#waytelem

[a-dragons-journal]

unrelated to the previous post plurality is also funny because obviously my syscovery is going into my waytelem, my songcord, and the way I’ve chosen to open that stanza is just. Lie si oe Vìrìtienur, which is a perfectly sensible sentence in Na’vi, but because lie si doesn’t translate perfectly back to English, the translation comes out as “I experience Viridian,” which. fuck dude I sure do. that sure is one way to describe that awakening experience LMAO

[dragonofpandora]

Finally got my hands on the Way of Water Visual Dictionary! Oh, the songcord detail shots. Songcord detail shots my beloved.

Some analysis:

It's interesting to me that the order of beads from closed end to loose end seems... inconsistent, although I suspect this is a mistake, not a feature. Lo'ak's seems reversed from Ronal's and Neteyam's, as the bead representing the sawtute arrival is very close to the closed end, which seems to be the more recent end on the other two we can establish chronology for (which makes more sense, since I think you'd need to leave the end loose to add more cordage as you go along).

Ronal's is weirdly short compared to the other adults' (Jake DNI, see below), but considering how close Tsireya's birth is to the recent end - that being, the last bead - despite being like sixteen years ago or whatever, that may be an indication that she has higher standards than average for what makes it into her way to begin with.

Jake's is also short compared to Neytiri's and Tonowari's, but I think he may or may not be recording events from his life pre-Pandora within it - or if he is, he may only be doing it in broad strokes.

There's a common theme of spirals/twists in the spacers between the event beads, especially in the Omatikaya aywaytelem - they're also present in the Metkayina aywaytelem, but there are more straight lines of cord as well. The way the cord itself is woven is just as decorative and beautiful, and probably meaningful, as the major beads; something to keep in mind when making my own.

Spacing between large beads, which I can only assume are event beads, is inconsistent, maybe indicating how much time passed between them? Or maybe indicating when a "chorus" happens, and you don't put a "chorus" between each verse?

Ao'nung's waytelem begins with a charm right at the start, without a "tail" above it, which the others don't seem to have - seems like an optional thing, since it's not a common theme with the Metkayina compared to the Omatikaya.

Spider does have a waytelem!!!! I really wish I could find a shot in the movie that shows the whole thing clearly, but I just can't seem to :\ Fucked up that everybody else's is shown in its entirety, even if not given a detail shot, except his.

In that vein, worth noting that Norm, despite carrying and wearing a lot of Olangi and Omatikaya garb and accessories, does not appear to have a waytelem - it's clear from that that Spider considers himself part of the People where Norm still considers himself human at the core.

[thewanderingbleu]

Was talking to Lo'tunwi in the pandora alterhuman server and we just unlocked memories together by talking about our songcords 😭 Eywa is mighty, indeed.

On that topic, though, I remembered that my songcord started with this sort of blue and/or rainbow moonstone? and how that's like, a very rare gem to come across in the forest. now I'm emotional for two reasons

[iccarian]

@waytelem: ❛ we can make our own way. please, come with me. ❜ gib the platonic obiani.

 ‍ when he breathes, he breathes fire –– from the crevice of his furnace heart, where the dragon nestles within. vader was brought forth to slay it, and he has slayed many already, so why does he still burn? he burns when he looks at obi-wan across from him, lit by the luminescent lights of coruscant — and the blaring red of blaster fire in the distance. master, friend, brother. he wasn't supposed to be here. he wasn't supposed to be alive — anakin wasn't supposed to face him.

 ‍ 〝 there is no other way. 〞 fingers tight around the hilt of his saber, deactivated for now, he pulls his gaze away from the jedi and tries to inhale through the fumes swirling in his lungs. in doing so, he looks at the younglings. huddled in the far corners of the room, confused and petrified. the force — it cries out, overwhelming. the only other time he's felt so much pain was when his mother died. when he knelt before darth sidious and promised himself his apprentice. unbidden, his eyes are drawn back to obi-wan. 〝 what other way? 〞 demanding, pleading. how can he turn back now?

 ‍ 〝 obi-wan — 〞 and his voice catches here, wheezes through the smoke spewing from him. and then it quiets, a twisted remnant of the desperate boy he was, and is. there is no dragon. there is no vader. there is only you. 〝 if I don't save padmé . . . 〞

[sylwanin-was-right]

I dont have the Visual Guide as a reference for more information, and of course I'm no expert on histories or rosaries nor wampum, but from these sources it seems Na'vi songchords are like both rather than one or the other:

Haudenosaunee Otó'gä/Wampum

The shell is thought of as a living record of the Haudenosaunee. The speaker puts the words of the agreement into the wampum as the strings or belts are woven together. Each speaker thereafter uses the wampum to remember the initial agreement and the history that has happened to date. To us, the belts are our living history.



Catholic Rosary

The main function of the rosary beads is to count prayers, the prayers that are counted on rosary beads are collectively known as the rosary. The purpose of the Rosary is to help keep in memory certain principal events or mysteries in history.

Na'vi Waytalem/Songchord

The songcord (Na'vi name: waytelem)[1] is a mnemonic device used by Na'vi individuals as well as entire clans for recounting information, stories, and mythology. Individuals create a songcord that is used as a tactile representation of their own personal or family/clan history, whereas community song cords can represent much more complex information such as astronomical and historical data.[2] Songcords serve a similar purpose to the Na'vi as writing does to humans and are their primary form of record-keeping. However, the songcord does not replace their oral tradition, as the cords serve merely as mnemonic aids to assist in oral storytelling and recounting.

The waytelem, like the Otgó’ä serves as living history to account important events in a individual's life, their clan's history, and their clan's database of important information. And as a mnemonic devices, they dont replace oral tradition. Unlike the Otgó’ä, the waytelem does not seem to be used to represent treaties or alliances specifically as the information portrayed in the beads are only known by clan members or personal friends and family. Waytelem are also not used as speakers staff during clan meetings like Otó'gä. Furthermore, unlike the waytelem, the Otgó’ä doesnt seem to be for accounts of personal history nor burried with the dead, and every bead does not have a 1:1 correlation with a specific event or element in a story.

The waytelem, like the rosary, also serves as living history to account important historical and spiritual/mythological events in a member's clan. Beads are tactile representation of events or significant elemens in the stories and each bead is touched because they have a specific correlation to an element or part of the story. Unlike the rosary, the waytelem does not recount personal nor ethnic/clan history. And unlike waytalem, rosaries are very strictly for reciting prayers and recounting religious hsitory of the specific timeline of holy events (as you said). Also, there seems to be a very strict system of design for rosaries, unlike waytelem, which can use many elements to represent specific events; we dont know this exactly but it seems there may be more artistic freedom and ethnic diversity in designing the waytelem than rosaries, as they can recount personal and clan history with various elements other than beads, like crystals, plant parts, and rocks, and be various lengths according to the needs of the story, whereas a rosary is exactly 59 beads. Furthermore, unlike waytelem, rosaries are extensions of a largely written history and are determined by a religious authority to strictly go by biblical accounts.

Like the rosary and Otgó'ä, the waytelem are sacred objects and nmemonic devices used to account information, but waytelem differ from mosy significantly by alloting to account for personal history, and also being history that is kept more private between clan members or close family/friends until certain events warrant disclosure of such information.

My speculations about the further functions of waytelem are that theyre spiritually similar to rosaries and could be sung as a prayer to the dead when they are not around their Tree of Voices or Souls to commune with them directly. Rosaries can be worn as daily accessories by worshipers and more historical or institutional rosaries are reserved fror ceremony or religious congregation, so I can imagine more personal waytelem are wearable and personal property, while waytelem that reccounts clan history, mythologies, or important information, like atrological maps for seasons and time keeping, are collectively "owned" and in strict possession of authorized clan leaders only, like story tellers or tshaìk. The waytelem could also be similar to the Otgó’ä where they symbolize important events in a clan's history that are referenced in times of great need or communion, like a meeting or conflict. Waytelem areprobably highly valuable and sacred because of their spiritual and totemic significance, and their artistic labor to create them, like Otgó'ä.

This all reminds me of quipu systems of various South Amerikan cultures, like that of the Inca, whom also use mnemonic devices and non writing-systems to record history and information. I learned about them a few years ago in my art history class in college! Upon a little research for this post, the chinese zhōngguó jié (literally "chinese knot" in Mandarin), a "sister-system" of quipu record keeping.

I really like some of the indigenous inspirations in this franchise!!

Omg one critic said the songchords are metaphor for rosary beads 💀

[tarsyu]

i’ll make this my last eclipse post but i’m thinking ab my own culture’s beliefs about the eclipse, what it symbolizes, our traditions surrounding what we do for it, and tying that to maybe what different clans on pandora probably would think about the eclipses they regularly experience… so i’m gonna rant ab my thoughts a little below

this has made me think about the differences skorakstxey would note in traditions and beliefs towards eclipses among the omatikaya, anurai, tawkami, metkayina, and also would he even remember what the sarentu believed about them? would he have to connect to a tarsyu so entu, his direct ancestor, could give him the answers he seeks?

would maybe a clan like the anurai take the time during eclipses to perform certain rituals regarding their worship and reverence of thanators? im getting this idea from the fact in the events that led entu to become the first toruk makto, he spent the night in the anurai clan’s territory, and during the night, the clan performed their ritual of constructing a thanator totem. so perhaps the moments of ‘darkness’ (not truly darkness as we experienced it, due to pandora’s luminescence) would be more meaningful?

i’m sure the clans tie the eclipses back to eywa as well, i’m just also sure that they must be very meaningful in different ways to na’vi and i feel like these experiences especially would stick with skora while telling his stories of traveling around pandora

[oel-ngati-kameie]

Reupload with corrected lyrics. Enjoy!

[lopsidedghoul]

My Waytelem//Songcord ask didn’t get eaten by tumblr or break again, did It ?

((If It didn’t you can delete this ask, just wanted to check)).

it did get eaten:(

[iccarian]

 ‍ gideon? dramatic? well, maybe — but harrow should really take a look at herself. half - dead in the creepy basement of caanan house, exerting herself far beyond her limits time and time again with no regard for her own health. honestly, where would she be if gideon didn't insist on, you know, actually acting as her cavalier? at least she's not snarling at her through blood - stained teeth, and is actually reaching for assistance. that's an improvement. and harrow and improvement don't usually go in the same sentence, or paragraph.

 ‍ clicking her tongue disapprovingly, gideon grasps her necromancer's hand to pull her upward and does the one thing that will probably kick her right back down from whatever good graces she has; she kneels down and slips one arm under the crook of her knees, the other bracing against her back, and effortlessly scoops her into a bridal cradle. god, she's lighter even than gideon's flimsy rapier.

 ‍ ❝ tough luck, kid. ❞ and before harrowhark can complain or start scratching her eyes out in protest, gideon spins on her heel and strides down the hallway. ❝ you're not expending any more thanergy until you get some fuel in you. breakfast, quick nap — good as new. ❞ it's harrow's job to save their house. gideon's is to save her, if need be.

☾

@leywrights said : ❛ now, you can either come with me and live up to your ultimate potential, or lie here and live with the consequences. ❜ dramatic griddlehark vibes

⠀⠀blood - sweat runs down a grey and black streaked face, visage twisted into a half - sneer. she over exerted; thanergy having torn at her until weakness threatened to cause her to take a nap right where she lay. how long has she been here? she cannot say for sure but bone shards riddle the floor around her, pocking concrete and chipping paint. her breathing slows to steadiness, and bloody fingertips are raised to brush over her own clavicle, wiping away sweat and oil paint. ⠀⠀footsteps catch her attention and her head turns to find the source. her cav hovers; she has always hated that lively energy   ┉   after all, she was death's incarnation. and yet, despite everything, her hand extends upward as if reaching for the sky. instead she is reaching for the unending warmth of gideon nav. to love, for harrow, is to also hate and she does love griddle more than anyone could ever understand. ⠀⠀❝ dramatic as always . . .  help me up, ❞ she finally sighs. iron fills her sinuses, her throat, her mouth; the smell, the taste, the potential. ❝  i've got to go again. ❞ and she cannot cease. they cannot stop here for such a submission would be failure and an entire world needs her . . . her dying people, especially. to reach lyctorhood would be to save them and herself.

[loakstahni]

Litx Te Suli Tsyeyk'itan's Waytelem

The old one ⬆⬆ The new one⬆⬆

Bit of information under the cut✨

Everything is in order on how it is on the songcord.

Vipperwolf claw

The Vipperwolf claw was found the day Litx was found by Neytiri. See my Fic Found for info on that.

Neteyam & Kiri's blood incased in amber.

Jake gave Litx both of these so he could have something for the birth of his siblings.😊

The Animal tooth.

The Animal tooth was found the day Lo'ak was born, Mo'at took Kiri, Neteyam and Litx out on a walk while Neytiri gave birth and Litx found a tooth!✨

River rocks.

The river rocks Litx added once his bandages were taken off. I'm not sure if it would take two-three years for something like a deep face wound to heal, but whatever-😅

The wooden beads.

Litx and Neteyam carved these beads during Tuk's birth, cause you'know- Jake did the same thing during Lo'ak's birth so why not?😂

The fish bones.

The fish bones are from his first time fishing with Neteyam and Jake.

Jagged stone

The Jagged stone he found while at the Hallelujah mountains taming his Ikran, Tak.

The arrow chip.

The arrow chip is from his first hunt, which unlike Jake who killed a Sturmbeast, Litx got a Yerik.

Purple-blue snail shell.

The shell was gifted to him by Tuk after he (barely) made it through his Uniltaron. What's a better way of telling your brother "I'm glad your still alive!" By giving him a shell. Right?

The broken pink sea-shell.

The broken pink sea shell Litx found while walking along the beach with Tuk the morning after joing the Metkeyina.

The pearl.

Jake found the pearl and gave it to Litx after Litx tamed his Tsurak.

Wooden Needle tip.

The needle tip is from when Litx got his first Tattoo, which is one his right forearm.

Empty bullet casing.

The Empty bullet casing is from the battle at Three Brother's Rock, the battle that nearly took his brother. #Neteyamlives✊.

Fruit seeds.

The seeds are from Fruit Litx was picking the day he met Nanui, who is @snomoscribbles Oc.

Nanui's hair.

The hair is from the night Litx and Nanui formed Tsaheylu and became mates. (Ofc he asked if he could cut off a tiny bit of hair)

Tompa and Tovakì's blood incased in amber.

Tompa and Tovakì are Nanui and Litx's children. Tompa was born during a Rain storm and Tovakì was born at Dawn.

That's it so far! I'll keep updating his songcord as I make up his background and life✨

[capn-atlas]

I’ve already send this exact same ask to someone else before ((It was @//lopsidedghoul and It broke Its Inbox)), but have this anyways because I wanna gush about these things more but already basically wrote everything I could think of about It.

Anyways, behold me Info-dumping about this one random ass thing of Na’vi culture for way too long.

The Waytelem

Called Songcord In english.

There are, to my knowledge, two different types of Waytelem. The personal ones, as well as the communal ones.

Like the english name says, these cords are sung. Basically, different parts of the woven cord are different parts of the song.

These cords are the main source of record-keeping, similar to how we use writing ((because Na’vi don’t traditionally use writing)). This goes a lot more for a communal Waytelem than a more personal one, since those get buried together with the Na’vi they belong to after death.

The cords are made with all kinds of things, such as pieces of bones, wood, stones, feathers, fur, hair, and various other materials. These materials are then strung into a long twine or thread, making the Waytelem. These cords are expanded continuously, with every Important life even a new pice gets added to the cord. Every bead, pice of bone, and feather how some kind of meaning to the one the cord belongs to.

It’s not really known who constructs the larger communal cords, or how the process of making them goes.

When exactly one starts keeping their Waytelem Is also never mentioned, though they do start very young and their caretakers likely help the younger Na’vi with constructing them. The caretakers never make a Waytelem for their children, only ever help ((or at least I’m assuming that’s how It works, It’s never actually fully explained anywhere. I could be wrong, and the parents likely do make the beginnings but they’re child chooses what goes onto the cord)).

We know that Tuk, who Is 7, already has a Songcord, so personally think that a Na’vi child starts working on their Waytelem once they are old enough ((or ready enough, which might depend a bit on the child, but I don’t think they’re Is like a set age where It’s said “you are old enough for your Waytelem now”)) but the caretakers majorly help with the construction until the child can take over completely.

The exact significance of each piece on the Waytelem Is only known by the Na’vi It belongs to and the close ones they choose to share It with.

When a Na’vi dies their close ones sing the dead Na’vis Songcord at their funeral, after which the Individual gets buried with their cord.

Even though a Na’vi child’s Waytelem Is often short In length, when they ask someone to sing It to them the song Is often surprisingly long and filled with tales of adventures. A child’s parents may sing a bit of different version closer to the truth.

Example of a Waytelem:

Example of a piece of a Waytelem being sung:

https://youtu.be/nvyiTCqkx8U?si=BozCs4R8WrHRpfPJ

that’s actually really interesting. I can’t listen to it rn bc I’m in the car

Behold

but I will!! I bet it’s pretty

[a-dragons-journal]

I have immediately encountered a practical problem with the waytelem project, which is that individual beads (rather than entire strings or bags of the same kind of bead) are hard to get I think. Fuck

[dragonofpandora]

Random questions with Tsrakon time: y’all got any thoughts on songcords? I’ve been tossing around the idea of making myself one since I first saw A2, but am a little scared to commit to it both because getting appropriate beads would be hard and because I have neither much canon nor many strong gut feelings about the details of how they’re constructed, so I’m curious what y’all’s thoughts are. Events that would be included in a typical waytelem, types of materials used as beads and how they’re selected, how the song itself is constructed, etc. etc. - whatever y’all are willing to share thoughts on.

[thewanderingbleu]

In my life, one's waytelem shared the same chorus as their parents. Though the specifics are fuzzy: I believe a daughter's waytelem would have the same chorus as their mother, and the son their father's. Considering that's similar to how our names are structured, it makes sense.

[iccarian]

@waytelem: [ downpour ] vexleth thank you <3

 ‍ thunder rolls over the hillside like the rumbling of a dragon's heavy strides, sheets of rain beginning to fall sideways as the darkest of the storm clouds descend upon them. and in the middle of it all, outside of the shelter they've chosen for the night, stands keyleth. their druid is probably soaked to the bone yet seemingly unbothered, her gaze somewhere beyond where she's grounded.

 ‍ with a sigh that is relenting only to her own decisions, vex steps out from the mouth of the cave and makes her way to the girl, fighting the tensing of her muscles as the cold rain assaults her immediately. 〝 you know, 〞 she begins lightly, raising her voice above the buffeting winds, 〝 when you said you were going to get some air, I should have expected this is what you meant. 〞 she stops at keyleth's side, looking between her and the oncoming storm, before huffing softly and removing her jacket to drape it around the other, worrying at the shoulders. useless.

 ‍ arms folding tightly across her chest, vex'ahlia peers unwaveringly into emerald counterparts with her brows drawn low. 〝 seriously, darling — are you alright? 〞

[nattikay]

Hey Natti, I am thinking of recording a cover of the Songcord in a random place with amazing acoustics (current contenders are the hallway of my apartment (NOT happening, the neighbors will hear), my university at 1am (probably not happening either because people will heeear), and the local bank at 1am (best option so far)). However, before I do this I would like to check with you how to pronounce the lyrics correctly, because I heard Zoe making some mistakes. Like te'lan (heart) is actually txe'lan, isn't it? And munge shouldn't be pronounced muñe, right? Also there's the one word that even Na'vi speakers couldn't quite identify, ahuta/awta/something? Your help would be greatly appreciated, friend! :)

So the word people were struggling to identify is huta, and the reason they were struggling is actually because it was actually a brand new word introduced for the first time in that song! Language creator Karyu Pawl talks about it on his blog, where he also posted the official lyrics + translation :) http://naviteri.org/2022/12/neytiriya-waytelem-neytiris-song-cord/

As for pronunciation, she does make two very minor mistakes as far as I can tell, one of which being the “munge” you mentioned (you’re right, it shouldn’t have that ñ sound), and the other being that her “ngaru” sounds like “ngaro” (to me at least). If you wanna get really nitpicky she does technically also drop the glottal stop in za’u etc., but that kind of thing is generally considered permissible when singing so I wouldn’t count that one hrh.

Te’lan, however, is actually correct. The word for heart is txe’lan, but the word that comes before it, mì, is one of a handful of words that cause something called lenition, which basically softens certain sounds at the start of the following word. So ejectives like tx get softened to their non-ejective counterparts like t.