UristMcRol

First of all, i would like to thank you guys for this responses: They are really enlightening and I didn't expect less from this community. Oh, of course it makes it fun and, as far as possible, even realistic. It is quite difficult to find the exact origin of a myth or a god when, rather than having a precise origin, they simply arise from the convergence of so many factors, previous traditions, metaphors and historical events that trying to define the genesis of a single one can be the task of a life. Hell, many propose that those old conceptions of "the days when the gods walked with men" could refer to the times when the first monarchs openly identified with the deities they worshiped, and people saw little difference between the God and the mortal, hahahahaha. I honestly think your are right, and in fact, one can say that this more literal approach is, at least, a more sincere one in a roleplay perspective. I must admit that I also change my perspective according to each moment. There is fun in trying to see some origin, some metaphysical reality after Yelm's rise as a deity in the north, and at the same time, bitch about Orlanth and the terrible barbarism of those dirty southern people and their storms. I suppose that at the end of the day the perspective adopted must be the one that benefits the group And yes, definitely my approach to Glorantha is usually more anthropological than mystical or literal (unlike Elder Scrolls, which I usually approach with a lot of mysticism and psychedelic music). This is, of course, because Glorantha was the setting that inspired me to enter the world of comparative mythology, and while people like Campbell were quite mystical, anthropology generally dominates the area. Man ... Can we agree that talking about these issues is easier when you're bathing in acid? I barely survived the first time I read a post about it ... But shit, that some good stuff, and it's hard to stop investigating about it once you've started. At the end of the day, the main function of a myth, rather than expressing historical realities or facts written in stone, is to form a worldview, a system of feelings that allow believers to develop in the community or individually, added to the already known psychological and metaphorical functions (important the latter, but rarely useful for the average Joe). I believe that the more we relate the myth in Glorantha to the communities that live it, the closer we will be to enjoy its richness. Although, there is nothing wrong with wanting to simply fight on behalf of Orlanth and pee on Yelm's face, hahahahaha.

First of all, I would like to clarify that with this text I do not intend to end a debate as complex as that of the truth in Glorantha. I am rather a new person in the setting, attracted thanks to my fanaticism in the "deep lore" of Elder Scrolls that later became an obsession with religion and folklore. I just wish to give my vision about it, a vision perhaps ignorant, but open to corrections and criticism. I've been reading these pages for a while now in silence. I only uploaded a post once, and since then I have dedicated myself to read and feed myself with the excellent discussions that you guys have here. However, when I encounter certain topics related to certain eternally controversial issues (Yelmalio-Elmal for example) I cannot help feeling that we forget one of the main characteristics of ancient religion and mythology, a serious thing, because ancient religion and mythology is the base of glorantha. I honestly believe that it is impossible to define a god as a fixed entity with personality, and treat their myths as if they were some kind of historical book (or a thousand historical books) that together will give us a complete and accurate view of the events that happened in that Glorantha's timeless past. This is not something new: I have read it several times here and elsewhere regarding the setting, and yet, I think that many times we do not realize how deep this goes. No doubt there are primary, cosmic, magical forces that manifest themselves in Glorantha through the cult of the deities, and no doubt heroquesting gives access to powerful magic that defines the characteristics of entire cultures. However, I do not believe that this means or brings with it some kind of literal knowledge about the nature of a deity or its personal tastes: God in Glorantha does not wear masks, as if by removing them we could find a "more true" primal entity than all the other ones. On the contrary, God in Glorantha is a mask, and it needs to be a mask because it is impossible for the mortal to approach what lies beneath without that little help. Heroquesting, myths, magic, etc. All this tells us more about people and about religion than about God in himself, just like any other cult in our mundane real world. We cannot expect to separate or unite two extremely similar deities as if they were opaque reflections of a third person that we are not able to see clearly, since being one, two, three, four or five thousand is irrelevant: At the end of everything , it will be the community, the cults, the people, who mold this mask and use it as a vehicle to access that reality that the mind can neither define nor understand without help. It is the people who end up shaping the magic and I have no doubt that it is the people who ultimately "create" or shape the heroquest, putting together a narrative from a convergence between history, metaphysical knowledge, truth and metaphor. I don't see anything said as something negative, complicated or strange; quite the opposite. This is what makes Glorantha the best fantasy setting since it appeared so many decades ago. It is ultimately an environment that speaks not only of epics but of individuals, peoples, cultures, human spirits trying to get in touch with the indefinable reality that has given birth to the most destructive forces and also the most benevolent in our world . Honestly, the more we try to define a deity as if it were an individual (no, not even that: As if it were a cardboard cutout), the further we will be from what makes this setting great. Again, this is just an opinion and I am still quite new in all this. I apologize if I seem arrogant or ignorant. I just wanted to get this off my chest, hahahaha. Sorry for a grammar or spelling mistake, I am not the best with English and I have to help myself with the translator when writing.