Shadow Children and Inhumi

Mark Millman · 30 Nov 2010, 21:15 · from 2010-November.txt.gz

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From: markjmillman at gmail.com (Mark Millman)
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:15:17 -0500
Subject: (urth) Shadow Children and Inhumi
In-Reply-To: <4CF5663D.3020502 at gmail.com>
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	<AANLkTikDBs_Co+jM3Dp4GRwbNHipJzt_YAbqUZ85dvbM at mail.gmail.com>
	<4CF5663D.3020502 at gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTinPOwSJa_xRpXGQsmpejhXHo1JQYbMuS1VQrnq0 at mail.gmail.com>

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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