Mythology vs History- The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire

One of my favorite pieces of GOT fan art. 

I love fantasy, I love epic fantasy. Therefore, I'm a fan of two of the best fantasy book series in the genre. The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire. Once I was asked if I thought one of these series was stronger than the other.

 

Today, I'll try and answer that by saying that really, both are great works of fantasy in their own ways. I've found that one is not really better than the other. Ultimately, they're very different series telling two very different types of stories.

 

Before talking about their differences though we should talk about how the two influential fantasy stories are similar. They do share some common elements.

 

First, both series take place in their own complete universes with unique, locations, cultures and history. Part of the reason why both book series have captivated their readers is because both Middle Earth and Westeros are such well constructed worlds. The environments the authors create are exciting fantastical places that are also bound by a set of rules and standards. As such, the reader can immerse themselves fully in the streets of Kings Landing and halls of Rivendell. There are cities, towns, people groups and societies that are as rich and as vibrant as any on earth. In fiction it's vital that your reader can lose themselves in the world your creating with your words. In fantasy, it's doubly important and both Tolkein and Martin do an excellent job of universe building.

 

Second, both series have fleshed out relatable characters. Whether your talking about Frodo or Tyrion, both books have approachable characters we want to follow. They all have interesting, captivating obstacles and hardships that they have to overcome.

 

With that said, there's also no denying these two series are very different. If I had to sum up the differences it would be with this sentence:

 

'Lord of the Rings is more like mythology while A Song of Ice and Fire is more like history'

 

The background of the authors makes this pretty clear. Let's begin with the author of The Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkein. Tolkein was a professor of mythology at Oxford, who in academic circles was well known for his writings on the epic Nordic myth Beowulf. Because of this, Tolkein drew a lot of inspiration from European myth and legend when creating his own epic fantasy. He even stated that one of his main motivations for writing The Lord of the Rings was to create an epic mythology for the UK which he felt had been lost to time.

 

A strong mythological influence can be seen in the focus of Tolkein's three books.

 

In Lord of the Rings, there is a very clear conflict between two opposing sides. Sauron and the forces of evil (orcs, trolls etc.) are attempting to enslave the free peoples of Middle Earth (men elves dwarves hobbits) and can only be stopped if the one ring of power is destroyed by a small band of heroes. The protagonists we follow and other characters they encounter, for the most part, fit this dichotomy. The heroes, though tempted to become evil at times, remain on the side of good. The villains, though they do have their own back-stories are not nuanced, caring only about dominating and destroying for the sake of dominating and destroying.  There are enormous epic battles, and ultimately evil is defeated through the tireless efforts of the heroes.

 

 other writings such as Children of Hurin, are also written in a similar, pre-history epic struggle vein. Often, as a reader, you get the sense that his work could be a true mythology for a real culture.

 

This makes Lord of the Rings far more like a great myth in the vein of Beowulf or the Trials of Hercules. There are magical elements, epic battles between heroes and villains, and lastly, some important instructional lessons on the dangers of power, the temptation all people face when confronted with such power.

 

A Song of Ice and Fire, on the other hand is not nearly as clear cut.

 

While Tolkein's epic work was largely influenced by Indo-European mythology, much of Martin's inspiration was derived from actual historical conflicts and power struggles among medieval European aristocrats. He's cited historical fiction authors, rivalries in Medieval Scotland as being strong influences along with a famous rivalry over control of the English monarchy, the War of the Roses. The names of the two families involved in this actual 15^th century conflict, the House of York and the House of Lancaster, even bear a striking resemblance to two of the most important families in a Song of Ice and Fire, the Starks and the Lannisters.

 

The inspiration of history shows in Martin's work. Though there are supernatural and mythological elements to A Song of Ice and Fire, they often take a back seat to the personal relationships, rivalries and dilemmas of his many point of view characters. There are many despicable and reprehensible characters in the books, such as the sadistic Joffrey or nihilistic Sandor Clegane yet no one is clearly evil. There is no Great Eye no Sauron or Saruman who is clearly evil. Nor are there are any characters who are clearly morally good, including protagonists such a Tyrion, Jaime and Daenerys. Everyone has dark spots in their past and there are sometimes very negative repercussions for the actions the 'heroes' take. And yet even with their most questionable decisions these characters have understandable reasons for taking them. Instead of focusing on a struggle between two forces, Martin's emphasis is on the complicated, interconnected nature of the lives of people at the center and on the outskirts of political power. 

 

Because of this A Song of Ice and Fire, more accurately reflects the nature of the world we live in where decisions about power are often based on personal or factional interest, where relatively decent leaders can fall and rise as easily as brutal ones can, and where ordinary people are often the ones who suffer the most during times of conflict and political upheaval.

 

So is one story better than the other? No not at all. I have enjoyed reading both works for exactly what they are just as I've enjoyed reading mythology and history. Mythology and history both teach life lessons and allow us to connect more deeply with ourselves and with other human beings. They allow us to understand the world better and to understand human nature better. Because of this I don't feel like there's a lot to be gained by trying to assert that one series is better than the other. Their both valuable in their own right and should be enjoyed for what they are by readers everywhere.

Some amazing art by a fan of LOTR.

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There Was No God in the Holy Land -Reflections From a Brief Visit to Israel and the West Bank

Gaza has been in the news. Israel has been in the news. Israeli soldiers have died in action. Many more Palestinian civilians have been killed. Israel is targeting them directly. Rockets have flown has far as Tel aviv airport. Bombs, tank shells and artillery have laid waste to hundreds of homes in the Gaza Strip. Riots have broken out in the West Bank against Israel's military operation and Israeli occupation.

 As of now a twelve hour ceasefire has been agreed to between Hamas and Israel. How long will it last? No one is certain. What is certain is the blood that's been shed won't be forgotten, especially by terrified Gazans. Neither will the destroyed homes or the long cyclical narratives of violence and retaliation that permeate the history of Palestinians and Israelis.

So many heated opinions are swirling around cyberspace now because of these events. So many voices of condemnation, denial and finger pointing. At such a time, it might seem fruitless to add my small perspective to the mix.

I studied the Israeli-Palestinian conflict briefly. I had the chance to see its Israeli and Palestinian faces in 2009 when I went there specifically to study it. But I am not an expert and there are many, many more knowledgeable people I know who could do a far better job of explaining the issues underlying this current outburst of violence.

Nevertheless, I did want to share what I saw, heard and felt during my two and a half weeks in the so called Holy Land when I was a college student. For whatever my perspective may be worth, I hope, at least it sheds some light for people on what this part of the world is like.

The Old City of Jerusalem.

I was twenty two when I arrived in Israel with around thirty other North American students as part of the Middle East Studies Program. We had spent the better part of a month traveling in surrounding countries. When our bus crossed the Jordanian border and approached an Israeli checkpoint to enter the West Bank there was a bomb scare. Bald men with M-16s scurried below us in front of the terminal as our bus pulled a safe distance away. In the end, there was no bomb and we were allowed to pass through.

It was our first exposure to the palpable fear and paranoia that grips Israeli security personnel...and Israeli society. The fear that at any moment a seemingly ordinary object or average looking person could explode and cut your life short. The more time I spent there, the more I would come to understand this fear. I would understand how justifiable the paranoia was for many Israelis. Yet paradoxically I would also see the utterly inhumane results of this fear, especially its detrimental affects on Palestinians.

I saw fear and concern in many places and on many faces. For the bulk of our time in the country, we stayed in the Arab Quarter of East Jerusalem. Not only are the majority of people who live in this district ethnic Arabs, Palestinians also consider it the capital of their own state.

What fascinated the most about my stay in the walled off old historic part of Jerusalem, was how so many different and conflicting religious and ethnic groups lived side by side in this hotly contested corner of the world. The Old City of Jerusalem, is home to some of the holiest locations for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Dome of the Rock, the Wailing Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are all crammed into a walled area that is only one or two miles wide and long. I from one historic gate to another gate in about twenty minutes. For such a small corner of the world to have such significance for so many religions is a recipe for conflict. Arab Muslims and Christians and Israeli Jews all live in there own quarters in the city. Yet because of the lack of space, inevitably they must bump shoulders and rub against each other. It was normal for Ultra Orthodox Jews to walk through the Arab Quarter in order to reach the Wailing Wall to pray. Church bells were muffled by the Islamic call to prayer emanating from the Al Aqsa mosque on the Haram al Sharif.

Yet though these faiths could coexist on some level here that peace was based on people of those religious persuasions living in their own parallel worlds ignoring the presence of the other faiths were living, walking and shopping beside them as if they were simple in another dimension. And when several groups of people claim the same piece of property exclusively, they can only stay on their parallel paths for so long before colliding.

We heard that collision during our stay in the Arab Quarter when a group of Jewish settlers came pounding on its door. Every year, Israeli Jewish settlers from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, who have settled illegally on land meant for Palestinians, parade through the streets of East Jerusalem. They wave Israeli flags, dance and send a message to the Arabs living in that corner of the city. The message is: 'This quarter is ours, not yours. Get out!' In the past, Arab owned shops have been smashed up, Arabs killed by mobs of angry young settlers who clash with them. I never saw the parade but was close to enough to hear the shouting and jeering. It was the sound of parallel world, parallel histories colliding.

Israeli security wall around Bethlehem from the Palestinian side.

These collisions are the source of the violence and the fear of violence one feels everywhere. When describing my time in Israel and the West Bank I often say that I felt as if I was constantly walking on the edge of a wall, trying hard to balance myself as at any moment I could fall off.

Men with assault rifles, Jewish Israeli men with assault rifles, were a common site in Israel proper. In the West Bank, the area controlled by the Palestinian Authority, I never saw such weapons in front of me except on the posters featuring dead Palestinian fighters and suicide bombers that plaster so many street corners of Palestinian towns like Bethlehem and Beit Sahour.

More jarring and compelling than these posters though was the graffiti art that covered the infamous West Bank Security, an enormous wall with guard towers built by the Israeli military which separates Palestinians in the West Bank from Israel proper. It was built following the second Palestinian Intifada uprising by Palestinians against Israeli occupation. Designed to keep out Palestinians militants and suicide bombers, it has succeeded in keeping Israelis and in making the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank even more miserable than before it was erected.

Our guide, a Palestinian Christian, showed us a UN run school in a Palestinian refugee camp which was within a few meters of a paint splattered guard tower. He pointed to the school's upper floor where several windows had been filled in with concrete blocks. He explained that the school had filled in the windows after Israeli soldiers in the guard tower started shooting at the children taking their lessons there. He also explained how the refugee camp was also used as a training ground for the Israeli army, who without warning or consulting the Palestinian residents, would raid the homes in the area for the sole purpose of teaching their soldiers how to conduct house to house searches.

We heard many other stories from Palestinians about the suffering they had endured at the hands of Israeli soldiers occupying their communities. Our guide recounted how Israeli soldiers had raided his neighborhood in Bethlehem during the Second Intifada. Indiscriminately, Palestinians were pushed out of their homes and forced to watch as the Israeli soldiers removed all of their property from their homes and smashed it to bits in the street.

A former Palestinian militant also told us of how is daughter was shot in the end by Israeli soldier as she was lining up for school and an ex-Israeli soldier, now a member of the activist group combatants for peace, recounted how his service in the Israeli military prompted him to dedicate himself to protesting against his country's policies in the West Bank.

Israeli guard tower in the occupied West Bank.

Seeing the ways Palestinians in the West Bank suffered as a result of Israeli occupation was jarring. There was no doubt in my mind after leaving there that the Palestinians were the underdog in this struggle. They had no standing army, no currency of their own ((they use the Israeli shekel), no control of any resources even in the lands they were supposed to be in control of even according to the official Israeli position. Israel truly had them in their grip. They couldn't take loved ones to a hospital only a mile or so away without going through an extensive search by Israeli security forces.

And yet Israelis had also suffered as well. A trip to Jerusalem University drove this home for me the most when our guide explained how during the Second Intifada an Arab Israeli who worked in college's cafeteria had blown himself up and killed several Israeli college students.

Writing now, it strikes me how similar so many of my interactions were with Palestinians and Israelis were. So many times it seemed as if both Israelis and Palestinians were trying so very hard to convince me that they, and their respective peoples, were good people not the stereotypes we see in media. And they would succeed. Most of my interactions with people from both sides of the conflict were largely positive. Until...the opposing side was brought up.  As soon as Israel was mentioned to Palestinians, as soon as Palestinians were brought up to an Israeli...a transformation occurred. Suddenly, the victimization would begin for their people usually in conjunction with the demonization of the other and the justification for acts of indiscriminate violence perpetrated against them.

'All Palestinians are raised to hate Israelis. They will all become terrorists, that's why its fine when Palestinain children are killed in our military operations.'

'All Israelis serve in the military, have served in the military or will serve in the military. That's why its perfectly fine for our fighters to kill Jewish civilians.'

Every violent act, every massacre perpetrated by 'the other' would be raised while every atrocity perpetrated by their own side would be excused or flat out denied and ignored.

Then as now, I can't help but feel a deep sense of sadness for this permeating psychology of victimization that both sides are fully absorbed in. Always, whether Israeli or Palestinian, they are told by their parents, by their leaders, we are the victims. They are assured time and time again that their stained hands are not bloodied. They are told this so much that they are convinced it is the truth. And the killing continues, for the victim never has to justify his acts of retaliation.

Now, I feel as if it has come time to end this piece. It's a difficult one to conclude. Mostly, that's because there are a number of conclusions I can't make.

I can't tell you what the answer to this enduring conflict is. I can't tell you that there is a 'good' side or an 'evil' side. Any one who gives you such an answer has no business being listened to and there are far, far too many individuals making such broad generalizations for the sake of a political or religious end.

That said, I will conclude with this. The one thing that I know for certain after recounting my time there.

No one, neither Israeli or Palestinian is righteous. No one, neither Israeli or Palestinian is an angel or demon. They are both like us. They are human, they breathe, they eat, they drink, they shit, and like us they want more and they are so, so deeply flawed as we all are.


During my entire time there, as I visited historic and religious sites, I felt nothing of God. He does not dwell in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Ramallah. He does not dwell in stones or rocks or trees. All I saw and felt were people, lost terrified people. That's all Israelis and Palestinians are. And perhaps, sadly that is all they will ever be. If God is there he is with each and every one of them, Muslim Jew Palestinian Israeli, somewhere buried underneath all the fear and anger.

Only the Sky is Forever Preview- The Making of the Third World

 

 

 

The Maker created our world and the two that came before it.

 In the world before ours, the people of the land were powerful and blessed by the hands that made them. They lived well off the Maker's bounty. There was game to hunt in the forests, water to drink in the streams, corn to harvest in the fields.

 But the people of the land grew greedy, proud and took much more than they needed. The other creatures of the world began to suffer and starve.

 Seeking to rebuke them for their trespasses, the Maker appeared to the people of the land and gave them a warning.

 "Take only what you need,” the Maker said. “Do not abuse the other creatures or each other and I shall promise to one day give you all my power and wisdom. Become greedy again, and I shall sweep you away and make a new people in your place.”

 The people of the land agreed to their Maker's offer, promising not to take as much as they had before.

 Yet within a short time the people turned their backs on their promise, slaughtering all the animals, cutting the trees and spoiling the soil. In time, no life remained save the people themsleves and they turned on one another for sustenance.

 Enraged and saddened, the Maker took vengeance. From the Maker's shed tears, Unktehi the horned water serpent of destruction was born. She covered the land in a flood, drowning the people and submerging all else.

 When all the people were gone and the land was buried beneath the water,  the Maker looked over the waters with the Sun above them. Playing four songs on a medicine lute, the Maker created a new world; the one we know today.

 The first song, caused the earth to rise from beneath the waters.

 The second song, caused the mountains, trees and animals to rise from the earth.

 The third song, brought forth the new people, other walking and speaking beings and those great spirits that are both human and animal.

 The fourth song, removed the heart of Unktehi from her body which caused the great snake to fall into the lake on the top of Serpent Mountain. There she remains even now.

 The Maker hid Unktehi's heart, that the serpent could not return. To this day, the Maker looks upon our world and all those who inhabit it.

Some Thoughts on Men and Gender Equality

A few weeks ago, I read a piece in the New York Times called 'Yes, All Men'

It was an op-ed article written by a male contributor on the subject of patriarchy, gender equality and the abysmal state of womens rights in many parts of the world. However, the author approached the subject from a sympathetic male perspective advocating for the participation of men in the struggle for gender equality.

He perfectly summed up the view I've had for a long time but could never articulate. The words below are ones which particularly stood out to me.

"Yes, we should all be feminists, but too often we believe that the plight of the oppressed is solely the business of the oppressed, and that the society in which that oppression is born and grows and the role of the oppressors and beneficiaries are all somehow subordinate.

Wrong. Fighting female objectification and discrimination and violence against women isn’t simply the job of women; it must also be the pursuit of men."

I am a man. I am a white man. I am a white man with American citizenship. I am an enormously privileged individual in this world.I have many opportunities that friends of mine of a different gender, race and nationality do not. Unlike some others in my demographic, I am fully aware of this, and how unfair it is.

When it comes to gender, I eagerly and readily support equality and empowerment. This belief has been reinforced by seeing some of the negative affects of patriarchy is places around the world. In Egypt I heard women tell of how they are regularly harassed on the street by young men. It's a sad fact of life for the majority of women in the country over 95% of Egyptian women report being harassed on a daily basis. Egypt is also a country where Female Genital Utilization is regularly performed.

I heard stories from female friends of mine in Cairo both foreign and Egyptian. I heard about how degrading it was to be treated like an object I listened to how dehumanizing it was to have all your dignity swept away simply by your gender.
It made me ashamed and it made me angry.

And yet in certain conversations on the subject throughout my life, I've sometimes gotten the impression that my voice on the subject wasn't particularly warranted or desired by certain women. I've encountered this attitude before when talking about the trials and hardships among people and places such as the Middle East, Egyptians, Thailand, Native Americans, AIDS patients etc. Essentially, it boils down to this.

'You are not (insert denonym here). (A )Why do you care about this issue and (B) why should your opinion matter?'

I think I understand where this attitude might come from in some cases when it comes to gender. I've never walked as a woman, talked as one, worked as one gone to school as one. I don't know firsthand what life as a woman is like. Speaking on a subject related to women as a man therefore, is limiting and if I do speak about it, I run the risk of looking like someone participating in patriarchy (ie the man knows best.)

I'm not sure I could have adequately articulated a response to these two questions before. But the NYT op-ed piece gave me inspiration for organizing some of my own answers on these two questions. They are as follows:

A) Why do you care about this issue? 1 Just because I can't experience life as a woman doesn't mean I can't recognize a human being being treated unjustly and suffering because of it. Human beings empathize with the pain of others, even non-humans. We can also recognize the awfulness and anguish of a person in situations we've never been in ourselves.

I don't know what it's like to be tortured but I can recognize it's an awful experience that no human should endure. I doubt most of us know what it's like to be a survivor of a genocide such as the Holocaust or Rwanda but I can comprehend that it is horrific and that it is something that must be guarded against.

I think gender inequality and the painful realities it creates for so many women across the globe can be understood in a similar way, even by a man. I can't understand what it's like to be a victim of patriarchy but I can understand the injustice.

2 My second response to A is this, because of our ability to empathize we have a natural desire to see justice done, we have a natural desire to see people succeed and become happier and fuller. We also have a desire to see those we know and care about lead better lives.

I know so many wonderful, amazing women that I want to see lead fulfilled lives. These are my sisters my friends, my students and others. I want them to be able to be regarded as full people, to be able to have the chance to show their wonderful skills and abilities without being singularly defined by one aspect of their person-hood.

B) Why should your opinion matter? Civil rights may never have been a reality in the United States if many people in white America hadn't been willing to change their attitudes towards race. Women would never have granted the right to vote if men in America had not been willing to accept that they desire it. The more people see and know about injustices of people, the more likely it is that they will be able and willing to accept changes. And I feel as if there are many men who's minds and hearts are changing or forming views that are not as patriarchal as the past.

Women need male allies in the struggle for empowerment. They need men who want to do away with gender inequality, who want them to reach their potential as equal individuals. They need men like us to encourage a new form of masculine identity which isn't threatened by strong women.

Bettering opportunities for women across the globe is essential. Allowing women to stand together and be strong together is fantastic. But a change of mentality also needs to take place in male society simultaneously for these efforts to be worthwhile. A wider definition of masculinity needs to be adapted along with new notions of what it means to be a women. Without changing minds and gender roles in the world of both sexes, true empowerment for women can never be reached.

Teacher Appreciation vs Teacher Support

Last week, our school celebrated Wai Kru Day. Essentially the Thai version of Teacher Appreciation Day, it's a time where students in this country are meant to show defference and gratitude to their teachers. At our school, teachers dress in traditional Thai garb and take part in a ceremony where our students present us with homemade bouqeuts of local flowers wrapped in banana leaves.

 The ceremony goes something like this: Students and teachers walk to a predetermined location (for first grade that's the school chapel). The students and teachers sit down in said location and listen to someone speak about the importance of honoring teachers. Or at least that's what we can gather. I only pickup tidits from the speech and, because of their attention spans, I think most of my first grade students only comprehend around 10% of what's being told to them. Six and seven years old is not too young for bloated gatherings in the Thai school system.

 When the speaker is finished, the teachers descend to a row of chairs and take a seat in front of several large woven alters. Then the children, with a lot of direction by other staff, present their bouqeuts to the teachers. If all goes according to plan the students should wai (bow while pressing their palms together) to their teachers, hand their bouquet over and then wai once more after the teacher puts the flowers on the alter. But, as with most everything else in first grade, nothing goes in a straight sequence. Some of the children miss their ques. Some don't bow in sequence with the others or they linger too long around the alters. Traffic jams ensue. And of course there's the noise, always the noise. It follows any large group of six and seven year olds. And three hundred of them together in a single four walled building will make a few sounds, even if they behave as well as they can. Kids chattering with eachother in the seats and lines, kids touching or playing eachother, kids getting into fights -the chapel with it's high ceiling is filled with the echoes of this commotion. Finally, when the alters are overflowing with flowers the teachers rise, a prayer is said and the students and teachers leave. As we depart, we see custodial staff entering the chapel with large garbage bags to dispose of the three hundred or so bouquets left near the front.

 All in all, it's a touching and sentimental ceremony, especially with little kids. Yet as I passed by the soon to be filled bags, I couldn't help but feel as if there were other ways that students and others could make teachers feel supported as well as appreciated.

 As a foreigner in Thailand, teaching at the well funded private school I am at, I have a number of priveleges which I'm grateful for. I'll be the first to admit that some of these priveleges are more merited than others. Even so, teaching is a draining, exhausting, time consuming and extremely underappreciated profession in so many corners of the world. In many countries, teachers suffer from astronomical class sizes, scarce funding and resources, administrative red tape from the government, unmotivated students and unbelievebly long work days with very few vacations or benifits.

 On that day, walking back to the first grade building, I joked (half seriously) with another teacher that a better use of Wai Kru day would be to give teachers a day off and a cheque to spend on whatever they wanted.

 For as nice as Wai Kru and other days for appreciating teachers are with their ceremonies and gestures, ultimately they are just a pat on the back or a handshake. And across the board, teachers need so so much more. And, they do little if anything to make the difficult realities of the profession any easier. 

 At our school, when the flowers were scooped up and thrown away when the teachers had made it back to their offices and the students to their homerooms our day went about as usual. Our students were still just as they were before they gave us their flowers. Still wild, still energentic, still hard to control at times, still all too ready to drift away and lose interest in a millisecond. The good students were still attentive, the lazy students still lazy, the kids with ADD and other learning disabilities still couldn't pay attention no matter how hard they might try.

 For many, the deference they'd been coached to show in the chapel faded as soon as they left. And as teachers, we still had to work with the same convoluted curriculum and enormous teaching load we always have to cope with.

 A bouquet of flowers is nice, especially when it's given with a smile by a student you know and love. It feels good to be appreciated a day out of the year, but I feel as if many teachers around the globe, especially for those in thankless schools and positions, would feel better if everyday of the year was regarded as teacher support day instead.