Sartarite Greetings

[Bohemond]

How do Sartarites greet each other in casual circumstances? Obviously for formal moments (like when a stranger shows up at your door), there’s the Greeting Ritual. But what do you do when your run into a close friend at the market? 

Do they shake hands? Clasp forearms? Fist bump? 

And what do they say? Obviously it could something mundane like “good to see you” but are there more evocative greetings, like “Good winds, brother” or “strong breath”? 

Do women use different greetings than men, and if so, what?

[daskindt]

I was recently wondering if there’s a condensed or less formal version of the Greeting. Is there?

[Mankcam]

Yes there is, it was in the RQ3 Glorantha Box. I don't have it on me, but it was something along the lines of " I am a man from the X clan of X tribe, hail thee' or something like that.

I think the main thing would be that you introduce your lineage (son of X), family or personal reputation titles  (if any), clan name, and tribal affiliation.

I think when parting, its something like 'Orlanth Go With Thee' (or more appropriate Deity)

Edited February 10, 2019 by Mankcam

[RHW]

14 minutes ago, Mankcam said:

Yes there is, it was in the RQ3 Glorantha Box. I don't have it on me, but it was something along the lines of " I am a man from the X clan of X tribe, hail thee' or something like that.

I feel like that's still too formal for friends who see each other every day or husband and wife or close family.

I like something  along the lines of "Good wind" or "Orlanth bless you" to men and "Ernalda bless you" to women. Could be shortened some way in Sartarite:

Or'var: Orlanth bless you. Said to a man or a Vingan.

Er'var: Ernalda bless you. Said to a woman or a Nandan.

Vor'var: Voriof or Voria bless you. Said to a child not yet initiated.

Works as both a greeting and a farewell.

During the occupation, when in a trusted setting, could substitute "Free Sartar" or "Come the Hurricane."

 

[Sir_Godspeed]

You know, during my current work on my master's thesis, I spent a little while reading about everyday, casual greetings in the region I did work, which prompted me to look into it a bit more generally, just out of curiosity. Often, these  "mundane greetings" meld a bit together with people's ideas of the public and private, "important" (in an everyday sense) activities and so on. Greetings might incorporate references to well-wishes or blessings, they might also incorporate queries that are almost formulaic. Small talk in a sense, but ingrained into a greeting, as it were, kind of like the ubiqutous "how are you?"

So for example:

"Greetings, Kjarr - seen the clouds today? / You noticed the easterly winds last night? / Did you catch the morning rain?" (I come from a place where the weather often changes, and the weather is our immediate focal point if no other topic is apparent. I imagine Orlanthi too would see weather as a natural, everyday topic to shoot the breeze about.)

"Greetings, Kjarr - did you eat yet? / What's for dinner?" (This one might seem a bit off to some others, it certainly did to me - but in South India where I did my fieldwork, the weather stayed pretty much the same for weeks on end, and so talking about the weather everyday was a non-starter. Instead, their daily, polite icebreaker smalltalk was about whether you had eaten yet, and what you had eaten. It was as natural to them as mentioning the possibility of rain is to me. Maybe not entirely thematic to the Sartar people, but Esrolians, maybe?)

"Greetings, Kjarr - coming or going? / Off somewhere? / Off the stead? / Out and about on the tula, eh? / Business with the thane?" (It's pretty common to idly inquire about everyday business. It's trivial enough to not be offensive, but interesting enough to keep local chatter going. Gossip is incredibly important in small-scale societies.)

 

[Joerg]

"Foul spawn of Chaos..." as used by Zero in conversation with the werewolf in Smell of a Rat. Could be used intra-party in sufficienty mixed groups.

[Brootse]

And in the more lunarized clans they ask if you have broken wind yet.

[Bohemond]

19 hours ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

So for example:

"Greetings, Kjarr - seen the clouds today? / You noticed the easterly winds last night? / Did you catch the morning rain?" (I come from a place where the weather often changes, and the weather is our immediate focal point if no other topic is apparent. I imagine Orlanthi too would see weather as a natural, everyday topic to shoot the breeze about.)

"Greetings, Kjarr - did you eat yet? / What's for dinner?" (This one might seem a bit off to some others, it certainly did to me - but in South India where I did my fieldwork, the weather stayed pretty much the same for weeks on end, and so talking about the weather everyday was a non-starter. Instead, their daily, polite icebreaker smalltalk was about whether you had eaten yet, and what you had eaten. It was as natural to them as mentioning the possibility of rain is to me. Maybe not entirely thematic to the Sartar people, but Esrolians, maybe?)

"Greetings, Kjarr - coming or going? / Off somewhere? / Off the stead? / Out and about on the tula, eh? / Business with the thane?" (It's pretty common to idly inquire about everyday business. It's trivial enough to not be offensive, but interesting enough to keep local chatter going. Gossip is incredibly important in small-scale societies.)

 

Interesting observations, and they make sense. But notice that all of these are basically the same thing--"Greetings" followed by a conversation starter. So they're not exactly different greetings, just different ways to get past the 'howdy' phase of the interaction. I'm trying to zero in on the actual greetings and what, if any, gestures go along with it. 

[jeffjerwin]

On 10 February 2019 at 12:06 PM, Bohemond said:

How do Sartarites greet each other in casual circumstances? Obviously for formal moments (like when a stranger shows up at your door), there’s the Greeting Ritual. But what do you do when your run into a close friend at the market? 

Do they shake hands? Clasp forearms? Fist bump? 

And what do they say? Obviously it could something mundane like “good to see you” but are there more evocative greetings, like “Good winds, brother” or “strong breath”? 

Do women use different greetings than men, and if so, what?

A loud shout would seem to be religiously appropriate. Orlanthi are boisterous. 

Edit: for an amusing problem to experience when sneaking around, one could run into a kinsman or friend. "Jarolar!!!! I thought you were on the run!"

Edited February 11, 2019 by jeffjerwin

[Sir_Godspeed]

2 hours ago, Bohemond said:

Interesting observations, and they make sense. But notice that all of these are basically the same thing--"Greetings" followed by a conversation starter. So they're not exactly different greetings, just different ways to get past the 'howdy' phase of the interaction. I'm trying to zero in on the actual greetings and what, if any, gestures go along with it. 

You could cut the "Greetings" altogether, I'd imagine.

"Out and about, Kjarr?"
"Aye, got business with the thane. Mare's about to foal."
"Ah, well, Elmali ought to know, aye."

Or just extremely casual stuff for people you'd see multiple times a day, even:

"Kjarr."
"Gerrick."

[Brootse]

In Yelmalian clans the short greeting is of course 'Oy!'

[Leingod]

53 minutes ago, Brootse said:

In Yelmalian clans the short greeting is of course 'Oy!'

Confusing this with the traditional Elmali "Oi!" is of course gravely offensive to both of them.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Leingod

[Richard S.]

7 minutes ago, Leingod said:

Confusing this with the traditional Elmali "Oi!" is of course gravely offensive to both of them.

I thought they used "Yo!"

[Leingod]

16 hours ago, Richard S. said:

I thought they used "Yo!"

No, that's just part of a running in-joke among Yelmalians about how backward Elmali are.

[jajagappa]

19 hours ago, Richard S. said:

I thought they used "Yo!"

Obviously they use "OY!" Light before Truth.

Or perhaps the more correct format:

"O

Y

!"

Light over Truth. 😉

Edited February 12, 2019 by jajagappa

[Joerg]

Nick Brooke's Game Report of his run of Gaumata's Vision also had YOY at some stage...

 

[soltakss]

We just use the "Good greetings in ill times, friend" from the Light Bringers Greeting, it's short enough to be usable and traditional enough to be sacred. 

[Akhôrahil]

"Ill met by moonlight" if it's a full moon night.