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 Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 6:59 am
How do we see the Underworld? Some see it as Hell, some see it as the Netherworld. Some see the Netherworld as Hell, and some see Hell, the Underworld and the Netherworld as being three separate places but all tied to one another in some way.
For me personally, I see the Netherworld as between the material world and the Underworld (aka, Hell). Still the Underworld for me isn't QUITE 100% Hell.
In the world I created and write in, Hell takes on a volcanic-like landscape and is filled with the general conceptions of heat and fire. The Underworld is connected to it and is a part of it but it's not all flames and volcanic eruptions. They do, however, exist on the same plane. The Netherworld is one up from that.
I think of the Netherworld as looking a little bit like the landscape of Mars, although it has lots of different kinds of flora and fauna than can be either passive or malevolent. Beings from the material plane, such as humans, can exist in the Netherworld, but if you spend a great deal of time there - say years at a time, then you're going to end up being different by means of soul-structure. Travelling to the Underworld, however, is something that can really only be dealt with by those with the very highest of magical ability.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:36 am
I tend to take the Norse view that the universe is broken up into a bunch of different districts: Midgard is the plane of people who are alive and doing their thing, Asgard is the home of the gods (not exactly heaven as most myths have it), and Valhalla is heaven for warriors who fell bravely in battle (they live on there, feasting and fighting to stay ready for the last battle during Ragnarok), but the "basic dead folks" seem to go to Niflheimr, the abode of the goddess Hel, Lady of the Underworld. If you didn't die gloriously in battle that's where you ended up. It's not exactly a place of punishment but it's not a vacation dream spot either.
The name means realm of cloud (which may be why in Final Fantasy it's where Cloud Strife lives... LOL!) and it seems to be described in most places as being more like a place that is full of mist and shadows, not a dark realm of fire and torment. I see it as a rocky, stark landscape with a lot of mist, and any details you can see are rather vague, poking up through the clouds and such.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:38 pm
This is an interesting subject for sure. I must say I agree with Mel in her views. I mean, I also see hell as being apart from the underworld but I also see the netherworld as being apart as in, it could be the place where living beings go when they dream. I'm sure we all know about the non-corporeal body we are supposed to have that can travel while we sleep, right? Well I think we use that non-corporeal body to go to the Netherworld. And when we can't get there or we don't want to, we stay in this world and visit places with it. That's why some people have dejavu feelings sometimes. Or maybe it's just one of the reasons for it, I don't know. That's my opinion anyway... mrgreen
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:47 pm
Like I said, I combine the Underworld and Hell really, as if they're two planes that have melded.
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Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:04 pm
He-he, yes Mel, I get the whole "melded" idea. mrgreen
You know, I just remembered that the word I was looking for was "Astral" back there. I suppose you could say that for me, the Netherworld is some sort of Astral Plane and that we can go there in our dreams.
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Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:05 am
Yeah, I've heard that kind of theory/analogy before as well.
I don't really think of the Astral plane as being the same as the Netherworld though.
Perhaps this should be a new topic? We discussed the planes of existence before, but this seems to be something different somehow.
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Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:19 pm
I see...
I think there probably should be a topic/thread about the Netherworld. I'm not sure if it will get attention but it would be interesting to have.
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Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:50 pm
I mean the darker realms of existence as a whole and how they may/could work.
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Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:04 pm
Oh, ok. Sure! Let's have one like that then. I would start it but I don't know how so... rolleyes
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Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:41 pm
I'm not sure what to begin with either. Life's dulled my brain over the last few days.
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:50 am
So we're in the same boat then? I suppose my trip left me without wanting to think very much. mrgreen
I'm gonna keep browsing the guild then. 3nodding
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:55 am
Let's just visualise and talk about what we'd expect from a place like the Underworld.
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Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:43 pm
This is quite an interesting topic indeed. There are so many different theories/beliefs about hell/ the nethereworld/underworld. I realy don't know where to start sweatdrop .
Well one idea about hell is the 9 planes theory, in that there are nine different planes of hell. Each one geting closer to the devil(satan/ruler of the underworld...). I don't really like that idea myself.
There is also the abyss of course. I think of the abyss as a plane between the living and the dead, the home of things like demons and some of the darker gods(similar to forgotten realms when Lolth is in the abyss).
Then there are the astral planes. In my opinion they are not related to the darker realms like the abyss, but rather close to the opposite. An example of this is in R.A Salvatore's Drizzt books: Guenwhyvar(sp?) is a creature of the astral planes. They are a place of relitive peace where things happen based not upon will but upon the cycle that must be and always is upheld.
The netherworld....I'm not quite sure I"d have to stick it in the same catagory as hell...
Well that was a fair bit of rambling there but I hope I got my ideas out there sweatdrop
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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:28 am
There's a similar concept of Heaven as well as the "nine hells". The Nine Hells is a concept that I've seen used in another work of fantasy but can't remember what.
The thought is that there are higher levels of Heaven as well, and that God exists on the very highest, so it would make sense for the Devil to exist on the very lowest.
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:48 pm
Really? This is the first I hear, or rather, read about 9 planes of both heaven and hell. But it would make sense like Mel said... 3nodding
I've heard about two kinds of abyss though, the one Drizzt mentions and the one from the movie that takes place underwater. Anyone seen that movie?
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