jeffjerwin

All troll kin who survive to adulthood are heroes. Perhaps not brave, or glorious, or mighty. But as tough as a barnyard cat, anyway.

I always inferred that each of Orlanth's sacred mountains is one of his many mothers [compare the multiple birthplaces of Zeus]. He has several scattered across central and western Genertela and presumably more in Umathela.

This is the sort of thing a marriage agreement is going to decide. 'Belonging to both' means the negotiation/lawspeaker got screwed up. Though that sounds like a good story. One could imagine the child of a sacred marriage being given a choice as an adult, based on the god that speaks to them. Then a tug-of-war could ensue if their 'body' is magically/socially important - like they are the legal 'owner' of land in contention and the marriage was to make a truce.

Remember that Kero Fin (a mountain, daughter of Larnste in Genertela) is the mother of Orlanth. Umathelan Orlanth is probably the son of a daughter of the volcano god. As his maternal grandfather, not only does he have a kinship right in Orlanth's house, but the story of Umath and the daughter of the mountain's courtship is probably different and important. Think Culhwch ac Olwen... Where is Orlanth's mountain mother in Umathela?

Elmal would seem to typify a 'conservative' strand in Heortling culture. It's my belief that when Sartar and his followers made so many changes, it shook the 'arch-conservative' nature of the Quivin tribes - they fled Heortland/Hendrikiland after all to avoid profound changes and the cosmopolitan influence of Belintar - and the Emlali found themselves facing an existential crisis: their defensive and practical obligations were eroded by Sartar's new sheriffs and the peace he established, as well as his Larnsting nature - quite opposite to their fixed and circular path. So the innovation of Yelmalio is to them a 'greater tradition' or 'the prisca theologia' - they fall back on an imagined order which 'returned them to purity'. It is this tendency that we see with historical conservative movements: a conservativism that becomes so defiant that it turns into a new, radical thing. Compare the Catholic League during the French Wars of Religion, or the reactionary response to modernism becoming Fascism. Retrenchment is a particularly conservative/traditionist response, often more instinctual than rational, that results in something unrecognizable. The Elmal > Yelmalio shift is a very good example of this. Monrogh's insistence that this was the 'true, original, way' (we know it was not) allowed people to 'rebel' while still appealing to authority and the Elmali instinct to preserve and repair.

Don't forget that Orlanth extended the hand of friendship toward Yelm, the bad emperor, because, in part, Yelm's son/soul fragment befriended him and passed his test. Orlanth's action was still chancy, but he sees the kinship between Elmal, the 'most loyal thane' to whom he entrusted his whole surviving people when he went into the land of the dead, and his father, the god he murdered. The sun above is not the bad emperor anymore: he is Big Elmal, the emperor who is capable of forgiveness and whose son speaks for him.

It's interesting that Belintar did not take more forceful action - his relationship, of course, with Sartar was complex. He essentially is the bogeyman for the traditionalist clans who settled the Quivin mountains, but it was partly with his support that Sartar resisted the Lunar Empire in the coming decades. A wild surmise: Belintar partially mastered the Light/Sky rune [in the form of Veskarthan/Caladra & Aurelion's fire), but perhaps he could have extended his power over the region, if Vanntar could be absorbed into a Greater Holy Country. Many of the other cultic sites in the region see similar meddling where eventually a God-king emerges from their elites.

Interesting - the English cognate cunning is used for cunning men and cunning women - that is, folk witches, though there's a fair bit of sinister implication in the English word.

If the Monterey Bay is part of the behind the scenes to this, it's thick, low-visibility, and charges in from the Ocean. It's not ideal for driving... and can be a little unnervingly fast.

The Venus above, if fully dressed, would be 'overweight' from a modern perspective. Here she is from the back. Note I don't think she really is all that unhealthy looking, but fully clothed she would look like a fairly ordinary, slightly heavy woman in terms of build. Not at all like the athletic or slender build of Artemis... The classical and ancient idea of a beautiful woman resembles our Venus more than it does her sister.

Modern expectations of beauty have absolutely nothing to do with Glorantha. Fat is very important to being a fertile woman: starvation is an excellent way to pause menses or miscarry. Hence Ernalda and other Fertility goddesses are going to be curvaceous or even voluptuous. Uleria is not the goddess of child birthing and pregnancy (Ernalda is), but by extension, she's probably represented as a rich/abundant (heavyset) woman. The modern Western stereotype of a beautiful woman looks like she needs to put on some more pounds and mature a bit compared to what I would expect the Central Genertelan stereotype is. She's more of a Voria/Teenaged pre-Initiate type, not suitable for marriage, or even a death-cultist, who has stopped her fertility. (hopefully this isn't offensive) See the Venus de Milo below.

We get a lot of fog most of the year. It doesn't rain very often but it's quite damp. I have to keep a dehumidifier going.

There's no picture of this map anywhere is there?

The Lunar Empire is a much more dangerous place than the Dara Happan Empire for its elites... Dart Competitions are the logical result of a runaway number of possible sources of legitimization, even post-facto legitimization. On the other hand, it is probably a more liberal and more flexible place for everyone who's not a member of the elite or who doesn't feel ambitious and initiates to the Lunar Way. In a sense, the tyranny of the aristocracy is subverted by the countervailing quasi-Darwinian power struggle. I can't speak for Loskalm, however.

More hierarchical societies in fact probably discourage high rates of Initiation and thus potential power turnovers... Initiation is by its nature somewhat meritocratic (though also exclusive), and that's a big no-no for the larger empires. Every initiate is a part of the God/open to her/his mysteries, and thus a potential chief/chieftain/ruler. This means that it is awfully easy to end up with alternate sources of authority.

I think it should be noted that the high rate of initiation among the Heortlings is unusual for Gloranthan cultures. It's what makes them indomitable. See also: http://asterix.wikia.com/wiki/Indomitable_village

I live very close to Elkhorn Slough. It's excellent weather for lettuce, cabbage, asparagus, artichokes, melons, and strawberries (the last a bit inland). It's called the Salad Bowl of California for a reason... On the north side of the bay it's a bit warmer and many people grow fruit or avocado in their lawns. There are also a lot of cattle upland, but the county is full of livestock, including sheep, pigs, and goats.

It's interesting that the Lightbringer's Quest ends this way too. Orlanth is also accompanied by a wise ghost... (the ghost of the Earth). He discovers he doesn't need her to tell him what to do: the power of 'there is always another way' has become a part of him too.

I have generally thought of the whole notion of Cat Witches (there are at least two of them...) as telling... the term 'witch' in Glorantha generally indicates some sort of non-standard form of magic, usually spirit-based. I think it highly probable that Yinkin has a shamanic subcult, like Kolat to Orlanth. It is, however, probably a secret, non-social, aspect to Yinkin. The cat-witches live outside of society, like shamans: they are the feral aspect of Yinkin. So I think theist Yinkin is by far the most common or overt form of Yinkin worship, but I don't believe it to be all of the worship.

So did Manannan mac Lir (the chariot Scuabtuinne).

The warrior woman (Phausia) therein looks like Yelorna/Sun Daughter, rather than Vinga.

In medieval legend (and in Italian dialects even today), Orc[h]i meant a kind of wild man or satyr.

Being the favored consort (though there is no marriage per se) of an Uzuz would be the pinnacle of male Troll ambition (unless you're one of those nasty Zorak Zoran boyz).

I like this... see my attempt below. I think in French Les Divineurs or Les Savants-Divins? 'divin' = divine, but also divine in the sense of a priest.

Like trolls. (pun intended)