[Glorantha] Ernalda

[Donald R. Oddy]

In message <5.0.2.1.2.20051226100158.00b7b010 at pop.qsi.net.nz> Peter Metcalfe writes:

>                 The Birth of Umath
>                 KoS p56
>
>So if free love was the background of the birth of Orlanth's father,
>then the claim for Orlanth and Ernalda for having the first free
>marriage doesn't look very strong to me.

All this myth shows in that the struggle between the Emperor
(who may or may not be Yelm) and the Storm goes back before
Orlanth. At that point in myth I'm not even convinced marriage
existed and there is certainly nothing to suggest that "the
great sky" and "the fertile earth" were married. An equally
plausible view is that the Emperor created marriage in response
to this and similar acts so that he could regulate them.

>>Orlanth and Ernalda broke that pattern as Ernalda was supposed
>>to marry one of Yelm's sons.
>
>You are monomything here.  The original myths of Orlanth and
>Ernalda did not involve Yelm.

You have an alternative reason for Ernalda leaving Yelm's palace
to marry Orlanth? I know Orlanth would say she followed him
because she loved him but what was *her* reasoning?

>>Bear in mind that the
>>Sartarites still arrange marriages, the crucial difference is
>>that the couple have the final say.
>
>So the Sartarites are going against the divine pattern
>established by the King and Queen of their gods?

They are. We know that the Sartarites arrange marriages, equally 
we know the marriage of Ernalda and Orlanth was not arranged. 
That's why I suggest the key distinction is who has the final say.

>>Yes, Babeester Gor is born of the sleeping Ernalda and rises to
>>avenge and rescue her.
>
>While Babeester Gor does avenge, I don't see rescue in her
>myths.  The closest is standing over Ernalda's dead body until
>the Dawn (ST p202).

First three sentences of the same paragraph:

"Babeester Gor killed all her foes with her great axe until at last
she faced Ovodaka, the Last Guardian, who held the goddesses
prisoner. Babeester Gor let Ovodaka kill her. She then came back 
to life by drinking her own blood, and killed Ovodaka."

Looks like a rescue to me. Now you could argue that the goddesses
does't include Ernalda but I interpret it to mean all the earth
goddesses. 

Now why doesn't Ernalda return to her body straight away? My guess 
is that she had something to do in the underworld, and what do we 
find on pg 196 of TR - Ernalda in her aspect of Orventilli making 
peace between Yelm and Orlanth in the underworld.

I'm not saying my interpretations are right. I'm just trying to
link the scraps of Ernaldan myth we have together in a way that
shows Ernalda as Orlanth's equal rather than his love interest.
Bearing in mind that the Earth Tribe has its roots in the Green
Age there must be a lot of Earth myths which have nothing to do
with the Storm Tribe at all.

-- 
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/