Post by avarr on Nov 12, 2010 23:58:03 GMT -5
So, for my LA class, we had two choices for our writing project, either do a chivalric tale in the style of Mallory (who wasn't even that chivalric anyways), or a mythic story a la the Prose Edda. Which was pretty cool.
And then we had to write a 2-3 page essay explaining our own work, and why we thought it would be chivalric or mythic.
derp
Anyways, I went with the mythic one, because, hey, the Norse gods were the most badass things around, and I can't stand writing like a goddamn ponce for any length of time.
The fact that I lost my copy of Mallory's tales probably contributed to this.
Anyways.
DREAMS OF A DEAD GOD
It is known that the Gallows God hanged himself upon the World Tree for Nine Days and Nine Nights, and that upon the Ninth Night, he died. Upon his death, the blackest night fell from the skies; the darkness grew as the light died. Demons roaming the night craved our hearts and our demise.
Yet, Odin was not dead. He was dreaming. The All-Father and the Oath-breaker, the One-Eyed and the Gallows God, dreamed of the world’s end.
He saw a world of paradoxes. It was a dark world without light, yet Odin could see. It was one without the tang of air, yet Odin could breathe. It was not the world of Yggdrasil, and yet it felt so.
He strode forth, steps echoing in the darklight cavern, uncertain of his fate. And so he walked, without the sun or the moon to guide him, he walked for what appeared to be the end of the world. And yet, there was nothing... so he walked back to the beginning of the world. And then he turned around. He did this seven times, until, at the end of the earth, he chanced upon a pool. Odin knelt before it, staring deeply within the murky waters. There, he saw... pardon me. It would be difficult to describe the exact phenomenon that the God of War had witnessed, for to merely capture an image is to insult its grandeur, and to truly speak of it is to do the impossible.
He saw one being, or many. He saw shades darker than the shadows, slipping and slithering here to there. It slumbered, either ignorant or uncaring of the father of all Aesir. Yet, without hesitation, Odin struck the surface with the mighty spear Gungnir, awakening this horror.
One moved as many and many eyes opened as one, eternally shifting shadows. It moved as roiling fire, with languorous grace. The One-As-Many turned to the intruder, and spoke, many voices as one. “Many a man has sought my answers, and many a man has failed. I commend you, Odin All-Father of the Aesir, for having come so far. I commend you for flirting with Death. Now is your time to ask. Now is the time to know three answers to three questions.”
The All-Father was at a loss for words. Never had he seen such a thing, never had the Aesir even have to dream of such entities. Almost absentmindedly, he uttered, “Why?”
One form suddenly slithered as many, a dissonant melody of disgust, even as many voices replied melodiously, “Odin All-Father. You are alive and dead at once. Even as the world succumbs to chaos with your passing, you yet still live, unknowing. I am the Oracle, here to offer a choice. Will you cross into transcendence and dive even further or will you return to the mortal world and return to the beginning of the world? That is why I will answer any three questions – so that you may know a glimpse of what lies beyond. Should you reject the Other Side, then you will return to your world, whole, unharmed... but unknowing of this boundary... and that is the first answer.”
The All-Father fell silent. The answers to all the world’s questions, within his grasp? Was such a thing possible? At the end of things, where all fell to oblivion, lay the answer? “Then, Oracle... answer this. What will become of my World?”
The Oracle turned silent and still, but for only a moment. “All-Father. The world will die twice. The first death you already know of: Ragnarok. The Ragnarok will come. You can be certain of that, surely as the night hunts the day, and the day seeks the night. But what you do not know is the aftermath. What follows will be the Gotterdammerung, your twilight, your legacy. Your charges, the assembled masses of men, will rise from the ashes of your kingdom, unguided by your ilk.
“They will indeed grow. They shall build palaces that will pierce the heavens, craft chariots that will soar across the skies...
“But it will not be well. War... war will have changed. It will become a game of kings and slaves. No longer will warriors battle for glory, but for carnage and blood. No longer will warriors fight; they will kill. They will bring untold devastation with mighty Leviathans risen from the deeps and shrieking firebirds from the heavens.
“And if left to their own devices... they will create a God Forge. With that Forge, they will unlock the Fire of the Gods themselves. That Fire, if left untamed, will cause madness to descend. Men will turn against men, until the world itself becomes embroiled in a sea of blood and ruin. But all of that, Val-Father, is nothing to the Fire of the Gods. When unleashed, it will boil away the oceans. The all-consuming flames will devour the sun and the stars and the moon. The world itself will perish in one fell stroke, shattered by the devouring fires. Then the Endless Winter shall follow, a winter of ashes. What remains of the world will die a lasting death, crushed by the ambitions of those that you dearly protect.
“That, Mighty Odin, is the future of your world. That, Mighty Odin, is the end of all things, the darkness that comes. That, Mighty Odin, is what you are fighting for.”
The One-Eyed fell into a deep silence. Was this true? Would he fight for nothing? Was this the fate that awaited them all – oblivion? After Ragnarok, after the end of the world, nothing but oblivion? All the while, the other began writhing in silent laughter, one body shifting and shaking as many. “So, Mighty Val-Father. Gallows-God. That is the future that awaits, oblivion in all but name. Now is the time to choose. Will you leave a damned world to its miseries? Or - ”
No. It could not be so simple. It could not end like that. Perhaps the Oracle knew the events that would happen... but that did not make it right. Odin raised the mighty Gungnir, and swiftly struck the earth, a thunderous bark echoing, silencing the creature in the shadows. “You have offered me three answers. I believe that I have one last question before I am to make my choice.”
“Then ask it, and decide.”
“All of those lives to come... will they be lives worth living?”
Many shadows moved as one, as the oracular nightmare prepared its answer... an answer that did not come. It writhed, it shivered, it howled its torment, but still, the answer did not come. Then, one voice cursing as many, it lamented... “I do not know the answer.”
The King of all Aesir smiled. “Then, Oracle, you know mine.” Without another word, without a second thought, he turned, and calmly walked back to the beginning of the world. He left, leaving the gated dead behind. He left whatever transcendence that lay on the Other Side. He left willingly to defend a damned world. He returned, not for those that would sunder the world, but for the future.
And then we had to write a 2-3 page essay explaining our own work, and why we thought it would be chivalric or mythic.
derp
Anyways, I went with the mythic one, because, hey, the Norse gods were the most badass things around, and I can't stand writing like a goddamn ponce for any length of time.
The fact that I lost my copy of Mallory's tales probably contributed to this.
Anyways.
DREAMS OF A DEAD GOD
It is known that the Gallows God hanged himself upon the World Tree for Nine Days and Nine Nights, and that upon the Ninth Night, he died. Upon his death, the blackest night fell from the skies; the darkness grew as the light died. Demons roaming the night craved our hearts and our demise.
Yet, Odin was not dead. He was dreaming. The All-Father and the Oath-breaker, the One-Eyed and the Gallows God, dreamed of the world’s end.
He saw a world of paradoxes. It was a dark world without light, yet Odin could see. It was one without the tang of air, yet Odin could breathe. It was not the world of Yggdrasil, and yet it felt so.
He strode forth, steps echoing in the darklight cavern, uncertain of his fate. And so he walked, without the sun or the moon to guide him, he walked for what appeared to be the end of the world. And yet, there was nothing... so he walked back to the beginning of the world. And then he turned around. He did this seven times, until, at the end of the earth, he chanced upon a pool. Odin knelt before it, staring deeply within the murky waters. There, he saw... pardon me. It would be difficult to describe the exact phenomenon that the God of War had witnessed, for to merely capture an image is to insult its grandeur, and to truly speak of it is to do the impossible.
He saw one being, or many. He saw shades darker than the shadows, slipping and slithering here to there. It slumbered, either ignorant or uncaring of the father of all Aesir. Yet, without hesitation, Odin struck the surface with the mighty spear Gungnir, awakening this horror.
One moved as many and many eyes opened as one, eternally shifting shadows. It moved as roiling fire, with languorous grace. The One-As-Many turned to the intruder, and spoke, many voices as one. “Many a man has sought my answers, and many a man has failed. I commend you, Odin All-Father of the Aesir, for having come so far. I commend you for flirting with Death. Now is your time to ask. Now is the time to know three answers to three questions.”
The All-Father was at a loss for words. Never had he seen such a thing, never had the Aesir even have to dream of such entities. Almost absentmindedly, he uttered, “Why?”
One form suddenly slithered as many, a dissonant melody of disgust, even as many voices replied melodiously, “Odin All-Father. You are alive and dead at once. Even as the world succumbs to chaos with your passing, you yet still live, unknowing. I am the Oracle, here to offer a choice. Will you cross into transcendence and dive even further or will you return to the mortal world and return to the beginning of the world? That is why I will answer any three questions – so that you may know a glimpse of what lies beyond. Should you reject the Other Side, then you will return to your world, whole, unharmed... but unknowing of this boundary... and that is the first answer.”
The All-Father fell silent. The answers to all the world’s questions, within his grasp? Was such a thing possible? At the end of things, where all fell to oblivion, lay the answer? “Then, Oracle... answer this. What will become of my World?”
The Oracle turned silent and still, but for only a moment. “All-Father. The world will die twice. The first death you already know of: Ragnarok. The Ragnarok will come. You can be certain of that, surely as the night hunts the day, and the day seeks the night. But what you do not know is the aftermath. What follows will be the Gotterdammerung, your twilight, your legacy. Your charges, the assembled masses of men, will rise from the ashes of your kingdom, unguided by your ilk.
“They will indeed grow. They shall build palaces that will pierce the heavens, craft chariots that will soar across the skies...
“But it will not be well. War... war will have changed. It will become a game of kings and slaves. No longer will warriors battle for glory, but for carnage and blood. No longer will warriors fight; they will kill. They will bring untold devastation with mighty Leviathans risen from the deeps and shrieking firebirds from the heavens.
“And if left to their own devices... they will create a God Forge. With that Forge, they will unlock the Fire of the Gods themselves. That Fire, if left untamed, will cause madness to descend. Men will turn against men, until the world itself becomes embroiled in a sea of blood and ruin. But all of that, Val-Father, is nothing to the Fire of the Gods. When unleashed, it will boil away the oceans. The all-consuming flames will devour the sun and the stars and the moon. The world itself will perish in one fell stroke, shattered by the devouring fires. Then the Endless Winter shall follow, a winter of ashes. What remains of the world will die a lasting death, crushed by the ambitions of those that you dearly protect.
“That, Mighty Odin, is the future of your world. That, Mighty Odin, is the end of all things, the darkness that comes. That, Mighty Odin, is what you are fighting for.”
The One-Eyed fell into a deep silence. Was this true? Would he fight for nothing? Was this the fate that awaited them all – oblivion? After Ragnarok, after the end of the world, nothing but oblivion? All the while, the other began writhing in silent laughter, one body shifting and shaking as many. “So, Mighty Val-Father. Gallows-God. That is the future that awaits, oblivion in all but name. Now is the time to choose. Will you leave a damned world to its miseries? Or - ”
No. It could not be so simple. It could not end like that. Perhaps the Oracle knew the events that would happen... but that did not make it right. Odin raised the mighty Gungnir, and swiftly struck the earth, a thunderous bark echoing, silencing the creature in the shadows. “You have offered me three answers. I believe that I have one last question before I am to make my choice.”
“Then ask it, and decide.”
“All of those lives to come... will they be lives worth living?”
Many shadows moved as one, as the oracular nightmare prepared its answer... an answer that did not come. It writhed, it shivered, it howled its torment, but still, the answer did not come. Then, one voice cursing as many, it lamented... “I do not know the answer.”
The King of all Aesir smiled. “Then, Oracle, you know mine.” Without another word, without a second thought, he turned, and calmly walked back to the beginning of the world. He left, leaving the gated dead behind. He left whatever transcendence that lay on the Other Side. He left willingly to defend a damned world. He returned, not for those that would sunder the world, but for the future.
