Young God

[Snugz]

(Gathering Thunder spoiler, sorry!)

Spoiler

I am confused- what might the Young God be that is the colossal man who some see when the Boat Planet rises in the Sky? Is it just an aspect of the Boat Planet, or is it something else like The Youth / Spirit of Youth (on sky river) or something otherwise that is totally new? AFAIK published material hasn't explained that but I'd love to hear speculations.

 

[Ladygolem]

Maybe it would have been revealed in later books that never happened? (Just going off the wiki here, I've never read Sartar Rising.)

Otherwise Dormal sounds plausible. Maybe it's Argrath, because when in doubt, assume everything is always Argrath somehow.

[Sir_Godspeed]

In Celestial lore, there is a constellation (or star?) by the same name, and it is generally associated with a narrative of a young Yelm or one of the Lightfore deities (Kargzant, etc.) (or both). It's also associated with the turning of the year - the turning of the skies gradually retelling the narrative as it cycles. 

My sky lore is very basic, so I have no idea if this is relevant, or entirely correct, though.

[jajagappa]

52 minutes ago, Snugz said:

what might the Young God be that is the colossal man who some see when the Boat Planet rises in the Sky?

In the Guide p.649, it is noted as the Youth.  Youth: This star (which is sometimes part of a constellation of the same name) is the residence of the Spirit of Youth, or perhaps is his body. It is brightest in Sea Season, then fades throughout the year to the point of being invisible for much of the winter season. Dara Happans also say this star is Yelm’s Throne, the place where his annual journey through the sky both starts and ends.

GRoY p.49 notes: Youth or Throne. This is the Young God who stabilized the heavens and accomplished many other deeds, and then set his chair in this place where he rests.  He gets up once a year to cross the Sky and view his domain.

However, the figure most commonly identified as the Young God is Yelm.  See WF11 p.24.  Yelm's life is usually divided into five separate phases. They are: 1) The Young God, who lived during the Golden Age of innocence;...

and p.25: Young Yelm lived during the Golden Age. Some people claim that he was the harbinger of that age, for he is radiant and bright and lit wherever he goes. Some times Harbringer is a title or synonym for Yelm. The Young God is also hailed as the Provider, too . The agricultural communities hail him as the Wheat Bringer. Many old elf songs call him the Flower Bringer suggesting that the Green Age was of non-flowering plants before Yelm came along. The nomads call him Hunter at this stage, and say that this is the age he practised harmlessly with weapons.

The Rising of Lightfore at the beginning of Seaseason aligns with the Youth, and his subsequent progression in the Sky tells the story of the Young God (aka Young Yelm).

[Snugz]

3 hours ago, Ladygolem said:

Maybe it would have been revealed in later books that never happened? (Just going off the wiki here, I've never read Sartar Rising.)

Otherwise Dormal sounds plausible. Maybe it's Argrath, because when in doubt, assume everything is always Argrath somehow.

Haha yeah indeed; that Argrath gets around. It's definitely not Dormal; that is noted. It is said to be a "new" god. It does seem that it was intended to be elaborated on in a followup adventure, as it was a momentous event in the scenario.

[Snugz]

3 hours ago, jajagappa said:

The Rising of Lightfore at the beginning of Seaseason aligns with the Youth, and his subsequent progression in the Sky tells the story of the Young God (aka Young Yelm).

OK that makes some sense, I had missed the Yelm connection. I haven't the foggiest notion how this relates to the scenario, in which questers oppose powerful Sky realm beings rather than aid them, and how this Young God is hinted at (the way I read it) as being some Big Hero Wars development.

[Leingod]

The Sartar Companion seems to imply that Heler, in his aspect as the "Lord of the Golden Tear," has some connection to the Young God, as it's stated that he initiated Sshorga the Blue Dragon into the Young God's secrets, which is how Sshorga (now Lorion) invaded the Sky World.

[jajagappa]

44 minutes ago, Snugz said:

I haven't the foggiest notion how this relates to the scenario, in which questers oppose powerful Sky realm beings rather than aid them, and how this Young God is hinted at (the way I read it) as being some Big Hero Wars development.

That period of Glorantha content went off in a lot of odd directions, so I'd take it with a big grain of salt as to whether it was to mean anything at all, or was just something thrown in to ooh and ahh at.

The core story is that the Boat Planet flows along the Sky River, and the Sky River invasion was opposed by the Sky, therefore so will the Boat Planet's return (even if it is a 'heavenly body').  You can also look at it as Yelm (or the Young God) was the one who stabilized the Perfect Sky after the Sky River's invasion, thus guiding the Celestial River into its proper path.  (Think of it as achieving a balance between Sun and Rain to support life below.)

[Leingod]

3 hours ago, Snugz said:

OK that makes some sense, I had missed the Yelm connection. I haven't the foggiest notion how this relates to the scenario, in which questers oppose powerful Sky realm beings rather than aid them, and how this Young God is hinted at (the way I read it) as being some Big Hero Wars development.

Many of the Sky forces encountered in this scenario are hostile, but not all of them; at one point a host of warriors called the "Angels of Antirius" come to the boat's defense, and in the boxed text describing the officers, the (unseen to the characters) captain is revealed to be Anaxial.

And from my own reading of it, I don't think it really implies this is a new thing or necessarily specific to the Hero Wars. There's just a boxed text describing that some people will catch a glimpse of the Young God, and that whether or not a character saw it should be written on their character sheet. That's definitely a strong implication that this was meant to lead to something down the line, but we can hardly begin to guess at what with only that to go on.

Now, since the secrets of the Young God were what allowed Lorion to enter the Sky World, we can suppose that perhaps the Young God was also key to the raising of the Boat Planet in some way. Maybe his secrets were used here, or his permission was sought, or maybe even his seeing and acknowledging this was key to allowing the Boat Planet to become a "proper" part of the Sky World again, once all the opposition was beaten away. There's some bits and pieces of the Glorious Re-Ascent that seem to paint the Young God as a sort of gatekeeper for what gets to be allowed to remain in the Sky World, after all.

Edited February 12, 2021 by Leingod

[Snugz]

8 hours ago, Leingod said:

Now, since the secrets of the Young God were what allowed Lorion to enter the Sky World, we can suppose that perhaps the Young God was also key to the raising of the Boat Planet in some way. Maybe his secrets were used here, or his permission was sought, or maybe even his seeing and acknowledging this was key to allowing the Boat Planet to become a "proper" part of the Sky World again, once all the opposition was beaten away. There's some bits and pieces of the Glorious Re-Ascent that seem to paint the Young God as a sort of gatekeeper for what gets to be allowed to remain in the Sky World, after all.

OK yeah I like that interpretation and others above. If life is a cycle, like Yelm's, and the Boat Planet was there before Time, then from the Young God's perspective perhaps it is just and lawful that the Boat Planet returns again, too.