It was the [Black Company series](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009WUG56M/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1) by Glen Cook that made me realize how often history becomes myth, exaggerated beyond meaningful belief. The [Books of Glittering Stone](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009SQORME/ref=series_rw_dp_sw) detail a religion somewhat similar to Hinduism, and the "big bad" is [Kina](http://blackcompany.wikia.com/wiki/Kina), modeled on [Kali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali) in her aspect as a Death Goddess. [Croaker](http://blackcompany.wikia.com/wiki/Croaker), a recurring protagonist, makes the observation that 400 years ago, Kina and her extended family were probably just a group of powerful, bickering intermarried mages — and that in 400 years, he and his own interconnected family will probably be viewed in a similarly exaggerated, larger-than-life manner. > Myth is an attempt to narrate a whole human experience, of which the purpose is too deep, going too deep in the blood and soul, for mental explanation or description. — D. H. Lawrence That's the example I'd like to live up to, when establishing the worldbuilding for my fictional world of Verraine. I've spoken about [religion and war in myth cycles](https://eleanorkonik.com/religion-war-in-myth-cycles/) %% ( [[2016-03-07 Religion & War in Myth Cycles]] ) %% before, but now that I've decided I want to have just one holy text for the whole world. I know I'll have different cultures focus on different things and have different additions, I need to take a closer look at how to best accomplish that. What [fictional history](http://eleanorkonik.com/2016/02/02/fictional-history-excerise-loglines/) will I focus on? ## The Levant Much of the modern world is steeped in the [Abrahamic traditions,](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religion) with variations large and small. As far as I'm concerned, the "[Old Testament](http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2014/12/16/stuff-christians-say-that-make-jewish-people-cringe/35402)" is a primary source document about political tensions in Northern Africa and the Middle East a few thousand years BC. The New Testament is an excellent source of information about [Rome during the reign of Augustus](http://jimmyakin.com/2012/09/ancient-rome-the-bible.html), with better storytelling than most of our [sources](http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financialcareers/09/ancient-accounting.asp) about the ancient world. At it's core, the Old Testament is the story of a migratory people who force ascendancy over a native culture and [pat themselves on the back](http://www.womeninthebible.net/1.10.Delilah.htm) for it. It's a story that has been [repeated](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_expansion) [throughout](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_Period) [history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_migration). ## India Personally, I prefer the Mahabharata, which is about a dynastic war. But then, I also like [Game of Thrones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Thrones) more than [Vikings](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwin3pex18rLAhXFHx4KHSGWCQkQFghIMAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.com%2Fshows%2Fvikings&usg=AFQjCNER4WWUCIlGjM_L3yy_UQI76mwEJw&sig2=3Y9AonkbTCThsAdi2twbSA&bvm=bv.117218890,d.dmo). It's easier to root for people fighting against a bad king than for invaders, no matter how driven to survive the latter may be. Like all primary source documents, these are [biased](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_source#Strengths_and_weaknesses_of_primary_sources) accounts, but that doesn't mean we should discount them. Even if many pieces of ancient religious texts represent [blatant](http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/biblianazar/esp_biblianazar_40.htm) attempts at [propaganda](http://hwarmstrong.com/who-wrote-the-gospels.htm), the [distortions](https://godspeaks.com/questions-about-god/bible-really-gods-word/isnt-the-new-testament-just-propaganda/) still serve to give us information. For example, a forensics analyst might learn about a blow from the shape of a crack. I'd love to give my readers similar breadcrumbs. If history becomes myth, then myths can teach us history. > There is nothing truer than myth: history, in its attempt to "realize" myth, distorts it, stops halfway; when history claims to have "succeeded," this is nothing but humbug and mystification. Everything we dream is "realizable." Reality does not have to be: it is simply what it is. — Eugene Ionesco ## America Not long ago, some of my students found out that one of my degrees is in Religion, and wanted to know whether I believed in God. One commented that he believed in God, but not the Bible. I'm not super comfortable talking about religion in school — [separation of Church & State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States) and whatnot — but I figured that if people get to insist on [Creationism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_and_evolution_in_public_education_in_the_United_States) being taught, and World Religions are a topic we cover in the World History curriculum, then the point I wanted to make was appropriate; it's more about history than religion anyway: I believe in Jesus, just like I believe in [George Washington](http://www.biography.com/people/george-washington-9524786). My students didn't understand the connection. They know that [Wikipedia isn't an acceptable academic source](http://www.dustinfife.net/blog/dont-be-deceived/), but they never learned that history becomes myth. It's [questionable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parson_Weems#The_cherry-tree_anecdote) whether our first president ever actually [chopped down a cherry tree](http://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/cherry-tree-myth/) and then refused to lie about it, and his [hemp crop](http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-man-the-myth/george-washington-grew-hemp) certainly wasn't marijuana. The implausibility of these stories is no reason to doubt that he lived at all, though — and he certainly was a great and important man. Washington's heyday was a little over 200 years ago. In the grand scheme of history, that's not very long ago at all. Yet, we have all sorts of little myths about him. ## Reality All historical figures have lies told about them, and it's hard to disentangle myth from fact. This includes [Jesus Christ](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Jesus), and [Gautama Buddha](http://www.aboutbuddha.org/), [Confucius a](http://www.biography.com/people/confucius-9254926)nd any of the [divine kings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_cult) we have records for. [Achilles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilles) was very probably a great warrior; I doubt his mother was literally a goddess. The legends of [King Arthur](http://www.biography.com/people/king-arthur-9190042) have, I am certain, some loose [basis in fact](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_King_Arthur). I believe these historic figures existed; I believe they were great men. Just because I don't believe everything written about them doesn't mean that I don't think they existed, or changed the world. So now I need to decide for my novel what sorts of historic events led to the myths of Verraine. I wonder: which sort of war is more compelling? Internal or external? The War of the Roses, or the [Fall of Rome](http://www.penfield.edu/webpages/jgiotto/onlinetextbook.cfm?subpage=1492781)?