/mythological statement.
so here are the stories:
Foamy's story:
Lord Tamarantha's story:"Ah, Stone and Sea! Do you know the old lore-legend of the Wounded Rainbow, Thomas Covenant? It is said that in the dimmest past of the Earth, there were no stars in our sky. The heavens were a blankness which separated us from the eternal universe of the Creator. There he lived with his people and his myriad bright children, and they moved to the music of play and joy.
"Now, as the ages spired from forever to forever, the Creator was moved to make a new thing for the happy hearts of his children. He descended to the great forges and cauldrons of his power, and brewed and hammered and cast rare theurgies. And when he was done, he turned to the heavens, and threw his mystic creation to the sky - and behold! A rainbow spread its arms across the universe.
"For a moment, the Creator was glad. But then he looked closely at the rainbow - and there, high in the shimmering span, he saw a wound, a breach in the beauty he had made. He did not know that his Enemy, the demon spirit of murk and mire that crawled through the bowels of even his universe, had seen him at work, and had cast spite into the mortar of his creating. So now, as the rainbow stood across the heavens, it was marred.
"In vexation, the Creator returned to his works, to find a cure for his creation. But while he labored, his children, his myriad bright children, found the rainbow, and were filled with rejoicing at its beauty. Together, they climbed into the heavens and scampered happily up the bow, dancing gay dances across its colors. High on the span, they discovered the wound. But they did not understand it. Chorusing joy, they danced through the wound, and found themselves in our sky. This new unlighted world only gladdened them the more, and they spun through the sky until it sparkled with the glee of play.
"When they tired of this sport, they sought to return to their universe of light. But their door was shut. For the Creator had discovered his Enemy's handiwork - the cause of the wound - and in his anger his mind had been clouded. Thoughtless, he had torn the rainbow from the heavens. Not until his anger was done did he realize that he had trapped his children in our sky. And there they remain, stars to guide the sojourners of our nights, until the Creator can rid the universe of his Enemy, and find away to bring his children home...
Lord Mhoram's story:"The elder legends tell us: into the infinity before Time was made came the Creator like a worker into his workshop. And since it is the nature of creating to desire perfection, the Creator devoted himself to the task. First he built the arch of Time, so that his creation would have a place in which to be - and for the keystone of that arch he forged the wild magic, so that Time would be able to resist chaos and endure. Then within the arch he formed the Earth. For ages he labored, formed and unformed, trialed and tested and rejected and trialed and tested again, so that when he was done his creation would have no cause to reproach him. And when the Earth was fair to his eye, he gave birth to the inhabitants of the Earth, beings to act out in their lives his reach for perfection - and he did not neglect to give them the means to strive for perfection themselves. When he was done, he was proud as only those who create can be.
"Alas, he did not understand Despite, or he had forgotten it. He undertook his task thinking that perfect labor was all that he required to create perfection. But when he was done, and his pride had tasted its first satisfaction, he looked closely at the Earth, thinking to gratify himself with the sight - and he was dismayed. For, behold! Buried deep in the Earth through no will or forming of his were banes of destruction, powers virile enough to rip his materwork into dust.
"Then he understood or remembered. Perhaps he found Despite itself beside him, misguiding his hand. Or perhaps he saw the harm in himself. It does not matter. He became outarged with grief and torn pride. In his fury he wrestle with Despite, either within him or without, and in his fury he cast the Despiser down, out if the infinity of the cosmos onto the Earth.
"Alas, thus the Despiser was emprisoned within Time. And thus the Creator's creation became the Depiser's world, to torment as he chose. For the very Law of Time, the princliple of power which made the arch possible, worked to preserve Lord Foul, as we now call him. That Law requires that no act may be undone. Desecration may not be undone - defilement may not be recanted. It may be survived or healed, but not denied. Therefore Lord foul has afflicted the Earth, and the Creator cannot stop him - for it was the Creator's act which placed Despite here.
"In sorrow and humility, the Creator saw what he had done. So that the plight of the Earth would not be utterly without hope, he sought to help his creation in indirect ways. He guided the Lord-Fatherer to the fashioning of the Staff of Law - a weapon against Despite. But the very Law of the Earth's creation permits nothing more. If the Creator were to silence Lord Foul, that act would destroy Time - and then the Despiser would be free in infinity again, free to make whatever befoulments he desired."
these are the three creation stories from the first chrons"Why?...That is not so hard a matter here, thus distant from 'how'. Some of our legends hint at just one answer. They tell of the beginning of the Earth, in a time soon after the birth of Time, when the Earth's Creator found that his enemy, the Despiser, had marred his creation by placing banes of surpassing evil deep within it. In outrage and pain, the creator cast his Enemey down - out of the universal heavens onto the Earth - and imprisoned him here within the arch of Time. Thus, as the legends tell it, Lord Foul came to the Land...
"It is clear now that Lord Foul lusts to stike back at his brother, the Creator. And at last, after ages of bootless wars carried on out of malice, out of a desire to harm the creation because he could not touch the Creator,Lord Foul has found a way to achieve his end, to destroy the arch of Time, unbind his exile, and return to his forbidden home, for spite and woe. When the Staff of Law, lost by Kevin at the Desecration, came within his influence, he gained a chance to bridge the gap between worlds - a chance to bring white gold into the Land.
"I tell you simply: it is Lord Foul's purpose to master the wild magic - 'the anchor of the arch of life that spans and masters Time' - and with it bring Time to an end, so that he may escape his bondage and carry his lust throughout the universe. To do this, he must defeat you, must wrestle the white gold from you. Then all the Land and all the Earth shall surely fall."
some of my impressions:
Ok, now I will comment a bit on these three stories, all from the First Chrons.
1. They all obviously can fit well together - and fit well with the beggar in the ochre robe.
2. They all show the Creator as being both artistic and a perfectionist. The Giant story makes me think of an architect, Tamarantha's story makes me think of a mad scientist/engineer/inventor. The stories make me think of Frank Llloyd Wright, an architectural genius who would tear down his own structures and designs if they did not please him.
3. For whatever reason, I am thinking of Persian Zoastrianism (spelling?) - a duology of light/darkness and good/evil rather than the monotheism of traditional Western religions. Lord Foul seems to have more power against the Creator than the Judao-Christian Satan does against either God the Father or Jesus in Christianity, as an example.
I am very much in agreement with Matrixman (we were talking about this at another discussion board) that the Unhomed stars evoke the Unhomed Giants, and that the story of the Creator from Tamarantha evokes Kevin - power to create and destory, huge acts with unintended consequences, a devotion to tinkering and learning, etc.
Mhoram's story is perhaps most important in that it shows a change in him rather than in the mythology. In Lord Foul's Bane he was a complete agnostic when it came to the Creator. Forty years later, he is a true believer.
the second chrons stories
Thomas Covenant's story to Linden in TWL:
Sunder's story:In the measureless heavens of the universe, he told her, where life and space were one, and the immortals strode through an ether without limitation, the Creator looked about him, and his heart swelled with the desire to make a new thing to gladden his bright children. Summoning his strength and subtlety, he set about the work which was his exaltation.
First he forged the Arch of Time, so that the world he wshed to make would have a place to be. And then within the Arch he formed the Earth. Wielding the greatness of his love and vision as tools, he made the world in all its beauty, so that no eye could behold it without joy. And then upon the Earth he placed all the myriads of its inhabitants - beings to percieve and cherish the beauty which he made. Striving for perfection because it was the nature of creation to desire all things flawless, he made the inhabitants of the Earth capable of creation, and striving, and love for the world. Then he withdrew his hand, and beheld what he had done.
There to his great ire he saw that evil lay in the Earth: malice buried and abroad, banes and powers which had no part of his intent. For while he had labored over his creation, he had closed his eyes, and had not seen the Despiser, the bitter son or brother of his heart, laboring beside him - casting dross into the forge, adding malignancy to his intent.
Then the Creator's wrath shook the heavens, and he grappled with the son or brother of his heart. He overthrew the Despiser and hurled him to Earth, sealing him within the Arch of Time for his punishment. Thus it became for the inhabitants of the Earth as it was for the Creator; for in that act he harmed the thing he loved, and so all living hearts were taught the power of self-despite. The Despiser was abroad in the Earth, awakening ills, seeking to escape his prison. And the Creator could not hinder him, for the touch of any immortal hand through the Arch would topple Time, destroying the Earth and freeing the Despiser. This was the great grief of the Creator, and unending flaw and sorror of those who lived and strove upon the Earth.
the Clave's strange song:"In the Rede it is told that the Earth was formed as a jail and tormenting place for the Lord of Wickedness - him who we name a-Jeroth of the Seven Hells. And life was placed upon the Earth - men and women, and all other races - to wreak upon a-Jeroth his proper doom. But time and again, throughout the ages, the races of the Land failed their purpose. Rather than exacting pain from a-Jeroth, meting out upon him the Master's just retribution, they formed alliances with the Lord, spared him in his weakness,and bowed to him in his strength. And always...the most heinous of thsoe betrayals have been wrought by men born in the image of the First Betrayer, Berek, father of cowardice. Halfhanded men.
Therefore in his wrath the Master turned his face from the Land. He sent the Sunbane upon us, as chastisement for treachery, so that we would remember our mortality, and become worthy again to serve his purpose. Only the intercession of the Clave enables us to endure.
The first one if the traditional story of the Land, as told by Covenant. Going by the richness of the language you can tell that this character is a writer, can't you? And the constant evocations of beauty, love, and joy shows how much TC values those three three things." 'Oh come, my love, and bed with me;
Your mate knows neither lust not heart -
Forget him in his ecstasy.
I joy to play the treacher's part.'
Spoke a-Jeroth of the Seven Hells.
"Diassomer Mininderain,
The mate of might, and Master's wife,
All starts' and heavens' chatelaine,
With power over realm and strife,
Attended well, the story tells,
To a-Jeroth of the Seven Hells.
"With a-Jeroth the lady ran;
Diassomer with fear and dread
Fled the Master's ruling span.
On Earth she hides her trembling head,
While all about her laughter wells
From a-Jeroth of the Seven Hells.
" 'Forgive!" she cries with woe and pain;
Her treacher's laughter hurts her sore,
'His blandishments have been my bane.
I yearn my Master to adore.'
For in her ears the spanning knells
Of a-Jeroth of the Seven Hells.
"Wrath is the Master - fire and rage.
Retribution fills his hands.
Attacking comes he, sword and gage,
'Gainst treachery in all the lands.
Then crippled are the cunning spells
Of a-Jeroth of the Seven Hells.
"Mininderain he treats with rue;
No heaven-home for broken trust,
But children given to pursue
All trechery to death and dust.
Thus Earth becomes a gallow-fells
For a-Jeroth of the Seven Hells."
..."Her children are the inhabitants of the Earth. It is said that elsewhere in the earth - across the seas, beyond the mountains - live beings who have kept faith. But the Land is the home of the faithless, and on the descendants of betrayal the Sunbane wreaks the Master's wrath."
The second is the Clave/Raver/Foul corruption of the original story. It has a grain of truth in it - that the Earth became a prison for the Despiser. I think it had to have that truth grain, or else it could not have been spread about and have people believe it. It also has a quality of abuse about it. An abuser always puts the blame on the victim. In this case, blame for the Sunbane and other bad things are put on the people of the Land.
The third story has just always sticken me as being...weird. It is the first time we have heard of a goddess figure. And love triangles are not something we have seen or heard about very often in the Land.
It does add to the abuser blaming the victim in that the peoples of the Land must deserve to be imprisoned and abused, as being the bastard offspring of adultery? (Not that I personally feel this way towards illegitimate children, or even adulterers, but I know historically society has felt this way about such people ).
I also cannot help but wonder if this story also tries to make several beings look bad:
* the Creator, for being first an inattentive spouse and then a vengeful cuckold
* the goddess, for being seduced by evil
* perhaps even Berek Halfhand and the Queen?
Looking back at the history of the Land, the most notable triangle would be the King, the Queen, and Berek. Which might even be a square or two triangles if Berek was married (after all, we do not know who Damelon's mother was). The Queen and King were married, but she had some sort of very significant relationship with Berek which never included marriage, whether it included sex or not. After all, Covenant told Lena something to the effect of
Given that Covenant and Lena had produced a child who became High Lord, this does have a possible implication that Berek and the Queen's important and Land-changing relationship might have had a sexual component, and perhaps even produced Damelon.Berek never married his Queen, either.
So perhaps this song is trying to spin a bad light upon one of the most important legends of the Land?
Things get more complex starting with TOT.
Pitchwife's story:
So many things come to mind here:"It is said among the Elohim, whose knowledge is wondrous, and difficult of contradiction...that in the ancient and eternal youth of the cosmos, long ere the Earth came to occupy its place, the stars were as thick as sand throughout all the heavens. Where now we see multitudes of bright beings were once multitudes of multitudes, so that the cosmos were an ocean of stars from shore to shore, and the great depth of their present solitude was unknown to them - a sorrow which they could not have comprehended. They were the living peoples of the heavens, as unlike us as gods. Grand and warm in their bright lovliness, they danced to music of their own making and were content...
"But far way across the heavens lived a being of another kind. The Worm. For ages it slumbered in peace - but when it wakened, as it wakens at the dawn of each new eon, it was afficted with a ravenous hunger. Every creation contains destruction, as life contains death, and the Worm was destruction. Driven by its immense lust, it began to devour stars.
"Perhaps this Worm was not large among the stars, but its emptiness was large beyond measure, and it roamed the heavens, consuming whole seas of brightness, cutting great swaths of lonliness across the firmanent. Writhing along the ages, avid and insatiable, it fed on all that lay within its reach, until the heavens became as sparsely peopled as a desert...
"Yet the devoured stars were beings as unlike to us as gods, and no Worm of doom could consume their power without cost. Having fed hugely, the Worm became listless and gravid. Though it could not sleep, for the eon's end of its slumber had not come, it felt a whelming desire for rest. Therefore it curled its tail about itself and sank into quiescence.
"And while the Worm rested, the power of the stars wrought within it. From its skin grew excrescences of stone and soil, water and air, and these growths mutliplied upon themselves and multiplied until the very Earth beneath our feet took form. Still the power of the stars wrought, but now it gave shape to the surface of the Earth, forging the seas and the land. And then was brought forth life upon the Earth. Thus were born all the peoples of the Earth, the beasts of the land, and the creatures of the deep - all the forests and greeswards from pole to pole. And thus from destruction came forth creation, as death gives rise to life.
"Therefore, Chosen...we live, and strive, and seek to define the sense of our being. And it is good, for though we compose a scant blink across the eye of eternity, yet while the blink lasts, we choose what we will, create what we may, and share ourselves with each other as the stars did ere they were bereaved. Bit it must pass. The Worm does not slumber. It merely rests. And the time must come when it is roused, or rouses itself. Then it will slough off this skin of rock and water to pursue its hunger across the cosmos until eon's end and slumber. For that reason, it is named the Worm of the World's End.
*blackholes swallowing stars
* the ancient symbol of the worm orombouros, the dragon swallowing its own tail
* the Midguard Serpent of Norse mythology
* the Doomsday device from the original Star Trek
* modern cosmology that says all matter (including the matter which makes us up) comes from the stars (cue up Carl Sagan saying "We are all star stuff")
It is very different from the other mythos - and the mind bending thing is that both appear to be at least partly true. There does seem to be a Creator and Despiser - and also a Worm at World's End.
It, of course, also shows that the Giants of the Search tell different stories from the Unhomed. the Unhomed have adopted/adapted the stories of the Land/Lords. The Search Giants have doen the same with the stories of the elohim.
the elohim story:
I will not even comment on that one. The Elohim have always baffled me and I am not ashamed to admit it."Sun-Sage," replied Daphin," we are the Wurd of the Earth."
She spoke clearly but her tome was confusing. Her Wurd sounded like Wyrd or Word.
Wyrd? Linden thought. Destiny - or doom? Or Word?
Or both.
Into the silence, Daphim placed her story. It was an account of the creation of the Earth; and Linden soon realized that is was the same tale that Pitchwife had told her during the calling of the Nicor. Yet it contained one baffling difference. Daphin did not speak of a Worm. Rather, she used that blurred sound, Wurd, which seemed to signify both Wyrd and Word.
This Wurd had awakened at the dawning of the eon and begun to consume the stars as if it intended to devout the cosmos whole. After a time, it had grown satiated and had curled around itself to rest, thus forming the Earth. And thus the Earth would remain until the Wurd roused to resume its feeding.
It was precisely the same story that Pitchwife had told. Had the Giants who had first brought that tale out of Elemesnedene misheard it? Or had the Elohim pronounced it differently to other visitors?
As if in answer, Daphin concluded, "Sun-Sage, we are the Wurd - the direct offspring of the creation of the Earth. From it we arose, and in it we have our being. Thus we are the heart, and the center, and the truth, and therefore we are what we are. We are all answers, just as are every question. For that reason, you must not judge the reply which we will give to your need."
Linden hardly heard the Elohim, her mind was awhirl with implications. Intuitions rand against the limits of her understanding like the clamor of bells. We are the Wurd. Morninglight swirling with color like the portrait of the clachon in metaphor. A willow leaved in butterflies. Self-contemplation.
Power.
Dear God. She could hardly form words though the soundless adumbration of the chimes. The Elohim-! They're Earthpower. The heart of the Earth. Earthpower incarnate.
Now then, In Runes we are not given any new mythos. Linden briefly remembers Foamy's story of the stars, which Covenant must have told her off camera. There is also a brief recap of the Clave's perverted teachings.
But - there is another possible way of looking at the land. the paradox of the Land is that is both real and a dream/delusion.
So what do these two competing mythos tell us of the two people sharing the dream/delusion?
The original story, about the Creator, can probably be "assigned" to Thomas Covenant. Since he is a creator of sorts himself, and burned his stories, this makes sense. He is both creation and destruction in one package. the characters in the story he wrote are the lost stars, the unhomed. both the old man in the ochre robe and the despiser himself are important aspects of Covenant's mind and personality. he creates, and he destroys his own creation in despair and disgust...
The second set of stories, about the Worm and the Wurd, would therefore go along with Linden. if that is the case, it would explain why the old man in the ochre robe never shows up in Runes - if he is an avatar of a part of Covenant's personality, Covenant is dead in the real world. thus, so would be the old man...
But what do the Worm and the Wurd have to do with Linden's inner psyche? the Worm/Wurd could represent that terrible inner darkness that represent the destruction of life and the murder of her mother? the darkness that ate life and truned her into a matricide? Might the Earth represent how she built a life revolving around saving lives upon that sleeping inner murderous darkness? And the awakening of the Worm might be her greatest fear - that her new life will be completely destroyed if that sleeping destruction ever wakes up?
only one mythos is there when Covenant alone is in the Land. the second does not appear until Linden starts to come into her own in TOT. both characters might experience both cosmologies in the seconf chrons because they are sharing the same delusion/dream
