Bownder-Bed

The Bownder-Bed is an ancient Gladden story on the meeting of the gods Beth and Bri, and the subsequent creation of the world of humankind, called the Aman.

Scripture

The myth is registered in the Royal Library under the code GladM1.
The primary version of the story registered there concerns itself with the Gods' initial, lonely existence, their meeting and subsequent creating of the Aman, also known as the 'combined and present world', and reads as follows:
Click to read the translated text

In the beginning of all times, when Bri alone was time, and all else was static, the Gods lived apart and knew nothing of one another.
Beth existed with her world of the material, and her world was good, for it contained all that there was.
Bri too existed with his world of the immaterial, and his world was good, for it contained all that there was not.
And although both worlds were good, both Gods felt a longing for something they did not yet know, and were unhappy.
Beth knew of all there was, for she was constant, but still she knew there was more to be found.
Bri knew of all there was not, for he was creative and intelligent, but still he knew there must be something to make what did not exist real.
For many times the Gods remained as such, until one day Bri decided to wander the the Ether and find what there was, and likewise Beth decided to wander the Ether and find what there was not.
It was in this fateful time that the Gods met, but their meeting was not one of kindness, but of jealousy, for they each saw that the other had what they desired, and wanted it for their own.
And so the Gods would come close and try to take that which the other had, but they did not succeed, for that is not how the Ether would work.
Time and time again the Gods would advance in the hope of gaining what the other had, and time and time again they would retreat, neither of them any wiser than before.
Then there came a time of resignation, for both of them knew that they would not achieve their goals, and there was stagnation in the Ether.
But then Bri began to understand Beth, for he was empathetic, and saw that they shared many struggles, and Bri began to share his realm with Beth, for he was kind.
At first Beth did not understand, for there had never been such a thing as sharing before, and soon she came to learn what it meant.
All of a sudden, Beth could change her world, for now there was the realm of Bri in her, though she knew not what to do with this power, for she was not creative.
Then Beth decided to share her realm with Bri, for she was trusting, and Bri was entered by the realm of Beth.
In this time there came much understanding between the Gods, and by combining the realms of both Beth and Bri, they became happy.
For Beth now had the creativity and change of Bri, and Bri now had the reality of Beth.
Together the Gods decided to create a new world for both of them to share, and they created the combined and present world of humankind.
In this world, Beth had the greater part, for hers were the airs and the lands and the waters. In this world, Bri had the more important part, for his was the sun.
And together this world was the most wondrous world of all, and Bri imagined the plants and the creatures, and the shapes of the world and many things more, and Beth made it all into reality.
Without one or the other, nothing of the world could exists as humankind knows it, for there would be no heat, no movement, no light, no change, no ideas and no memory without Bri, and there would be no airs, no lands, no waters, no stability, no existence at all without Beth.
And so there were now three worlds in the Ether, the world of Beth, that contains all there ever was and ever will be and all things material, and the world of Bri, that contains all there never was and never will be and all thoughts, and the combined and present world that contains what there is and isn't in this very moment, and this is where humankind lives.
Now, it is not always that the Gods agree, and when they do not agree the world is shattered and formed afresh, and nobody would be ever the wiser.
But the fragments of this broken world live on in the Ether, a lonely part of a forgotten whole, and will exist by itself until is falls apart or the very world inside it comes to an end.

Summary

The Bownder-Bed may roughly be broken into four segments as follows:

1. The existence of the gods before meeting
2. The meeting and conflict between the gods
3. The sharing of realms between the Gods
4. The creation of the combined and present world

In the first segment, Beth and Bri live in isolation and are unhappy, since they feel there is more to their existence, and at some point they go in search for this further existence by wandering the Ether.
In the second segment they come across each other and discover that the other God has what they have been searching all along, and there is conflict between them with the intention to gain possession of the realm of the other.
In this context, 'realm' may be interpreted as a set of skills of the Gods.
In the third segment they give up on trying to possess the other's realm, and instead begin to share them after a prolonged period of time.
In the fourth and final segment they create a combined world which they share and create something that is far greater than either one of them would have been able to achieve by themselves.
The existence of Marvs, the fragments of broken alternate combined worlds, are also mentioned in this segment.

Historical Basis

There is no known evidence to support this myth in any way, and thus it is strongly discredited by the scientific community, although naturally the Circle of Oads is of the strong opinion of its truth.

Spread

Like many Gladden religious stories, they are very popular and widely known and retold by Bard and Oad alike, although as is to be expected most Oads believe in the tales while the Bards do not.

Cultural Reception

The myth is very widely known and is frequently recognised to carry the lesson that cooperation and sharing is much more fruitful than conflict.
The story is very popular among the Tightish and has lead to the colloquial phrase 'to make a Bownder-Bed', meaning to forge a friendship.

In Art

Many artists have tried to capture the complex emotions and interactions that must have occurred between the gods in this myth, which has lead to many wonderful paintings and sculptures across the Tightish Empire.