Mianthroperspection - Stepping out of the human in your fantasy writing or "How does a dragon really feel?"

Mianthroperspection - Stepping out of the human in your fantasy writing or "How does a dragon really feel?"
by: Will Kalif


Mianthroperspection is art of writing from the viewpoint of an animal or an inanimate object and it is something that fantasy writers have been doing for a very long time. But until now it has gone unnamed or mislabeled as anthropomorphism.

The Roots of the word

It is a merging of two Greek words: Mi for not and anthro for human; and the English word "perspective". So Mianthroperspection would be the art of writing from a non human perspective.

To understand this tool of the fantasy writer let's first take a look at anthropomorphism. It is the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects or animals and a good example of this would be the owl. We assign wisdom to the owl and in many fantasy stories he acts accordingly. Often he wears glasses and is very aristocratic in nature and behavior and he is always a cornucopia of wisdom. This is classic anthropomorphism and it helps us understand ourselves. But the important thing to remember here is that we have assigned human characteristics to the non-human owl. We haven't tried to examine how the owl really feels, or what he, as an owl, really thinks? And this distinction is where mianthroperspection comes in.

Mianthroperspection steps right out of the human being and steps right into the animal or object in question. It attempts to describe what the animal or object might feel or think, and it is a manifestation of imagination in its highest form because it is a total separation from the human viewpoint. And it is in this contrasting opinion that we get a fresh look at being human. A good example of this would be the typical viewpoint of dragons in many fantasy stories. Dragons are often described in stories as living for thousands of years, sometimes tens of thousands of years and writers have stepped out of themselves and into the dragon in terms of how a dragon thinks about time. If a dragon lives this long wouldn’t it have a different view of time? Wouldn’t it see time differently than we as humans see it? A writer would imagine that a dragon would see the passing of time very differently than a human would see it. How would a dragon feel if it had to wait a day for something? How would it feel if it had to wait a year for something? How about if it had to wait a hundred years?

Remember this in your writing. Do not just assign human values and opinions to the non-human characters you write about. Step into their lives and try to feel and understand how they might feel and understand life from the reality of what life is like for them. It will stretch your imagination and it will add a truly unique perspective on the characters – and by adding a contrasting point of view it will shed a unique light on your human characters.

About The Author
Will Kalif is a webmaster and the author of two epic fantasy novels.

You can download and read his novels in print or audio format on his website at http://www.stormthecastle.com

Or you can check out his website devoted to epic fantasy at: http://www.epic-fantasy.com

The First Dragon

The First Dragon
by: James Crowe


Have you ever been curious about the first Dragon in history? Where it was from, did it have a name? I know I was. I also realized that I would have to settle on the first Dragon in recorded history. Since time travel still eludes me. That is when I decided to do a little surfing, well, a lot of surfing and a lot of reading, as it turned out. Yes, I even hit the hard copy.

At first I was instantly gratified, as I'm sure many have been before me. A lot of web sites that I went to all told me the same... my quest was over...it was Anzu of Babylon, a.k.a Zu, c.1st Millennium B.C. From "Ninurta vs. Anzu" or "The Myth of Anzu". I read the descriptions, and with the exception of a few minor variations, it was this: Body and head of a lion, wings of an eagle (I didn't realize they had eagles in Babylon), razor sharp talons, the beak of a bird with teeth, and an armor-plated breast. It to me was a bit of a let down. I don't know about you, but to me Anzu sounds more like a griffin than a dragon. As I'm sure you will agree from the Babylonian depiction to the right. I also noticed a lot of copy and paste activity between a lot of the sites. So I decided to take a closer look, and actually read the original story as translated from the Babylonian clay tablets. At no time is Anzu referred to as a dragon. In other Babylonian text it is actual referred to as the Anzu Bird. In Sumerian text of the 3rd Millennium BC, Anzu was known as, the Zu-bird, a mythological creature which at times wrought mischief. From - Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the nether world - (Sumerian) : "In its branches, the Anzu bird settled its young." So, as far as the Babylonians and I are concerned, not only is Anzu not the first dragon, but not a dragon at all, and deserves no further mention. I did feel I was on the right trail though,

so I pushed on into deeper study of Babylonian text.

My Reading and the views in other web sites brought me to an older "Dragon" in Babylonian and Assyrian text, Tiamat, creator of the gods and earth. c.2nd Millennium B.C. From the "Enuma Elish" or "The Seven Tablets of Creation". The fact that Tiamat was a dragon is not clear. In fact she has about as many detractors as she does supporters. She is often described as a Serpent type Water Dragon. Except for that fact that she was said to have given birth to dragons, along with a host of other creatures;

"She set up vipers and dragons, and the monster Lahamu,
And hurricanes, and raging hounds, and scorpion-men,
And mighty tempests, and fish-men, and rams;
They bore cruel weapons, without fear of the fight.
Her commands were mighty, none could resist them;
After this fashion, huge of stature, she made eleven [kinds of] monsters."

the descriptive evidence in the tale leaves one wondering to the fact of her being a dragon. She is in fact called a woman in the text, and mention is made of her lips. The following are all the pieces of description contained in the text of the Enuma Elish for Tiamat:

First: (Tablet 1)

unto Tiamut, the glistening one

Next: (Tablet 2)

Tiamat, who is a woman, is armed and attacketh thee.
.. rejoice and be glad;
The neck of Tiamat shalt thou swiftly trample under foot.
.. rejoice and be glad;

Next: (Tablet 4)

But Tiamat... , she turned not her neck,
With lips that failed not she uttered rebellious words:

Next: (Tablet 4)

Tiamat opened her mouth to its full extent,

Next: (Tablet 4)

He seized the spear and burst her belly,

Next: (Tablet 4)

And the lord stood upon Tiamat's hinder parts

Tiamat a dragon? I leave that to you. I myself do not find enough evidence in the old text to support the fact, but likewise I do not find enough to dismiss her. But, as for being the first dragon, that I can dismiss. (For those of you who enjoy Creation Myths though, her story is the first Creation Myth in recorded history!)

I was scratching my head. Here I was deep in the world that the Greeks called Mesopotamia, home of the Babylonians and Assyrian, the birth place of civilization, and writing, but where was my dragon! That's when I smacked myself in the head. The region may have been the birth place of writing, but it wasn't the Babylonians or the Assyrian that were the parents, they were but meir students...of the Sumerians! Mesopotamia, was originally Sumeria for over two thousand years! So I head for Sumeria!

And that's where I found it! The First Dragon written of, and the first dragon slayer story, and in the first written language Cuneiform!

KUR

Sumeria 3rd Millennium B.C.

"Since the dragon-slaying theme was an important motif in the Sumerian mythology of the third millennium B. C., it is not unreasonable to assume that many a thread in the texture of the Greek and early Christian dragon tales winds back to Sumerian sources."

Samuel Noah Kramer, Sumerian Mythology, 1944

"Samuel Noah Kramer spent most of his life studying this literature, by piecing together clay tablets in far-flung museums."

Sumerian Mythology, 1944, revised 1961

We find mention of Kur in three myths from the 4th - 3rd Millennium B.C., (more than a millennium before Tiamat!), In the introductory prologue to the epic tale "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World,"( written on eight tablets - seven excavated in Nippur and one in Ur), Where Enki, the water-god, fights Kur after he learns that The goddess Ereshkigal was carried off violently into the nether world, by Kur. Enki fought Kur from a boat, and Kur fought back savagely with stones of all sizes, and attacked Enki's boat with the primeval waters which it controlled. Unfortunately for us, the author of this tale is so anxious to proceed with the Gilgamesh tale that he doesn't finish the dragon part, and leaves us hanging. It is certain that Enki wins though because he is in the rest of the poem, Kur is not.

See anything familiar; Damsel in distress, knight comes to the rescue and slays the dragon.

The second version of the slaying-of-the-dragon myth can be found in "The Feats and Exploits of Ninurta." (49 tablets) A significant version, due to the fact that it is evident that it was utilized by the Semitic redactors in the creation of the Babylonian Creation Myth featuring Tiamat.

In this version, Ninurta, the warrior-god, is the hero of the story. His personified weapon, Sharur, kisses up to him in a drawn out speech extolling the heroic qualities and deeds of Ninurta to convince him to go after Kur, and attach and destroy him. What Sharur has against Kur is not written in the text that is available. Ninurta leaves to do as asked, but finds himself lacking and "flees like a bird". Sharur though, won't let it go and speaks, reassuring and encouraging Ninurta with his words. "Ninurta now attacks Kur fiercely with all the weapons at his command, and Kur is completely destroyed."

Things fall apart after that. The primeval waters of the nether world which Kur had been in control of rise to the surface so violently that no fresh water can reach the fields and gardens. The gods of the land in charge of irrigation and cultivation, are desperate. The Tigris does not flood as usual, and the river water is unfit for use.

"Famine was severe, nothing was produced,
The small rivers were not cleaned, the dirt was not carried off,
On the steadfast fields no water was sprinkled, there was no digging of ditches,
In all the lands there were no crops, only weeds grew.
Thereupon the lord sets his lofty mind,
Ninurta, the son of Enlil, brings great things into being."

Ninurta then piled up stones over the dead body of Kur, and kept piling them until he had a great wall in front of the land. The wall blocked and held back the raging primeval waters (mighty waters) stopping the waters of the lower regions (nether world) from rising to the surface of the earth. Ninurta gathered up the waters that had already flooded the land and lead them into the Tigris. Which can now over flow and water the fields.

"What had been scattered, he gathered,
What by Kur had been dissipated,He guided and hurled into the Tigris,
The high waters it pours over the farmland."

The third version of the slaying-of-the-dragon myth can be found in "Inanna and Ebih." A one hundred and ninety line poem. (12 tablets)

The dragon-slayer in this version of the story is a goddess, Inanna, curiously known as both the goddess of love and also as the goddess of battle and strife, (She must have been married), and is also referred to in many Sumerian hymns as "The Destroyer of Kur." Kur, is also referred to as The 'mountain,' in the Poem. Did I mention that Kur was also the first fire breathing dragon?

It, the poem, begins with a long passage that extolls the virtues of Inanna. It is followed by a long speech by Inanna to An (the leading deity of the Sumerian pantheon.) (by the third millennium. B. C. though, Enlil, the air-god, had already taken Ans place. Placing this in the forth millennium B.C.) The meaning of her speech is sometimes hard to understand, her attitude is clear though; Either Kur, who appears unaware of, or perhaps is oblivious to, her power, glorifies her virtues, and becomes submissive, she will do violence to the monster. This is part of her threat:

"The long spear I shall hurl upon it,
The throw-stick, the weapon, I shall direct against it,
At its neighboring forests I shall strike up fire,
At its . . . I shall set up the bronze ax,
All its waters like Gibil (the fire-god) the purifier I shall dry up,
Like the mountain Aratta, I shall remove its dread,
Like a city cursed by An, it will not be restored,
Like (a city) on which Enlil frowns, it shall not rise up."

An responds by giving her a detailed account of all of Kurs mischief that he has wrought against the gods:

"Against the standing place of the gods it has directed its terror,
In the sitting place of the Anunnaki it has led forth fearfulness,
Its dreadful fear it has hurled upon the land,
The 'mountain,' its dreadful rays of fire it has directed against all the lands."

An continues with a description of Kurs power and wealth, and warns Inanna against attacking it. But Inanna doesn't listen to Ans discouraging speech. Filled with anger and wrath she opens the "house of battle" she leads her weapons and aids and attacks and destroys Kur. She then stations herself upon Kur, and utters a paean of self-glorification.

So there you have it, the first dragon in recorded history, given to us by the sumerians.

From the book Sumerian Mythology:

"The Sumerians were a non-Semitic, non-Indo-European people who lived in southern Babylonia from 4000-3000 B.C.E. They invented cuneiform writing, and their spiritual beliefs influenced all successive Near Eastern religions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam."

In closing let me say that the Sumerians gave us writing, they gave us culture, but most of all they gave us dragons. We should give them a moment of silence.

Reference Material:

Ninurta vs. Anzu, c.1st Millennium B.C., author; unknown

Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the nether world, c.3rd Millennium B.C., author; unknown

"Enuma Elish" or "The Seven Tablets of Creation, c.2nd Millennium B.C., author; unkown

Sumerian Mythology, 1944, 1961, by; Samuel Noah Kramer


About The Author

James Crowe is the owner of Fantasyoutpost.com. He has been dealing with Fantasy and Medieval items and collectibles for many years. http://www.fantasyoutpost.com

Use of this article is permitted if this section is retained.

Dragon Wars Movie



Based on the Korean legend, unknown creatures will return and devastate the planet. Reporter Ethan Kendrick is called in to investigate the matter, and he arrives at the conclusion that a girl, stricken with a mysterious illness, named Sarah is suppose to help him. The Imoogi makes its way to Los Angeles, wreaking havoc and destruction. With the entire city under arms, will Ethan and Sarah make it in time to save the people of Los Angeles?

Dragon Documentary at Discovery Channel



How To Slay The Toxic Dragon In Your Life

How To "Slay The Dragon" In Your Life In Five Simple Steps

Any time you spend around that toxic dragon , you are adding another cup full of misery to your life. You must accept that the toxic person you are with will not change, does not want to change, and does not want you to change. The toxic people want to keep poisoning you with their behavior and feel that they have every right to do so.

Toxic people roam around freely and openly because they can. They take our energy, strength, love, and our precious time on this earth. This goes on and on and slowly before we know it, our lives are used up,our hearts and souls are ruined, and the dragon keeps on going like the energizer bunny.

This is a truth that each of us needs to understand. Some people cannot be around each other, be together, or even mix without harmful effects. There are definite mismatches that were never meant to be and certainly were not meant to continue.

Coming to grips with the fact that you must leave a toxic relationship is one of the most difficult things you will ever do. It is a life changing experience and you have to have the strength to do it.

Get Prepared To Slay The Dragon By Doing These Simple tasks:

Sit down with a friend, co worker, a neighbor, or a family member and review what is going on in the toxic relationship. You need someone who can help you put the whole situation in perspective. Unfortunately we may be so close we cannot see the forest through the trees. Maybe we have started to think all of this is our fault. (It isn't.) Make a list of what has been going on, the things that have been said or done which have left you feeling destroyed. Talk about how that toxic person makes you feel and how so far you have felt powerless to change things.

Realize that love and pain are not one and the same. You do not have a good or healthy relationship if you feel drained, used, hurt, and humiliated by that person. If you are angry, depressed, lonely, hurt when you are with this person, it is no good. It is not love. It is simply an addicition to the toxic drug of choice.

Is there a reason you have been sticking with this relationship which has nothing to do with your feelings? Are you staying in this relationship for your friends, for your parents for your kids? This is not good. The clock is ticking, your life is slipping away. You cannot stay in a toxic relationship for the sake of anyone else. The relationship has lost it's value if being around the person makes you feel horrible. Don't hold onto a hot potato.

Decide if you have to make the break and then do it permanently. No trial separations, no second chances, no giving it more time. Time will only suck more energy out of you and make the dragon stronger. This is asking a lot from you because you have become somewhat used to this toxic relationship. In some ways you find yourself attracted to it, maybe for money, security, sex, etc. Sometimes you have to give up a lot to get out.

Work on your health and physical fitness. Strong body, strong mind. Work on curbing any of your habits which are hurting you, like overeating or using alcohol or drugs. Make sure you are in shape to slay the dragon before you start. The dragon will not go away easily. There may be a confrontation and you need to be strong enough to handle it.

Only you can get yourself out of the toxic relationship. Only you can slay the toxic dragon. You have given the power away to someone who has no love for you. Now is the time to take back the power and take back your life.