BERÄTTELSENS

UTVECKLING

 

1. DEN VANLIGA VÄRLDEN
2. ROPET PÅ ÄVENTYR
3. VÄGRAN ATT DELTA I ÄVENTYRET
4. MÖTET MED EN MENTOR
5. FÖRSTA TRÖSKELN
6. PRÖVNINGAR, VÄNNER OCH FIENDER
7. INGÅNGEN TILL DEN INNERSTA GROTTAN
8. DEN STÖRSTA UTMANINGEN
9. BELÖNING
10. VÄGEN TILLBAKA
11. ÅTERUPPTÅNDELSE
12. KOMMA TILLBAKA MED ELIXIRET

PERSONFUNKTIONER:

HUVUDPERSON/HJÄLTE
MENTOR
FIENDER
SKUGGOR
FORMSKIFTARE
TRICKSARE, CLOWNER
BUDBÄRARE
VÄNNER
VÄKTARE VID TRÖSKLARNA
SYMBOLISKA SAKER
SYMBOLISKA DJUR
 

STEG FYRA: MÖTET MED MENTORN

Ibland är det ingen dålig idé att vägra delta i äventyret tills du har förberett dig för det, förberett dig för denna okända zon som ävetyret eller förändringen drar in dig i. I mytologin och folksagans värld kan denna förberedelse göras med en klok mentor, en vis man, en trollkarl, en magiker. Tänk på Gandalf i Sagan om Ringen. Denna mentor ger huvudpersonen många former av hjälp: skydd för faror, guidning i ävetyrets värld, undervisning, testning, träning och direkta magiska gåvor.

Den ryske forskaren Vladimir Propp kallar denna karaktär i de ryska folksagorna för "givaren" eller "källa" därför att han eller hon förser huvudpersonen med något nödvändigt för kampen eller äventyret. Att möta mentorn är ett viktigt steg där hjälten tar emot kunskap och förtroende som är nödvändigt för att komma över rädslan för förändring och för att starta äventyret.

The Karate Kid,The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, och Stand and Deliver, är filmer som ägnar sig helt åt hjältens förehavanden med sina mentorer. Filmer Fried Green Tomatoes och Star Wars visar hur mentorn ger den vitala kraften till huvudpersonen.

Fråga: Har du identifierat någon mentor i den roman eller film du studerar?
 

SOURCES OF WISDOM

Even if there is no actual character performing the many functions of the Mentor archetype, heroes almost always make contact with some source of wisdom before committing to the adventure. They may seek out the experience of those who have gone before, or they may look inside themselves for wisdom won at great cost in former adventures. Either way, they are smart to consult the map of the adventure, looking for the records, charts, and shipslogs of that territory. It's only prudent for wayfarers to stop and check the map before setting out on the challenging, often disorienting, Road of Heroes.

For the storyteller, Meeting with the Mentor is a stage rich in potential for conflict, involvement, humor, and tragedy. lt's based in an emotional relationship, usually between a hero and a Mentor or advisor of some kind, and audiences scem to enjoy relationships in which the wisdom and experience of one generation is passed on to the next. Everyone has had a relationship with a Mentor or role model.
 

MENTORS IN FOLKLORE AND MYTH

Folklore is filled with descriptions of heroes meeting magical protectors who bestow gifts and guide them on the journey. We read of the elves who help the shoemaker; the animals who help and protect little girls in Russian fairy tales; the seven dwarves who give Snow White shelter; or Puss-in-Boots, the talking cat who helps his poor master win a kingdom. All are projections of the powerful archetype of the Mentor, helping and guiding the hero.

Homer's storics are guided by patron gods and goddesses who give them magical aid. Some heroes are raised and trained by magical beings that are somewhere between gods and men, such as centaurs. Heroes of mythology seek the advice and help of the witches,
wizards, witch doctors, spirits, and gods of their worlds.

Q: Is ther any magic power in the mentor of your story?
 

MEETING WITH THE MENTOR

As a rule, centaurs are wild and savage creatures. Chiron, in the writing of Homeros, was an unusually kind and pcaceful one, but he still kept some of his wild horse nature. As a half man/half animal creature, he is linked to the shamans of many cultures who dance in the skins of animals to get in touch with animal power. Chiron is the energy and intuition of wild nature, gentled and harnessed to teaching. Like the shamans, he is a bridge between humans and the higher powers of nature and the universe.

Mentors in stories often show that they are connected to nature or to some other world of the spirit. As a Mentor, Chiron led his heroes-in-training through the thresholds of manhood by patiently teaching them the skills of archery, poetry, surgery, and so on. He was not always well rewarded for his efforts. His violencc-prone pupil Hercules wounded him with a magic arrow which made Chiron beg the gods for the mercy of death. But in the end, after a truly heroic sacrifice in which he rescued Prometheus from the underworid by taking his place, Chiron recieved the highest distinction the Greeks could bestow. Zeus made him a constellation and a sign of the zodiac - Sagittarius, a centaur firing a bow. Clearly the Greeks had a high regard for teachers and Mentors.
 

MENTOR HIMSELF

The term Mentor comes from the character of that name in The Odyssey. Mentor was the loyal friend of Odysseus, entrusted with raising his son Telemachus while Odysseus made his long way bacl from the Trojan War. Mentor has given his name to all guides and trainers, but its really Athena, the goddess of wisdom, who works behind the scenes to bring the energy of the Mentor archetype inte the story

First she assumes the appearance of a traveling warrior named Mentes, to issue a stirring challenge to stand up to the suitors and seck his father (Call to Adventure). Telemachus accepts the challeng, but the suitors laugh him off and he is so discouraged he wants to abandon the mission (Refusal of the Call). Once again the story seems stuck, and Athena unsticks it by taking the form of Telemachus' teacher Mentor. In this disguise she drums some courage into him and helps him assemble a ship and crew. Therefor( even though Mentor is the name we give to wise counselors and guides, it is really the goddess Athena who acts here.

Athena is the full, undiluted energy of the archetype. If she appeared in her true form, it would probably blast the skin off the bones of the strongest hero. The gods usually speak to us through the filter of other people who are temporarily filled with a god-like spirit. A good teacher or Mentor is enthused about learning. The wonderful thing is that this feeling can be communicated to students or to an audience.

The names Mentes and Mentor, along with our word "mental", stem from the Greck word for mind, menos, a marvelously flexible word that can mean intention, force, or purpose as well as mind, spirit, or remembrance.

Mentors in stories act mainly on the mind of the hero changing his/her consciousness or redirecting his/her will. Even if physical gifts are given, Mentors also strengthen the heros mind to face an ordeal with confidence. Menos also means courage.

Q: How does the mentor of you story work with the hero? Is the mentor giving wisdom or courage or changing the hero's mind?
 
 

5. FIRST THRESHOLD
6. TESTS, ALLIES, ENEMIES
7. APPROACH TO THE INMOST CAVE
8. SUPREME ORDEAI.
9. REWARD (SEIZING THE SWORD)
10. THE ROAD BACK
11. RESURRECTION
12. RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR
 

CAST:

HERO
MENTOR
SHADOWS
SHAPESHIFTER
TRICKSTER, CLOWN
HERALD
ALLIES
THRESHOLD GUARDIANS
SYMBOLIC THINGS
SYMBOLIC ANIMALS