For sure. Mr Metcalfe was overstating the case. Few Heortlings would quibble with describing Vinga as the 'daughter of Orlanth and Ernalda'. Her social role if nothing else makes her worthy of the title, and the Red Woman subcult is common to both Ernalda and 'Orlanthi' vingans. However, a few clans recognise her not as a goddess but as a human hero from the time of Heort and Drenya. Once you start to deal with factoids such as her multiple cultic grave sites, a peculiar mythologic comes into play, one that devotees and roleplayers understand. There will be an article on just this in Tales #20 that uses Vinga as an example.
So what does it mean to say that Vinga is the daughter of Orlanth and Ernalda? Greg is worth quoting here. "A fact of mythology is that every meaningful tidbit has more than one meaning. Lhankor Mhy says, 'Mythology is the art of Meaning.' The spiritual being sees the meaning, and the devotee sees then beyond that to a new meaning. Every answer is a clue to the next meaning. The devotee is not lost, for his practice defines his selected true meaning, and he need only hold to it as the stable point in an otherwise shifting set of ideals."
For a roleplayer, and for a devotee, the cracks between the facts are as important as the facts themselves, an opportunity for new stories and new, deeper, meanings.
John
nysalor_at_... John HughesQuestlines: http://home.iprimus.com.au/pipnjim/questlines/
As we call you III Loyal Daughter
So you come III Grim Red-Tressed One.
Gale Defender III Shield of women
Hearth Protector III Vengeance won.
Stead Wall Champion III Spear-bright Daughter Bold Path Finder III Called, You Come. Great-Heart Goddess III Friend of Women Laughing Sister III Victory won.
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