>>Anyone else thought about this, or know of more examples from
>>Glorantha?
>
>Cannibalism is one subject about which nearly every modern person has very
>strong tabus, hence very easy to mask over with stereotypes generated from
>fear. So I just want to put in a few sign posts to generate some thinking.
<snip very concise depiction of cannibalism>
Yup, the ideas you state were very much the theme of the TV series I was watching. I can easily see many examples of ritualistic 'sacred' cannibalism happening in Glorantha, but would still like to pin down who and where (and why for that matter, not to mention what do they get out of it?).
Hsunchen (of carnivorous species) I see eating sentients not through worship, but equally not through disrespect - they are just doing their thing. I don't see it as any magical thing, since Telmori use Wolf spirits, but wolves don't (usually) eat wolves. I can therefore see a third option to the worship & food options you give, that of 'if it's meat it's a meal' - the almost incidental eating of a sentient simply because he was handy. Not an excuse likely to carry a heortling court, but still not as bad as ogres who prey on humans deliberately.
I am reminded of a scene from the movie 'The Howling'. The werewolves are having a town meeting (you have to see the film... the last oppressed American minority - werewolves). The modernist says 'Humans are our cattle', the traditionalist says 'NO! Humans are our PREY!'. Both are Gloranthan ogre attitudes.
Wulf
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