True Myth
This question has come to my attention and I would like to attempt to answer it here: how is a 'true myth' different than a myth?
First off, we know that myth differs from story, as one is a work created as fiction, while the other has been born out of the world at large, not intentionally as fiction, though it could be argued that it is. Myth is also broader than fiction, for it is not invented by one man, or even a collection of men, but by a people as a whole (the mythos of the Silmarillion was arguably created by one man, but it was born out of Nordic, Finnic, Celtic, and Anglic mythos, so it has roots far larger).
The issue is really what does 'true' mean. I would argue here that 'true' is synonymous with Truth, with a capital T. Truth is somthing that is always accurate, while what is true varies from time to time (it is true that I am wearing a shirt with a Fransciscan University logo on it, but when many of you read this, it will no longer be true, and thus is not Truth).
True myth, then, is something which, while to some degree reflecting the world, is in fact the world. Mythology, by its very nature, differs from person to person, and greatly differs between cultures. True myth, on the other hand, must remain the same from person to person, otherwise it would not (could not) be Truth.
The most well know reference to true muth comes from the writings of C.S. Lewis, referring to conversation he had with J.R.R. Tolkien: "Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened." It is true myth that is universal, the myth that actually has final meaning, at the end of life.
(To the Shakespeare crowd: sorry, but I really love myth, and have little to say about Shakespeare. I will unite him to myth more often, but I simply have to much to say and too little time to say it.)
First off, we know that myth differs from story, as one is a work created as fiction, while the other has been born out of the world at large, not intentionally as fiction, though it could be argued that it is. Myth is also broader than fiction, for it is not invented by one man, or even a collection of men, but by a people as a whole (the mythos of the Silmarillion was arguably created by one man, but it was born out of Nordic, Finnic, Celtic, and Anglic mythos, so it has roots far larger).
The issue is really what does 'true' mean. I would argue here that 'true' is synonymous with Truth, with a capital T. Truth is somthing that is always accurate, while what is true varies from time to time (it is true that I am wearing a shirt with a Fransciscan University logo on it, but when many of you read this, it will no longer be true, and thus is not Truth).
True myth, then, is something which, while to some degree reflecting the world, is in fact the world. Mythology, by its very nature, differs from person to person, and greatly differs between cultures. True myth, on the other hand, must remain the same from person to person, otherwise it would not (could not) be Truth.
The most well know reference to true muth comes from the writings of C.S. Lewis, referring to conversation he had with J.R.R. Tolkien: "Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened." It is true myth that is universal, the myth that actually has final meaning, at the end of life.
(To the Shakespeare crowd: sorry, but I really love myth, and have little to say about Shakespeare. I will unite him to myth more often, but I simply have to much to say and too little time to say it.)
posted by J.M.R. Burgard | 6:00 PM
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