Gimra

Gimra, literally meaning ’chronicle’ or ‘record’ in Bossi, is a genre of written and oral literature utilised primarily by the Ofot ethnic group of Okrit. Gimra can encompass a variety of topics within the grounds of history and folklore, with the defining characteristic being the style and language rather than content. Despite this, Gimras do often cover a certain range of topics, and can be split into different categories depending on their content and context. The most well known gimra is the Gimrani Matafar, which forms a large basis of the Ofot mythological tradition, especially in regard to the Kingdom of Okso.

Categories

In literary and traditional scholarship circles, Gimra are broadly thought of within the bounds of three categories or sub genres; the Gimrani Matafar, Gimrani Farhana, and the Gimranaw.

Gimrani Matafar

The Gimrani Matafar, the Chronicle of Great Kings, is a mostly agreed upon set of primarily mythological stories and recorded folklore, though within a para-historical context, all together considered a singular Gimra. They concern general founding myths like the origin of people, civilization and animals; the founding of the Kingdom of Okso and the origins of laws, significant individuals and mythological figures and motifs, etc. Specific segments of the Gimrani Matafar are called ‘episodes’ and are usually standard, whole versions of the Gimrani Matafar will have shared episodes and apocryphal or unique episodes will fit into the larger mythological narrative.

Gimrani Farhana

Gimrani Farhana, the Chronicle(s) of Kingly Bloodlines, are King Lists and dynastic records regarding specific dynasties and kingdoms that claimed the title of Okso. Farhana were written in the segmented poetic style of the Gimrani Matafar to strengthen a specific polity’s claim and are regarded with at least some regard of historicity, however are still inherently biased in their nature as primarily commissioned literary works. Not all Gimrani Farhana regard Okso, other historical polities have used the style to establish their legitimacy as separate states, such as the Gimrani Deyefar Moklo, a historical record of the grand mayors of the city of Moklo.

Gimranaw

Gimranaw or Gimrana o, the Sole Chronicles, are Gimra regarding specific individuals, their deeds and/or specific events. These are the most varying in their historicity, as they can concern real figures and events contemporary to the author’s time or to figures entirely folkloric, as well as completely original works. Gimranaw need to be considered in their context for the historical accuracy, but nonetheless include incredibly useful information, especially in regards to recording local legend and tradition.

History

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Characteristics

Gimra are characterised by the use of a specific variety of the western lowland language known as Bossi Gimra, the speech of legends, which had a written standard throughout the main historical periods that Gimra were composed and recorded in. Bossi Gimra uses a specific register that distinguishes whether the content of the text is from within the story itself such as dialogue and quotes or is for the purpose of narration, with further innovations for meta-narrative commentary and annotations. These different 'perspectives' have their own distinguishing vocabulary and grammatical traits, most notably different sets of pronouns and verb declensions for characters, the narrator and meta-commentary.

Significant Gimra

The following is a select list of significant texts and stories within the Gimra genre

Episodes of the Gimrani Matafar

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Dakha and Amathopi

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King lists

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The Bobo Codex

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Grimanaw

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