Niathien Mythology
From Constructed Mythology
Nyathien Mythology is the mythology of the people of Nyathi Island, which was made nearly uninhabitable due to volcanic activity. The Myths survive in the scattered stories of the few surviving Nyathiens who have integrated with the main population of earth and a few ruins believed to be colonies along the coastlines of the Atlantic Ocean.
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[edit] Sources
After the destruction of the island's ecosystem and the scattering of its people to the far corners of the world, most records of their Mythology were lost. What survived of these myths and legends were written down in the Nyathien language using their alphabet. These writings were later translated into modern languages.
[edit] Written sources
The Nyathien people developed a form of writing before the island's ecosystem collapsed, but actual samples of the writing and the language are hard to find. The only major written source are the Nyathi tablets, a collection of poems that were written down on stone in the Nyathien language before the island's ecosystem was destroyed and were translated into English by P. M. Kava.
[edit] Archaeological remains
Nyathi Island is located in the Mid Atlantic. Due to Volcanic activity, much of the island is barren wasteland and lava fields. What is known about its past can be found in written accounts and expeditions to areas of the island. The terrain is mountainous, with active volcanoes. The island was once heavily forested. Most of the coastline of the island is dotted by fjords. The inland of the island is crossed by many small rivers.
a few sites outside of the island have been found on the coasts of Africa as well as Central America. It is these few sites that offer the most accurate picture of the Nyathien people and their mythology.
[edit] Cosmology
The Nyathien people believed the world was created from the body of ancient giant god, Gimono. His flesh became the land, his blood the waters and his bowls the underworld. The gods held council atop the highest mountain, above the clouds. The world was flat and surrounded by the ocean. The underworld was reached through caves or by reaching the edge of the ocean and following the path of the sun underground. The underworld had two major areas; the dark, cold caves ruled by the god of the dead, Volo, where the wicked would go. The other was the Bright, warm hall of the creator god, Finogi, where the good would go.
[edit] Pantheon
the Nyathien pantheon consists of the following eight gods:
[edit] Finogi
The fiery creator god. In the times before time, when the giant Gimono opened its mouth, Finogi leaped forth and slayed the beast, creating the world from its body. Finogi made his forge in the underworld, where he crafts many wondrous things. This creates the fire from volcanoes and the shaking of earthquakes. His wife is the sun goddess Soloni.
[edit] Soloni
The sun goddess whom Finogi freed from out of Gimono. She sails across the sky in her sun barge to bring light to the world, returning to her husband Finogi in his hall in the underworld at night. To do so she must pass through the dark underworld of Volo, which makes her age. Every year she grows old and dies, but is reborn on the funeral pier her husband sets for her. but she is again a child and grows to adult hood, then to old age, and the process continues. this cycle creates the seasons.
[edit] Niathe
The god of the sky and weather. His sons are the four winds who sit at the corners of the world and make the wind when they exhale. When the gods were made to create gifts for their mother Soloni, Nyathi created the first humans, and his gift was the most liked. Humans were made to live on the surface of the earth, under the care of Nyathi. Nyathi constantly fights with his brother Volo, as Volo cursed the humans with death. This fighting takes the form of thunder storms.
[edit] Jaralu and Mora
The god of the sea and goddess of earth, respectively. There happy union, and the combination of their elements allows the crops to grow and the animals to multiply. They also parented the many nature spirits of the world. Unfortunately, the aging of Soloni makes them sad and brings the cold. That is why, during the winter when Soloni is weak, the crops do not grow.
[edit] Piruno
The god of the moon and of love. He is often secretive, but knows the times and when things will happen. He fathered the stars with Shira. He seduces women at night.
[edit] Shira
The goddess of love, the stars, and of the night. She is fickle and at night she seduces man and beds them.
[edit] Volo
The god of the dead and the underworld. He is cruel and when man was first created he cursed them with death to spite his brother. His father Finogi then tossed him into the dark parts of the underworld where he made his dark kingdom of the dead.
[edit] Major myths
the major myths as found on the Nyathi tablets are the Creation myth, the great flood, the Sea Voyage of Loburu, and the Epic of Gilirathe.
Pmkava 19:09, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
