Stephen Tempest
>My understanding was more the other way round: the pre-Great Darkness
>inhabitants of Saird were the first to domesticate horses, but disappeared
>eastwards when the ice age came
I agree. Of course myth isn't supposed to obey the rules of chronology, but there should be a reason for the Pentans worshipping a god they call Hyalor.
Both Pentans and Hyalorings have their own horse-breaking myths. The hyal, or Goldeneyes, were the magical horses of the Hyalorings of Saird. The hyal degenerated during the Great Darkness and finally disappeared shortly after the Dawn, because the Hyalorings gradually forsook their ancient deities and worshipped other gods such as Elmal or Kargzant.
In Pent, Hippogriff was robbed of her claws and wings by the trolls when the Hellcrack opened, and became Hippoi, mother of the breed called False Horse in Dara Happa but which is actually the same as their own sered (how strange..). Because the Hellcrack is so significant to Pentan mythology and they remember when it opened, i think the Pentans really are from Pent. But maybe they were driven south by the ice. Some of them could have become the Star Gazers who brought Buserian's frame to Yuthuppa during the Long Night. They were on foot. Others could have met Hyalor, who taught them how to ride and became a cultural hero in their survival myths.
Some non-Starlight Hyaloring groups turned to Elmal worship and joined the Vingkotlings, adopting the galana breed (stolen from the Galanini) because their own horses had become so cheap. Other Hyalorings may have turned to Kargzant worship during the Jenarong era. By then the Starlight people considered the first Horsebreaking was theirs, and called the remaining Hyalorings Liars. All the above is just a theory. (sources Glorantha Intro: Pent, GRoY and Anaxial's Roster p49).
>Is there an proper Gloranthan collective name for "the horse nomads
>who ruled Peloria before and after the Dawn"? Kargzanti?
Probably that's what the Dara Happans called them. The Theyalans called them Sun Horse Lords IIRC.
Jerome
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