Creating a Mythopoeia for a Fantasy World

I started reading Tolkien's Silmarillion, and was deeply inspired by his legendarium which attempted to create the mythology that England never had, but deserved (I especially LOVE the creation story, Ainulindale, and the way it beautifully uses music to depict the harmonizing of distinct voices, including Melkor's!).

So, I decided to create my own queer legendarium and fantasy world! :D

I'm not very far into it, but the following are my notes so far for the creation myth:

Tradition is the living act of creation, a story told and retold through the generations. The world is shaped by memory, journey, vision, and the spark of passion. But the greatest evil is any power which kills tradition by distorting it into unchanging forms: erasing stories, silencing voices, or turning living history into lifeless untouchable stone.

Creation begins in storytelling, and storytelling begins in Longing, a desire to be known and to know. This Longing gives way to the four impulses: Memory, Vision, Change, and Spark. They are the aspects of Longing, the first motions in the void. See, memory cannot exist without something to remember, and vision must have something to behold. Journey has nowhere to move, and spark nothing to kindle. For each impulse longs, and in longing tell their united story.

A spark of motion brings change to meet vision, and in this act of creation, they build the world which memory holds in constancy. Stone emerges from the impulse of Memory, sky emerges from the impulse of Vision, or Breath, and River emerges from the impulse to move and shape. Lastly, flame emerges from the impulse to kindle Passion and change. These four elements are a story from the void that takes form in our earth.

From Memory Stone rises as the foundation of the world, holding stable tradition and history. Its depths hold the layers of beginnings, the fossils of lost voices, and the traces of what has been and might have been. It is a witness to all that flows, floats, and burns above it. Stone stands alone, a stronghold of history, needing no partner to affirm its constancy, yet a bedrock offering a wealth of past story and tradition to its siblings, who shape and prod its shadows.

Sky is the Breath of Vision, a firmament of what could be which lays above the stone, holding the visions of every story yet told. Sky gives breath to Father Nature, his nurturing spouse. Where Sky inspires, Nature brings forth life. Together, they knit thought into sacred being, the marriage of inspiration and fruition.

From the journey of Change does River flow through valleys and over stone, shaping the land and revealing what was hidden in shadow. Their currents carry memory from place to place, reclaiming what is lost, and transforming all they come across. River's Trans spouse is resilient and adaptable. Her name is Guidance, for she guides the waters with discernment. They are the motion of story: interpretation, revision, and reclamation of voices once silenced and ignored.

From Passion does Flame blaze across the world with intense energy, igniting desire, conflict, and transformation. She consumes and catalyzes, burning the old to be replaced with new understanding and life. Her spouse is Wisdom. She directs and tempers Flame, but never extinguishes her. She gives form to the energy that drives the renewal of tradition. Flame and Wisdom spread creativity like heat, creating challenge and conflict that drive stories toward endurance.

With this, the world is born from Longing, from the four impulses and their spouses. Memory preserves, Vision imagines, Change transforms, and Passion ignites. Father nature embodies Vision, Guidance directs Change, and Wisdom tempers Passion. Through these living impulses the earth becomes an embodiment of story which creates through memory, journey, vision, and passion.

Nov 28 · 2 weeks ago