The most thrilling part of the weekend, of course, was meeting the extended Mythgard Mythcon gang. You could not ask for a nicer group of people. One student, who flew in from New Zealand for the occasion, even brought with her a few amulets to bring us good luck in our presentations. We all attended each other's presentations, bringing extra-friendly faces front and center (amidst an already friendly crowd).† All of our papers were well-received, and one actually won an award!!
The two guests of honor gave interesting talks, although I particularly liked Father Ron Murphy, a very engaging speaker who talked about how the Christian myth was successfully translated and adapted to accommodate the pre-existing Norse myths. He contrasted one missionary's rather high-handed and deeply offensive approach ("You heathens worship a tree?! Cut it down!!") with a more nuanced approach that started with an appreciation of the salvation myth of the tree Yggdrasil. He showed us how the nuanced, synergistic approach of more astute and sympathetic missionaries affected the architecture and designs of churches in the area -- and how these designs have been misinterpreted by folks who seek to impose Mediterranean ideas and imagery on the Norse landscape. Amazing. The lecture was nicely illustrated, although my favorite image was of Christ crucified in tangled vines; I really liked how he had "rescued" it from the usual interpretation simply by having what he thinks are vines on Yggdrasil colored in green.‡
There were concerts and movies (as well as general socializing) every night, which I enjoyed. Among the particular highlights for me:
- From the film series, I found "Momotaro's Sea Eagles" (Japan 1942) of particular interest. Our host described it as an animated wartime propaganda film "in which the Peach Boy from Japanese folklore makes a surprise attack on Demon Island." Basically, it is a mythologization of the attack on Pearl Harbor from a deeply Japanese sensibility -- the bombers are very cute little bunny rabbits, birds (supposedly pheasants, though they looked woodpeckers to me), and monkeys, as well as at least one dog. Apparently, it was intended for children; according to the Nishikata Film Review, "the ads proclaim that the film is not only sponsored by the Naval Ministry but recommended by the Ministry of Education “as a living textbook for your children.”"
I couldn't help thinking of a book of Japanese cartoons which I bought in Tokyo many moons ago. I ultimately gave it to a friend, but had looked through it first and was really struck by how different the cartoons were throughout the book. To western eyes, they could seem jarringly eclectic, for instance, an innocently childish cartoon might be followed by a rather graphic S&M cartoon. (The book was quite large -- perhaps as thick as a traditional phonebook -- and I believe, although I am not certain, that this was a compilation of entirely unrelated cartoons.)ξ
- The highlight of the concerts for me was a taiko drum concert Saturday night. I arrived late, but just in time to accept the invitation to join them on stage for a lesson! Perhaps 10 mild-mannered Mythcon attendees took up the challenge -- and the drumsticks. Before an admiring audience we learned a few different drumstrokes in a simple rhythm pattern: L1, R1, L2, R2; L1, R1, L2, L2, R2 R2; L1, R1, L2, L2, L2, R2, R2, R2.
The L1 and R1 were the same steady "neutral" stroke throughout, while the L2 and R2 phased through several iterations. In the first iteration, L2/R2 were twice as fast as L1/R1. In the second iteration, L2/R2 were super-soft. In the third iteration, L2/R2 were rim-hits at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. In the fourth iteration, we were supposed to throw and catch the drumsticks in turn for L2/R2 - that (ahem) didn't go so well for me!
So after we'd tried each sequence individually, we then performed what we'd learned forward and backward. It was very fun, although it was easy to lose focus and start doing things out of sequence. I found there was a sweet spot of mindfulness, where I was focused ("in the zone") but not worried about getting it right, that allowed me to tap out the pattern properly. One of the regular drummers congratulated me afterward, which was very nice of him (though he was probably just trying to recruit students for their taiko drumming classes!).
- Sunday night, I joined the Bardic Circle, where folks went around a circle to read, sing or recite poetry or songs. I hadn't prepared for it, but I was able to recite a few poems off the top of my head (popular favorites were Sonnet 116, which I misidentified as #105, and Ozymandius). I left the singing and original poetry to others who were more talented in those areas. Very fun. And although I haven't committed to attending next year's Mythcon, I've already started mentally picking out poems I'd like to share... Oh, yeah!
But according to Google Translate, it means "great joy in the dance." I hope that's correct, because it's a wonderful and very fitting motto.
For we did experience great joy in the amazing dance of academia and fandom that is Mythcon.
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Footnotes
FN * We had with us one Mythgard teaching assistant, five registered Mythgard students, and two siblings of Mythgard students who have been ruthlessly subjected to Mythgard lectures by dint of their residence in the same household.
FN † I was pretty nervous about my first-ever presentation of an academic paper at my first-ever academic conference, but it went well -- with plenty of assistance and support from friendly folks both inside and outside the Mythgard community. I'd written the paper originally for a Mythgard class, and my preceptor gave me extensive comments on it (as well as a good grade) after Mythcon accepted my abstract. Professor Olsen graciously held a mythmoot for those of us presenting papers, to help us understand what to expect, and one of last year's presenters also provided insight and reassurance. Two of my friends from church very kindly humored me by listening to me read the paper, and a few other friends and relatives agreed to read it themselves and didn't say anything mean about it afterward. At the conference, one audience member helped me draw a dragon on the chalkboard before my presentation (I figured it would be nice for people to have something to look at besides me), and my Mythgard Mythcon gang was right up front doing a good impersonation of people who are interested in the dramatic reading of a paper about dragons. Afterward, folks said nice things about it, and two audience members actually asked for copies of my paper! So I felt really good about the experience and highly recommend it to others.
FN ‡ As an example of the coolness of Father Murphy, he apparently spent 3 hours talking to a Druid (one of our Mythgardians) and then went out and bought Trader Joe's Druid Circle cookies for him. Of course, this also reflects well on the coolness of the Druid. There is a mutual coolness factor here which cannot be ignored.
FN ξ I also thought of my great-uncle Edwin, who was at Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack. He declined to speak about his experience even 40+ years later (the one time I met him). My understanding, however, is that he remained bitter toward the Japanese his entire life. His lingering hatred is very difficult for me to understand, given my friends and experience, and the emphasis on compassion, redemption and forgiveness in my upbringing. (And what about those who were born long after the war was over??) But I suppose those were different days, so he grew up with different assumptions and different cultural indoctrination. And I certainly cannot pretend to have had any experience like his: he was presumably one of the few survivors of a close-knit group, soldiers in a nation that was not at war, who were the officially sanctioned, specifically intended military target of another country's government. That is, there may be something particularly horrific (from a soldier's perspective) when Military X attacks Military Y in an organized manner without warning, without provocation, and without any declaration of war.
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