Re: Barantaros Variations

From: KYER, JEFFREY <jeff.kyer_at_...>
Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 12:05:57 -0400


I am not entirely sure I wish to add confusion to the situtation, rather I'd like to clarify it -- that was one of the more hopeful (and probably wildly idealistic) purposes of the list, afterall.

Guy Hoyle wrote:
>
> On 5/29/00 at 10:16 AM KYER, JEFFREY wrote:
> [snipped the possible similarities between Barntar and Barantaros]
> >
> >I would suspect he is not the same person. The myth given in the Hidden
> >Gale is very un-Banatarlike. I think that the similarity with names is
> >concidental. Of course, you could treat it as a subcult of Banatar, if
> >you like, but I don't think it fits very well. I'd say he's a hero cult
> >of one of Orlanth's Thunderbrothers. Things don't *have* to be tied
> >together. Sometmes, a cake is just a cake.
>
> This is true, and I admit the possibility that my theory has no merit. But
> there are a couple of other factors that I should have brought up
> originally:

> 1) Somebody (Greg? Roderick?) created the name Barantaros with a very real
> resemblance to an existing deity, Barntar;
> 2) There are other cases in Glorantha where a similarity in god names
> indicates a connection of some kind between deities (e.g., Orlanth,
> Worlath, Orlanatus; Humakt, Humath, Umath); admittedly, those deities are
> pretty much just cultural variations. But Barantaros' function as "the
> hidden wind" reminds me that, in Dragon Pass at least, many Orlanthi who
> were forbidden to worship Orlanth actually hid their worship within the
> worship of Barntar. Maybe they actually joined Barantaros, and let the
> confusion between the two deities mask their activities.
>
> I admit that I'm not intimately familiar with the Barantaros myth. Though
> this theory might be a load of hooey, there are an awful lot of
> coincidences running around here.

Ah. Well, I would suggest that a perusal of the Demo Kit on the glorantha site would probably be in order. Its probably unwise to speculate on something without having seen the material. However, your point on confusion does seem to be of use but the downside of Barantaros is that there is no compromise with the Lunars -- which conflicts fairly heavily with Banatar. If Banatar is a place to hide and wait for better times, Barantaros is a place to take vengance from.

Barantaros, the Hidden Gale, is written up at http://www.glorantha.com/hw/cultshort_barantaros.html in a short form. Hopefully, this will help.  

I think that the similarity of names is, in this case, merely conincidence.

Jeff

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