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77-536: The area is known for its myths and legends , such as Grimms' Fairy Tales , and the " Sleeping Beauty " castle of Sababurg is internationally known. The Reinhardswald is located in the north of North Hesse between Kassel and Bad Karlshafen , Hann. Münden and Hofgeismar . In the north and east this woodland area runs up against the Weser and, in the southeast and south against the Fulda ; both rivers form locally

154-622: A moral , fable , allegory or a parable , or collection of traditional stories, understood to be false. It came eventually to be applied to similar bodies of traditional stories among other polytheistic cultures around the world. Thus "mythology" entered the English language before "myth". Johnson 's Dictionary , for example, has an entry for mythology, but not for myth. Indeed, the Greek loanword mythos ( pl. mythoi ) and Latinate mythus (pl. mythi ) both appeared in English before

231-449: A "disease of language". He speculated that myths arose due to the lack of abstract nouns and neuter gender in ancient languages. Anthropomorphic figures of speech , necessary in such languages, were eventually taken literally, leading to the idea that natural phenomena were in actuality conscious or divine. Not all scholars, not even all 19th-century scholars, accepted this view. Lucien Lévy-Bruhl claimed that "the primitive mentality

308-449: A book on the comparative study of mythology and religion—argued that humans started out with a belief in magical rituals; later, they began to lose faith in magic and invented myths about gods, reinterpreting their rituals as religious rituals intended to appease the gods. Historically, important approaches to the study of mythology have included those of Vico , Schelling , Schiller , Jung , Freud , Lévy-Bruhl , Lévi-Strauss , Frye ,

385-476: A drive of about 38 km on mostly empty, small and often very narrow roads that, especially in the south of the forest, are often arrow straight. And apart from Gottsbüren there are no settlements until the southern edge of the Reinhardswald near Holzhausen. The road through the north of the forest is a designated tourist route called the " Weser Renaissance Road " and the road through the southern part of

462-477: A failed or obsolete mode of thought, often by interpreting myth as the primitive counterpart of modern science within a unilineal framework that imagined that human cultures are travelling, at different speeds, along a linear path of cultural development. One of the dominant mythological theories of the latter 19th century was nature mythology , the foremost exponents of which included Max Müller and Edward Burnett Tylor . This theory posited that "primitive man"

539-446: A methodology that allows us to understand the complexity of the myth and its manifestations in contemporary times, is justified. Because "myth" is sometimes used in a pejorative sense, some scholars have opted for "mythos" instead. "Mythos" now more commonly refers to its Aristotelian sense as a "plot point" or to a body of interconnected myths or stories, especially those belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition. It

616-535: A myth can be highly controversial. Many religious adherents believe that the narratives told in their respective religious traditions are historical without question, and so object to their identification as myths while labelling traditional narratives from other religions as such. Hence, some scholars may label all religious narratives as "myths" for practical reasons, such as to avoid depreciating any one tradition because cultures interpret each other differently relative to one another. Other scholars may abstain from using

693-470: A pasture can limit the ability to use that land for other purposes in the future. Integrating pasture into existing woodland presents challenges as well: the woodland likely needs to be thinned to increase light infiltration, which is time consuming and may require heavy machinery , as well as a strategy for dealing with felled trees. Thinned woodlands are also likely to experience a flush of growth in weeds and seedling trees that must be dealt with to prevent

770-486: A pattern of behavior to be imitated, testifies to the efficacy of ritual with its practical ends and establishes the sanctity of cult . Another definition of myth comes from myth criticism theorist and professor José Manuel Losada . According to Cultural Myth Criticism, the studies of myth must explain and understand "myth from inside", that is, only "as a myth". Losada defines myth as "a functional, symbolic and thematic narrative of one or several extraordinary events with

847-536: A poetic description of the sea as "raging" was eventually taken literally and the sea was then thought of as a raging god. Some thinkers claimed that myths result from the personification of objects and forces. According to these thinkers, the ancients worshiped natural phenomena, such as fire and air, gradually deifying them. For example, according to this theory, ancients tended to view things as gods, not as mere objects. Thus, they described natural events as acts of personal gods, giving rise to myths. According to

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924-600: A primordial age when the world had not achieved its later form. Origin myths explain how a society's customs , institutions , and taboos were established and sanctified. National myths are narratives about a nation's past that symbolize the nation's values. There is a complex relationship between recital of myths and the enactment of rituals . The word "myth" comes from Ancient Greek μῦθος ( mȳthos ), meaning 'speech, narrative, fiction, myth, plot'. In turn, Ancient Greek μυθολογία ( mythología , 'story', 'lore', 'legends', or 'the telling of stories') combines

1001-621: A scholarly term for "[a] traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events." The Greek term mythología was then borrowed into Late Latin , occurring in the title of Latin author Fulgentius ' 5th-century Mythologiæ to denote what is now referred to as classical mythology —i.e., Greco-Roman etiological stories involving their gods. Fulgentius' Mythologiæ explicitly treated its subject matter as allegories requiring interpretation and not as true events. The Latin term

1078-565: A step further, incorporating the study of the transcendent dimension (its function, its disappearance) to evaluate the role of myth as a mirror of contemporary culture. Cultural myth criticism Cultural myth criticism, without abandoning the analysis of the symbolic , invades all cultural manifestations and delves into the difficulties in understanding myth today. This cultural myth criticism studies mythical manifestations in fields as wide as literature , film and television , theater , sculpture , painting , video games , music , dancing ,

1155-436: A transcendent, sacred and supernatural referent; that lacks, in principle, historical testimony; and that refers to an individual or collective, but always absolute, cosmogony or eschatology". According to the hylistic myth research by assyriologist Annette Zgoll and classic philologist Christian Zgoll , "A myth can be defined as an Erzählstoff [narrative material] which is polymorphic through its variants and – depending on

1232-576: A world of the remote past, very different from that of the present. Definitions of "myth" vary to some extent among scholars, though Finnish folklorist Lauri Honko offers a widely-cited definition: Myth, a story of the gods, a religious account of the beginning of the world , the creation , fundamental events, the exemplary deeds of the gods as a result of which the world, nature and culture were created together with all parts thereof and given their order, which still obtains. A myth expresses and confirms society's religious values and norms, it provides

1309-421: Is a condition of the human mind and not a stage in its historical development." Recent scholarship, noting the fundamental lack of evidence for "nature mythology" interpretations among people who actually circulated myths, has likewise abandoned the key ideas of "nature mythology". Frazer saw myths as a misinterpretation of magical rituals, which were themselves based on a mistaken idea of natural law. This idea

1386-465: Is a form of understanding and telling stories that are connected to power, political structures, and political and economic interests. These approaches contrast with approaches, such as those of Joseph Campbell and Eliade , which hold that myth has some type of essential connection to ultimate sacred meanings that transcend cultural specifics. In particular, myth was studied in relation to history from diverse social sciences. Most of these studies share

1463-459: Is increased farmland utilization - silvopasture can incorporate unused woodlands into production and produce multiple products on the same acreage. This diversifies farm income sources and increases farm viability. Silvopasture has been found to increase wildlife abundance and diversity. Trees in silvopasture systems provide livestock with protection from sun and wind, which can increase animal comfort and improve production. Trees can provide shade in

1540-423: Is nobody's truth. Myths are somebody's truth." One theory claims that myths are distorted accounts of historical events. According to this theory, storytellers repeatedly elaborate upon historical accounts until the figures in those accounts gain the status of gods. For example, the myth of the wind-god Aeolus may have evolved from a historical account of a king who taught his people to use sails and interpret

1617-472: Is often thought to differ from genres such as legend and folktale in that neither are considered to be sacred narratives. Some kinds of folktales, such as fairy stories , are not considered true by anyone, and may be seen as distinct from myths for this reason. Main characters in myths are usually gods , demigods or supernatural humans, while legends generally feature humans as their main characters. Many exceptions and combinations exist, as in

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1694-636: Is sometimes known as "mythography", a term also used for a scholarly anthology of myths or of the study of myths generally. Key mythographers in the Classical tradition include: Other prominent mythographies include the thirteenth-century Prose Edda attributed to the Icelander Snorri Sturluson , which is the main surviving survey of Norse Mythology from the Middle Ages. Jeffrey G. Snodgrass (professor of anthropology at

1771-510: Is sometimes used specifically for modern, fictional mythologies, such as the world building of H. P. Lovecraft . Mythopoeia ( mytho- + -poeia , 'I make myth') was termed by J. R. R. Tolkien , amongst others, to refer to the "conscious generation" of mythology. It was notoriously also suggested, separately, by Nazi ideologist Alfred Rosenberg . Comparative mythology is a systematic comparison of myths from different cultures. It seeks to discover underlying themes that are common to

1848-579: The Iliad , Odyssey and Aeneid . Moreover, as stories spread between cultures or as faiths change, myths can come to be considered folktales, their divine characters recast as either as humans or demihumans such as giants , elves and faeries . Conversely, historical and literary material may acquire mythological qualities over time. For example, the Matter of Britain (the legendary history of Great Britain, especially those focused on King Arthur and

1925-457: The Republic . His critique was primarily on the grounds that the uneducated might take the stories of gods and heroes literally. Nevertheless, he constantly referred to myths throughout his writings. As Platonism developed in the phases commonly called Middle Platonism and neoplatonism , writers such as Plutarch , Porphyry , Proclus , Olympiodorus , and Damascius wrote explicitly about

2002-860: The Theologia Mythologica (1532). The first modern, Western scholarly theories of myth appeared during the second half of the 19th century —at the same time as "myth" was adopted as a scholarly term in European languages. They were driven partly by a new interest in Europe's ancient past and vernacular culture, associated with Romantic Nationalism and epitomised by the research of Jacob Grimm (1785–1863). This movement drew European scholars' attention not only to Classical myths, but also material now associated with Norse mythology , Finnish mythology , and so forth. Western theories were also partly driven by Europeans' efforts to comprehend and control

2079-622: The Colorado State University ) has termed India's Bhats as mythographers. Myth criticism is a system of anthropological interpretation of culture created by French philosopher Gilbert Durand . Scholars have used myth criticism to explain the mythical roots of contemporary fiction, which means that modern myth criticism needs to be interdisciplinary . Professor Losada offers his own methodologic, hermeneutic and epistemological approach to myth. While assuming mythopoetical perspectives, Losada's Cultural Myth Criticism takes

2156-564: The Kassel Basin. The Reinhardswald comprises a very extensive, gently folded, extremely thickly forested and almost uninhabited Bunter sandstone plateau, which rises from about 200 m up to a maximum 472.2 m above NN and which tilts gently towards the west. Its two highest hills, both of which are heavily wooded, are called the Staufenberg (472.2 m) and Gahrenberg (472.1 m). At over 200 km² in area

2233-631: The ancient woodlands of Scotland , such as Rassal Ashwood in Ross-shire , and at Glen Finglas in the Trossachs . The Dalkeith Old Wood, belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch , cattle grazing beneath ancient oak , is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest ( SSSI ) (or 'ASSI'). Epping Forest is one of the principal remnants of wood pasture in England. Here, the grazing of cattle

2310-524: The 20th century, and are still-widespread in some areas. Wood pasture, one of the oldest land-use practices in human history, is a historical European land management system in which open woodland provided shelter and forage for grazing animals, particularly sheep and cattle , as well as woodland products such as timber for construction and fuel, coppiced stems for wattle and charcoal making and pollarded poles . Since Roman times, pigs have been released into beech and oak woodlands to feed on

2387-584: The Internet and other artistic fields . Myth criticism, a discipline that studies myths (mythology contains them, like a pantheon its statues), is by nature interdisciplinary: it combines the contributions of literary theory, the history of literature, the fine arts and the new ways of dissemination in the age of communication. Likewise, it undertakes its object of study from its interrelation with other human and social sciences, in particular sociology , anthropology and economics . The need for an approach, for

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2464-596: The Reinhardswald is one of the largest forests and most sparsely populated regions in Germany; within Hesse it is the largest contiguous area of forest. Beech and oak , in particular, thrive here and there are extensive areas of wood pasture ( Hutewald ). Only a few country roads cross the Reinhardswald. For instance, to cross the hills in a north-south direction from Helmarshausen via Gottsbüren  [ de ] to Immenhausen -Holzhausen by bicycle or car, requires

2541-482: The Reinhardswald is the so-called "Sleeping Beauty" castle of Sababurg with its wildlife park. In addition the nature reserve of the ancient forest of Sababurg ( Urwald Sababurg ), which is located between Sababurg Castle and Hofgeismar- Beberbeck recalls a long-forgotten time and a landscape of virgin forest. In early 2022, the Kassel regional council approved a plan to build 18 wind turbines, each 241 meters high, in

2618-497: The Reinhardswald, creating the largest wind farm in Hesse. Promoters claim to be placing the turbines in spots where the forest is already cleared due to damage by storms, summer droughts, and the bark beetle . The plan is opposed by citizen's groups, partly on grounds that the turbines would endanger birds and bats and would harm tourism. The hills and elevations within the Reinhardswald and its foothills include (heights in metres above Normalnull ): The Weser flows past just to

2695-475: The Reinhardswald, of which the most famous are described here: Version 1: Count Reinhard was a gambler and drinker. One night he was playing with the Bishop of Paderborn. After he had lost all his money, he wagered all his property on a game. He begged for grace and the bishop promised him a harvest wherever he sowed acorns. This popular version is also performed by a theatre group. Version 2: Count Reinhard ruled

2772-562: The Reinhardswald: The following towns and villages lie on the edge of the Reinhardswald: Somewhat further away from the Reinhardswald are: 51°31′N 9°31′E  /  51.517°N 9.517°E  / 51.517; 9.517 Myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from

2849-567: The Soviet school, and the Myth and Ritual School . The critical interpretation of myth began with the Presocratics . Euhemerus was one of the most important pre-modern mythologists. He interpreted myths as accounts of actual historical events, though distorted over many retellings. Sallustius divided myths into five categories: Plato condemned poetic myth when discussing education in

2926-536: The acorn and beech mast, and into fruit orchards to eat fallen fruit. Tree species and planting densities are studied over a range of sites at The Silvopastoral National Network Experiment. Natural England 's Environmental Stewardship scheme defines Wood Pasture, in the Farm Environmental Plan booklet, as a structure of open grown or high-forest in a matrix of grazed-grassland, heathland, and/or woodland floras. Their experience shows sheep use

3003-700: The area is part of the designated tourist route Deutsche Märchenstrasse (" German Fairy Tale Route ") (the "Sleeping Beauty Route"). The Reinhardswald was once an imperial forest. The northern end between the Weser and the Diemel was gifted by the Emperor, Henry II , to Helmarshausen Abbey ; the southern portion went to the Bishopric of Paderborn . Landgrave Henry of Hesse purchased the forest back in 1306 and pledged it in 1355 to Hesse, which then retained possession of

3080-613: The assumption that history and myth are not distinct in the sense that history is factual, real, accurate, and truth, while myth is the opposite. Wood pasture Silvopasture ( silva is forest in Latin) is the practice of integrating trees , forage , and the grazing of domesticated animals in a mutually beneficial way. It utilizes the principles of managed grazing , and it is one of several distinct forms of agroforestry . Properly managed silvopasture (grazed woodland) can increase overall productivity and long-term income due to

3157-857: The border with Lower Saxony . In the west it borders partly on the Esse and, in the northwest, on the Diemel . To the north of the Reinhardswald, on the far side of the Weser, is the Solling , to the northeast is the Kiffing and to the east, the Bramwald . To the southeast, beyond the Fulda, is the Kaufungen Forest ; not far away to the southwest of the Reinhardswald the Habichtswald looks down on

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3234-505: The combination of shade from trees and water uptake from tree roots may reduce drought impacts. Silvopasture is compatible with fruit, nut, and timber production. Grazing can serve as a cost-effective vegetation and weed control method. Silvopasture can also help reduce pests and disease in orchards - when introduced into an orchard after harvest, livestock are able to consume unharvested fruits, preventing pests and diseases from spreading via these unharvested fruits and in some cases consuming

3311-470: The concept of the Oedipus complex in his 1899 The Interpretation of Dreams . Jung likewise tried to understand the psychology behind world myths. Jung asserted that all humans share certain innate unconscious psychological forces, which he called archetypes . He believed similarities between the myths of different cultures reveals the existence of these universal archetypes. The mid-20th century saw

3388-597: The cultures, stories and religions they were encountering through colonialism . These encounters included both extremely old texts such as the Sanskrit Rigveda and the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh , and current oral narratives such as mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas or stories told in traditional African religions . The intellectual context for nineteenth-century scholars

3465-456: The east of the Reinhardswald in a deeply incised valley. To the southeast is the equally deep valley of the Fulda ; to the west the little Esse and, to the northeast, the Diemel . The Holz a pe is the longest stream within the uplands themselves, and is fed by numerous other brooks including the Holz ka pe and Lempe . There are also many ponds and pools . These places are located within

3542-493: The first example of "myth" in 1830. The main characters in myths are usually non-humans, such as gods , demigods , and other supernatural figures. Others include humans, animals, or combinations in their classification of myth. Stories of everyday humans, although often of leaders of some type, are usually contained in legends , as opposed to myths. Myths are sometimes distinguished from legends in that myths deal with gods, usually have no historical basis, and are set in

3619-402: The foremost functions of myth is to establish models for behavior and that myths may provide a religious experience. By telling or reenacting myths, members of traditional societies detach themselves from the present, returning to the mythical age, thereby coming closer to the divine. Honko asserted that, in some cases, a society reenacts a myth in an attempt to reproduce the conditions of

3696-482: The forest permanently and whose princes, especially Philip the Magnanimous used it as a favourite stag-hunting ground. Mining was carried out in and around the Reinhardswald for centuries. Evidence of brown coal mining at Gahrenberg (locally from 1842 to 1970 in the underground mine ) may be found as early as the time of Landgrave William IV in 1575. The early mining of alum ore and quartz sand, which

3773-423: The influential development of a structuralist theory of mythology , led by Lévi-Strauss . Strauss argued that myths reflect patterns in the mind and interpreted those patterns more as fixed mental structures, specifically pairs of opposites (good/evil, compassionate/callous), rather than unconscious feelings or urges. Meanwhile, Bronislaw Malinowski developed analyses of myths focusing on their social functions in

3850-711: The knights of the Round Table ) and the Matter of France , seem distantly to originate in historical events of the 5th and 8th centuries, respectively, and became mythologised over the following centuries. In colloquial use, "myth" can also be used of a collectively held belief that has no basis in fact, or any false story. This usage, which is often pejorative , arose from labelling the religious myths and beliefs of other cultures as incorrect, but it has spread to cover non-religious beliefs as well. As commonly used by folklorists and academics in other relevant fields, such as anthropology , "myth" has no implication whether

3927-413: The mighty forest, densely occupied by villages, but was sentenced to death for extortion and robbery. At his urgent entreaty he was allowed once more before his execution to cultivate the pastures and harvest them. But craftily, after destroying the villages, he sowed the farmers' fields with acorns, which ripened long after he was dead. Thus the Reinhardswald was born. The best known visitor destination in

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4004-494: The most-viable and prominent agroforestry practice in the United States. In the south eastern USA, longleaf pine / wiregrass restoration projects have trialled the effects on both economics and ecology of grazing cattle among the trees. This fire-resistant tree species originally grew at low density so that understory plants were available to browsing animals. The region was used as silvopastures by Spanish settlers from

4081-465: The myth-ritual theory, myth is tied to ritual. In its most extreme form, this theory claims myths arose to explain rituals. This claim was first put forward by Smith , who argued that people begin performing rituals for reasons not related to myth. Forgetting the original reason for a ritual, they account for it by inventing a myth and claiming the ritual commemorates the events described in that myth. James George Frazer —author of The Golden Bough ,

4158-583: The mythical age. For example, it might reenact the healing performed by a god at the beginning of time in order to heal someone in the present. Similarly, Barthes argued that modern culture explores religious experience. Since it is not the job of science to define human morality, a religious experience is an attempt to connect with a perceived moral past, which is in contrast with the technological present. Pattanaik defines mythology as "the subjective truth of people communicated through stories, symbols and rituals." He says, "Facts are everybody's truth. Fiction

4235-430: The myths of multiple cultures. In some cases, comparative mythologists use the similarities between separate mythologies to argue that those mythologies have a common source. This source may inspire myths or provide a common "protomythology" that diverged into the mythologies of each culture. A number of commentators have argued that myths function to form and shape society and social behaviour. Eliade argued that one of

4312-565: The narrative may be understood as true or otherwise. Among biblical scholars of both the Old and New Testament, the word "myth" has a technical meaning, in that it usually refers to "describe the actions of the other‐worldly in terms of this world" such as the Creation and the Fall. Since "myth" is popularly used to describe stories that are not objectively true , the identification of a narrative as

4389-443: The pasture from being overgrown. Pasture forages may also need to be established beneath the trees, a process which can be difficult if trees have already been felled. According to the wood-pasture hypothesis , open, grazed woodlands of some form or another would have been part of the original European wildwoods even before they were used by humans. Fruit and nut and silvopasture systems covered large portions of central Europe until

4466-426: The pests themselves. Silvopasture can be established by planting trees into existing pasture or by establishing pasture in existing woodland . The two methods differ significantly in the challenges they present. Planting trees into existing pasture presents several challenges: young trees must be protected from livestock, trees may take years to become productive (depending on the species), and planting trees in

4543-484: The rationalization of myths, putting themes formerly imbued with mythological qualities into pragmatic contexts. An example of this would be following a cultural or religious paradigm shift (notably the re-interpretation of pagan mythology following Christianization ). Interest in polytheistic mythology revived during the Renaissance , with early works of mythography appearing in the sixteenth century, among them

4620-543: The real world. He is associated with the idea that myths such as origin stories might provide a "mythic charter"—a legitimisation—for cultural norms and social institutions . Thus, following the Structuralist Era ( c.  1960s –1980s), the predominant anthropological and sociological approaches to myth increasingly treated myth as a form of narrative that can be studied, interpreted, and analyzed like ideology, history, and culture. In other words, myth

4697-456: The simultaneous production of tree crops, forage, and livestock, and can provide environmental benefits and has been practiced in many parts of the world for centuries. Silvopasture is not the same as unmanaged grazing in woodlands. Open pasture systems are a result of mass deforestation, decreasing water availability, and increasing soil nutrients to a point that is damaging both to the ecosystem and to humans. A primary benefit of silvopasture

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4774-562: The sixteenth century and this use continued into the early twentieth century, along with felling trees for timber. By the 1920s, most of the longleaf pine which once dominated around 92 million acres (about 37 million hectares) of ground between the states of Texas and Virginia had been cut down by European settlers. Removal of the trees, and loss of their associated ecosystem , led to significant soil erosion as well as replacement with dense commercial tree plantations and open agricultural fields. There has been continuing interest in silvopastures in

4851-429: The summer and windbreaks in the winter, allowing livestock to moderate their own temperature. Heat stress in livestock has been associated with decreased feed intake, increased water intake, and negative effects on production, reproductive health, milk yields, fitness, and longevity. Certain tree types can also serve as fodder for livestock. Trees may produce fruit or nuts that can be eaten by livestock while still on

4928-421: The symbolic interpretation of traditional and Orphic myths. Mythological themes were consciously employed in literature, beginning with Homer . The resulting work may expressly refer to a mythological background without itself becoming part of a body of myths ( Cupid and Psyche ). Medieval romance in particular plays with this process of turning myth into literature. Euhemerism , as stated earlier, refers to

5005-464: The term "myth" altogether for purposes of avoiding placing pejorative overtones on sacred narratives. In present use, "mythology" usually refers to the collection of myths of a group of people. For example, Greek mythology , Roman mythology , Celtic mythology and Hittite mythology all describe the body of myths retold among those cultures. "Mythology" can also refer to the study of myths and mythologies. The compilation or description of myths

5082-702: The tree or after they have fallen. The leaves of trees may serve as forage as well, and silvopasture managers can utilize trees as forage by felling the tree so that it can be eaten by livestock, or by using coppicing or pollarding to encourage leaf growth where it is accessible to livestock. Well-managed silvopasture systems can produce as much forage as open-pasture systems under favorable circumstances. Silvopasture systems have also been observed to produce forage of higher nutritive quality than non-silvopasture forage under certain conditions. Increased forage availability has been observed in silvopasture systems compared to open-pasture systems under drought conditions, where

5159-402: The trees for shelter from wind. This could provide significant animal-welfare benefits. However, 'sheep time' close to trees results in soil compaction with the greatest-compaction after trees are planted at very-low densities. Some botanists recommend trees be planted at no-less than 400 per hectare to ensure good-establishment. Evidence of old wood-pasture management is detectable in many of

5236-483: The variant – polystratic; an Erzählstoff in which transcending interpretations of what can be experienced are combined into a hyleme sequence with an implicit claim to relevance for the interpretation and mastering of the human condition." Scholars in other fields use the term "myth" in varied ways. In a broad sense, the word can refer to any traditional story , popular misconception or imaginary entity. Though myth and other folklore genres may overlap, myth

5313-452: The vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the veracity of a myth is not a defining criterion. Myths are often endorsed by secular and religious authorities and are closely linked to religion or spirituality . Many societies group their myths, legends, and history together, considering myths and legends to be factual accounts of their remote past. In particular, creation myths take place in

5390-739: The winds. Herodotus (fifth-century BCE) and Prodicus made claims of this kind. This theory is named euhemerism after mythologist Euhemerus ( c.  320 BCE ), who suggested that Greek gods developed from legends about humans. Some theories propose that myths began as allegories for natural phenomena: Apollo represents the sun, Poseidon represents water, and so on. According to another theory, myths began as allegories for philosophical or spiritual concepts: Athena represents wise judgment, Aphrodite romantic desire, and so on. Müller supported an allegorical theory of myth. He believed myths began as allegorical descriptions of nature and gradually came to be interpreted literally. For example,

5467-405: The word mȳthos with the suffix - λογία ( -logia , 'study') in order to mean 'romance, fiction, story-telling.' Accordingly, Plato used mythología as a general term for 'fiction' or 'story-telling' of any kind. In Anglicised form, this Greek word began to be used in English (and was likewise adapted into other European languages) in the early 19th century, in a much narrower sense, as

5544-1029: Was central to the " myth and ritual " school of thought. According to Frazer, humans begin with an unfounded belief in impersonal magical laws. When they realize applications of these laws do not work, they give up their belief in natural law in favor of a belief in personal gods controlling nature, thus giving rise to religious myths. Meanwhile, humans continue practicing formerly magical rituals through force of habit, reinterpreting them as reenactments of mythical events. Finally, humans come to realize nature follows natural laws, and they discover their true nature through science. Here again, science makes myth obsolete as humans progress "from magic through religion to science." Segal asserted that by pitting mythical thought against modern scientific thought, such theories imply modern humans must abandon myth. The earlier 20th century saw major work developing psychoanalytical approaches to interpreting myth, led by Sigmund Freud , who, drawing inspiration from Classical myth, began developing

5621-478: Was combined with the pollarding of trees for fuel, both for domestic consumption and for sale. This system continued in the parish of Loughton until banned in 1879. The town's public hall, built with compensation money for the ending of the custom, is called the Lopping Hall in memory of the practice. Controlled cattle grazing and limited pollarding is still carried out by the conservators. Silvopastures are

5698-618: Was primarily concerned with the natural world. It tended to interpret myths that seemed distasteful to European Victorians —such as tales about sex, incest, or cannibalism—as metaphors for natural phenomena like agricultural fertility . Unable to conceive impersonal natural laws, early humans tried to explain natural phenomena by attributing souls to inanimate objects, thus giving rise to animism . According to Tylor, human thought evolved through stages, starting with mythological ideas and gradually progressing to scientific ideas. Müller also saw myth as originating from language, even calling myth

5775-530: Was profoundly shaped by emerging ideas about evolution . These ideas included the recognition that many Eurasian languages—and therefore, conceivably, stories—were all descended from a lost common ancestor (the Indo-European language ) which could rationally be reconstructed through the comparison of its descendant languages. They also included the idea that cultures might evolve in ways comparable to species. In general, 19th-century theories framed myth as

5852-458: Was subsequently extracted in the glassworks at Hann. Münden, is recorded. Around 1592 a trade union was documented in Immenhausen -Holzhausen . From the period between 1611 and 1666 other evidence of mining was recorded. Extensive wood pastures and old farmyards and farms bear witness to the agricultural tradition of the Reinhardswald. There are several myths about the origin of

5929-545: Was then adopted in Middle French as mythologie . Whether from French or Latin usage, English adopted the word "mythology" in the 15th century, initially meaning 'the exposition of a myth or myths', 'the interpretation of fables', or 'a book of such expositions'. The word is first attested in John Lydgate 's Troy Book ( c.  1425 ). From Lydgate until the 17th or 18th century, "mythology" meant

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