Actually, we have no idea where Remalada comes from -- all GRoY says is that she is a foreign goddess.
>Mralota is the
>Goddess of Pigs and comes from Maniria where the Haralding Orlanthi
>there were hsunchen swine-cum-pig herders.
Except that Mralota is actually only mentioned in relation to Balazar. The deity mentioned for Maniria is Mralot. I can easily discount this latter bit as being written during the God Learner phase at Chaosium, and that therefore the pig deity worshiped there may be differently named. I would suggest, given that Ernalda definitely has pig links in Orlanthi society, and that Ramalia is so close to Ralios, that the deity worshiped there is a remnant of a Ralian hsunchen tribe. Also, I would imagine the name of the deity is similar to Ramalia, rather than Mralot.
Since Greg has said in GRoY that Ernalda is a form of the earth goddess known in Saird, and since we know Mralota is worshiped in Balazar, I think it would be extremely unlikely that the two goddesses were _not_ originally the same.
>Furthermore the Haraldings
>were originally non-Orlanthi who acquired Orlanthi "ways" late compared
>to the Vingkotlings (cf the KoS where Harand's ancestry is snubbed in
>favour of descent from Orlanth). Hence I find it difficult to believe
>that both tribes originally worshipped the same goddess.
>
I doubt this. First of all, I think the Haraldings and Harandings may be
different people, though I don't recall what Shannon figured out when
going through Greg's notes to write the history which appears in The
Broken Council Guidebook. But, they are definitely as Orlanthi as any of
the other Orlanthi peoples. ALL Orlanthi tribes snub the ancestors of
their enemy tribes.
>
Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz>
Yelmalio, Slave Collars and Carmania
>
>>The modern Cult of Yelmalio seems to be a synthesis of several
>>different yet similar deities [...] Could somebody please summarize
>>the similarities between these cults and "classic" Yelmalio, and
>>also explain their differences?
>
>>1) The elven Yelmalio;
>
>No Geases. No Priests. Just Light Worshippers with Bows. Source
>of No Fire Taboos - Elves hate fire.
>
Well, for the elves, Yelmalio is now a martial cult. He is one of the
Protectors, and he is master of the Spear, not the Bow. High King Elf is
the Bow God of the elves. I think the Rune Lords of Yelmalio stem from
the elven god.
>>2) Elmal, the loyal watchman of Orlanth;
>
>Gives 'Blessings upon the earth, good barley crops, healthy horses
>and winter protection'. Has no Sunspear. Is probably the origin
>of the Geas system. Religion is run along the Orlanthi system -
>thus there are no light sons, light priests and such, but only
>Sun Thanes (Rune Lords) who are the pillars of society.
>
Actually, I believe it was the priests of the Yelmalio cult who come from
Elmal. Note that they are the ones with all the special spells, blessings
upon the earth, etc. The Sun Lords of Yelmalio are much too martial to
come from Elmal, who is not a war god by any means. Shoot, he is less of
a war god than Heler, the Rain God, and we all know how martial _he_ is!
I agree that Elmal is the best source of the geas system, though I also believe he no longer provides/requires geasa in the Third Age. I think most Orlanthi cults dealt with geasa in the Dawn Ages, and that only a couple of them still retain them. I think Monrogh discovered the geasa system on his GodQuest, and either consciously or unintentionally made them part of the new god. That may have been the only way to sever Yelmalio from Elmal, for example.
>>3) Yu-kargzant of the Grazers?
>
>He is *not* related to Yelmalio.
>
We don't know this, though I agree it is unlikely. It is very possible
Monrogh incorporated elements of the Yu-Kargzant cult into Yelmalio,
though I think the only reason to postulate this is if we find a part of
the Yelmalio cult we cannot trace to elven Yelmalio, Elmal, or Teshnos.
>>4) Lightfore?
>
>A Planet. Has numerous cults all over the world attached to him.
>
Including Yelmalio and Elmal. I think to the Grazers he is Golden Bow,
Jardan the Warrior, Yu-Kargzant's son. Though I could be wrong.
>>5) I'm sure I've left somebody out.
>
>There are quite a number of other influences which Monrogh drew
>upon when creating his cult. The Solar Cult at Sun County is
>the source of the hoplite warfare (Narokoris the Wise) and the
>Priestly tradition.
I think the Hoplite tradition was not _invented_ by Narokoris, but was rediscovered by him. It also has its originas in the Second Age Dara Happan cult from which Yelmalio takes his temple shape.
>
Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz>
various things
>
>The next paragraph details the Iron Vrok which
>is obviously the Kethaelan name for Yelm when he unjustly ruled the
>region. Obviously I'm not convinced that Joerg is right in inferring
>that the Waertagi arrived there during the Silver Age.
Actually, "The Iron Vrok" is the name of the general of the region,
Palangio of the Iron Vrok, a Shargashi general from Alkoth. He was a
member of the Broken Council, and rules this region for Nysalor and/or
Lokamayadon, depending on how politics went after Nysalor's birth. The
Iron Vrok was a magical creature/artifact which was created for him, a
Giant Vrok Hawk made of iron, which could fly.
>
Stephen Martin
ilium_at_juno.com
- -----------------------------------------------The Book of Drastic Resolutions
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #68
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
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