I'm working on developing a D&D campaign setting, and one of the | |
things I'm currently working on is the development of the deities | |
of the setting and the myths surrounding them. I'm the kind of | |
person who wants to study something before writing about it (and | |
mythology is an interest of mine besides), so I've been reading | |
various Wikipedia articles on the topic. | |
One of the things that I stumbled upon is the Myth and ritual | |
article: | |
Myth and ritual | |
This article explores the relationship between myth and ritual. | |
There are two positions given in the article that are relevant for | |
this discussion, namely that ritual stems from myth or vice versa. | |
While I have an interest in the subject, I'm not qualified to have | |
an opinion on this debate. Thankfully, I don't need to be an | |
expert to design a campaign setting. Instead, I can read the | |
summaries of the positions in the article and decide, by fiat, that | |
things happened differently in my world. | |
I certainly have a preference, in a narrative sense, for myths | |
informing rituals. This is the position I will be exploring for my | |
campaign setting. I find it intuitive, logical. In reality, that | |
position may be wrong. But this is one of the many joys of | |
worldbuilding: within reason, you're not restricted to doing things | |
the way things are done in the real world. And, in this case, I | |
don't think my players would realize that I took a position in this | |
debate. If they did, it's likely that theye're as into mythology as | |
I am (or more so) and there'll likely be interesting discussions | |
about it rather than disagreements at the gaming table. |