[Glorantha] Esrolian Earth Tribe

[Donald R. Oddy]

In message <61085.84.141.94.239.1166480298.squirrel at webmail.toppoint.de> "Joerg Baumgartner" writes:

>You have to be able to prove the authenticity of your stance, though, 
>by making others perceive the Other Side the same way you do. (which 
>is why I listed Harmast, Alakoring and the Larnsti as influences on 
>the Heortlings.)

Which you can do by selective heroquesting. Given that no one knows
all the HQs of even one god and the majority of people only follow
the HQs their religious leaders decide on proving authenticity is
not going to be a big problem.

>I blame the so-called "peaceful Golden Age" for this. There are sufficient
>hints that the Golden Age started as a time of change and strife, and that
>before that a reign of earth powers was another Golden Age-like structure
>rather than Green Agey vagueness. Neither Yelm nor Genert (or Molamin, or
>whoever preceded as the Earth King) started out as more innocent or pure
>than Orlanth, in my personal opinion. IMO they all had Giants to put them
>to tests.

Of course, I'd forgotten Genert was the major Earth Tribe god. It
seems that the Earth Tribe was shattered by Genert's dismemberment.

>The Orlanthi lack male members of the earth tribe, though. Mountain
>deities are (somewhat spuriously, IMO) counted as Fire Tribe even though
>Vestkarthan himself is half earth-being by his landing, and second or
>third generation storm deities are at best half or quarter storm and
>usually lots of earth instead. (Procreation of Umath's spawn with the
>Power-descended deities -like Issaries, Chalana, Lhankor Mhy, Donandar -
>appears to be rare, for some odd reason. Most mothers - voluntary or not -
>seem to be water, earth or mountain (mixed earth/fire, or earth/power)
>deities, with a lesser sprinkle of darkness and fire matings.
>
>Somehow all the pure fire chicks, apart from Mahome and Ourania, appear to
>be in the far west or far east, not above, and I suppose we will never
>know how many of Yelm's "planetary sons" really were daughters - Sedenya
>seems to have been at least half of them (Verithurus, Reladivus,
>Falsoretus, possibly Deumalus or Ghevengus as well, not to forget
>Zayteneras),.

A lot may merely reflect the cultural view of their worshippers. So 
there is a tendency in central Genertala to regard women as members 
of the Earth Tribe and men as members of the Fire or Storm Tribes 
irrespective of parentage or temprament. So we get Mahome as a 
subcult of Ernalda and Vinga regarded as part of the Earth Tribe 
although she behaves more like a member of the Storm Tribe.

>I wonder why you omitted Oria and (Dawn Age) Seshna Likita, rather
>stronger cases.

Just working off published books rather than rooting though all
the obscure discussions that mention other gods.

>Donald
>
>>So who do men initiate into if not Orlanth? Or aren't men generally
>>allowed to initiate? I find it difficult to understand the idea of
>>an Orlanthi religion without the worship of Orlanth being a core
>>part.
>>
>Going back to the ancient sources, I'd make this Barntar the Plowman.

Which reduces Orlanth's role to that of the absent husband/father.
The religion becomes "Ernalda and Barntar" rather than "Orlanth and
Ernalda".

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