>>> I wonder if in Esrolia the normal Lhankor Mhy requirement is >>> reversed and sages must go clean-shaven.
>> I doubt that, given that the beardedness is a pretty central LM >> mythic and physical identifier -
> Possibly, but I definitely see the requirement waived for women!
Textual evidence ("The Smell of a Rat") tells us different. IMO the beardedness of LM in Esrolia is a (weak) form of rebellion against the grandmothers' taking over all manly affairs.
So, as a last bastion of male domination, the LM may grudgingly accept women in their libraries, but they'd better make themselves equal.
>>It's not like this is some weird custom the LM like to indulge >>in... If you don't have a beard, the god probably won't talk >>to you. LM, after all, is not too concerned with gender >>politics in Esrolia (except, of course, as an area of >>knowledge).<<
> It depends on whether you believe that the beard requirement comes
> directly from the god or just from Heortling culture. I personally
> prefer the latter
I argue pretty much from the same premise, but for the opposite effect...
> so that I can have the Esrolians say "Make
> yourself look wiser by looking more like a MAN?!? Ridiculous!"
That wouldn't be the point. It's "make your self look more learned by wearing the beard", which is a feature a prospective sage would have to earn. IMO this is one last outlet for unbridled maleness (as e.g. in openly pronounced prejudices) in Esrolia which is not subject to the queens.
The entire LM cult reminds me of the college system caricatured by Tom Sharpe in "Porterhouse Blue". Many sages probably are afraid of intellectually competent women while claiming that those would be the exception. Forcing them to wear a beard might make them look less frightening if chanced upon between the shelves.
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