Meisylvan literature is extensive but less fantastic than most. Their folk tales, far from having mystical characters and wild happenstance, tend to concern wily tricksters facing all-too-real troubles such as disease and warfare. Wood sylvan lore largely focuses on such characters, holding up lateral thinking and misdirection as powerful skills. Many of the great legends follow the Elarairas Brothers, a rabbit-form and fox-form pair who led their tribe to success against countless enemies. Their greatest exploit was stealing the sword of a naisylvan queen, removing her power over the sea and protecting the Elarairas tribe from attack.
The most notable form of meisylvan writing is the Felasti, or ‘Novel Song’. Felasta are extended poems that use different rhyming schemes and meters to convey shifting tones or recurring motifs. An enormous amount of stylistic variation springs from different uses of these schemes and meters. Some Felasta rhyme differently for dialogue, or switch to a rolling meter for battle scenes, or change styles between different viewpoint characters.
Felasta in the classical style are called ‘Chisten Felasta’ (Mirror Novel-Songs). These capture tales where upheaval or change brings a new state very similar to the old. Specifically, in Chisten Felasta two seemingly different characters or groups share some underlying similarity so that, when one triumphs, they end up acting much as the other.
Chisten Felasta reflect a deeply-held meisylvan belief in cycles. They speak of the ‘seasons’ of history, a grand rhythm of repeating patterns. Many historians hold that this concept derives from the meisylphs’ enduring mistreatment at the hands of naisylphs. Some claim that it is a defeatist attitude, a culture carving their oppression in stone. They point to Felasta such as the melancholy Merishem Toch (Woodshadow Road) saga, where a tribe flees a bitter winter and troll invasion. They reach their promised land at the dawn of a new winter and find that wolves seek the same haven.
Some say that this view is a hopeful one, a belief that the naisylphs will be cast down when their own winter arrives. Weldskash (Birchfire), a celebrated classic, and similar tales seem to bear this opinion out. In Weldskash, an antagonistic dominant tribe is defeated with the help of a great forest fire. However, the former underdogs grow as brutal and hedonistic as their old masters.
A third faction claims that the meisylvan belief in cycles is a reflection of druidic philosophy. Druids hold that all creatures struggle against each other, forming a great equilibrium. Some historians hold that meisylphs simply believe in a more tumultuous version, where the conflict ebbs and flows and victors cycle through. This theory represents a surprisingly contentious deviation from the original druid belief, but it has been gaining traction in academic circles.
The most notable form of meisylvan writing is the Felasti, or ‘Novel Song’. Felasta are extended poems that use different rhyming schemes and meters to convey shifting tones or recurring motifs. An enormous amount of stylistic variation springs from different uses of these schemes and meters. Some Felasta rhyme differently for dialogue, or switch to a rolling meter for battle scenes, or change styles between different viewpoint characters.
Felasta in the classical style are called ‘Chisten Felasta’ (Mirror Novel-Songs). These capture tales where upheaval or change brings a new state very similar to the old. Specifically, in Chisten Felasta two seemingly different characters or groups share some underlying similarity so that, when one triumphs, they end up acting much as the other.
Chisten Felasta reflect a deeply-held meisylvan belief in cycles. They speak of the ‘seasons’ of history, a grand rhythm of repeating patterns. Many historians hold that this concept derives from the meisylphs’ enduring mistreatment at the hands of naisylphs. Some claim that it is a defeatist attitude, a culture carving their oppression in stone. They point to Felasta such as the melancholy Merishem Toch (Woodshadow Road) saga, where a tribe flees a bitter winter and troll invasion. They reach their promised land at the dawn of a new winter and find that wolves seek the same haven.
Some say that this view is a hopeful one, a belief that the naisylphs will be cast down when their own winter arrives. Weldskash (Birchfire), a celebrated classic, and similar tales seem to bear this opinion out. In Weldskash, an antagonistic dominant tribe is defeated with the help of a great forest fire. However, the former underdogs grow as brutal and hedonistic as their old masters.
A third faction claims that the meisylvan belief in cycles is a reflection of druidic philosophy. Druids hold that all creatures struggle against each other, forming a great equilibrium. Some historians hold that meisylphs simply believe in a more tumultuous version, where the conflict ebbs and flows and victors cycle through. This theory represents a surprisingly contentious deviation from the original druid belief, but it has been gaining traction in academic circles.