The man who mistook Somash for Solf

From: Peter Metcalfe, CAPE Canty <CHEN190_at_cantva.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 1994 13:44:54 +1300


For the Record, Yelm in Teshnos is SOMASH! (Thud!) I fumbled my gloranthan lore and now am hiding out from the thugs of Garusharp who were shocked beyond words when I appeared to accuses them of being junkies...

Nils Weinander:


>I see the people of Teshnos as arch-conservatives: more widespread worship
>of Zitro Argon (Dayzatar) than in other cultures etc. My theory is that
>Dendara isn't worshipped at all in Teshnos since the teshnans see the
>sky pantheon as it was earlier in the god-time, before Dayzatar withdrew
>and before Dendara was Yelm's wife.

Well to keep social upheaval (and recorded Glorantha) to a minimum, I was thinking that we make the Sun Goddess Cult primarily a minor cult in scope. Ie there are no lavish temples to her. At the most there would be something like a shinto shrine at which one leaves offerings in every city. (Perhaps the shrine is overseen by a male as the Sun's Husband to satisfy Priestly concerns). Devotees of the Sun Goddess are not included in the council of priests which oversees the Vessel of Light.

I'm thinking that although caste strictures do apply to women, they are generally kept to worshipping the Sun Goddess to avoid them getting too much power. Certain woman are, of course, allowed to worship other cults.

BTW We'll have to think of a name for this Sun Goddess Cult. Dendara and Sedenya are out. Possibly something like Seomale (summer breeze) or another elvish name out of Elder Secrets. That way, we'll leave open the question over whether the Sun Goddess of Teshnos is actually Dendara...

Comments that Somash is the God of the Nobles who actually run the show and that Teshana is the aboringinal goddess, I thoroughly concur with. Calyz's association with sex in this case makes me feel queasy...

Nick Brooke:


>> I just had the brilliant brainwave. In Japan the Sun Goddess is
>> feminine. Who is better than Dendara for this role?

>Sedenya. After all, she's a Sun goddess and not an Earth goddess, and is known
>to be the sun goddess of the elves. (I can't remember where I know this from,
>but it's pretty certain).

[Stares hard at Nick] Perhaps it's in the Lunar Book or the DHBE? Sedenya is mentioned in the GRAY and so is the Sun Goddess of the Elves in Peloria. I'm not too sure that the original elves of Peloria were in fact Embyli, perhaps they're the rumoured Moon Elves.

>what do you mean, "there's nothing left of it"?

I was referring to the lack of a figure from Yelm's Rightful Government. If the Vessel of Light was a proper representative of the Government of Yelm then Teshnos would have subjugated the amazons, be treated by the Dragon Empire as an equal, colonized the isle of Teleos and the River of Cradles, be the terror of the nomads...

Ralf:


>>IMO as Teshnos derives it's core truths from Dayzatar, it appears that Yelm's
>>Rightful Government in this area was overthrown unlike Dara Happa and Kralo-
>>rela.

>Might be. I see Teshnos still clinging to a more archaic form of sky worship
>centered on Dayzatar prior to his abdication of rule over the sky realm in
>favour of his younger brother Yelm and his removal beyond the sky dome (and
>thus beyond normal "mundane" reach).

Harald writes on this is a similar vein.

The truths were, sorry THE TRUTH was reestablished by Soravatoor (Sp?) the Son of Heaven. It appears the Teshnos has suffered some disruption during the Gods War. Perhaps any Yelmic heroes were stuck on Melib, the Isle of Lethargy...

>The divine order of the sky is, IMHO, an achievement or philosophy of
>Dayzatar.

'Absolutely. How could anybody else think otherwise!'

        Anonymous adjunct to the Vessel of Light.

>> Dendara was actually the Sun Cult of the Yellow Elves.

>Seriously: maybe the embyli think that the sun is a female entity, but I
>would feel great hesitation to see any connection between Dendara and this
>entity...Dendara is a daughter of (Empress) Earth, not an entity of the sky
>at all.

Her Runes are Light and Earth. Who is to say which is more important? In Happan and Kralorelan Cultures, she is primarily a goddess of the earth. However Gods can change radically different between cultures. Compare Argan Argar to Arganum or YarGan in Dara Happa (who in what I've heard about the Unity list is a blue-skinned God of Sorcerers!)

The main reason for Dendara's identification as her birthplace is nearby, she is bound to have a significant influence. Perhaps the Embyli forest originally extended up to there and was cut back by Vithaelan Settlers who adopted the worship of Dendara. I'm currently thinking that Dendara was originally worshipped as the Sun when the Sun returned at the Dawn. Shang-Hsa put his foot down over what he saw as a vile cult and tool of the Embyli and in a wave of purges promugulated the cult of Dendara as the Sun's Wife. All IMO.

>Aldrya is also definitely a daughter of said Earth, not Dendaras
>daughter.

Actually it's Ernalda and Flamal according to the God Learners. Although I suspect, they were getting this from Green and Brown Elves.

>Tricky questions might be :
>a) are the grain goddess of a certain area and the land goddess of said area
> one and the same being ?

I actually think the grain goddess a daughter of Flamal or Aldrya who was adopted by one of the land goddesses.

>b) who is/are the mother/s of the land goddesses ?

The best answer that I can give for Genertela is that the father is Genert and the mother is Gata. The identity of the mother has devolved onto local land goddesses. As for Pamaltela, the identity of the father has devolved onto Pamalt.

>As for the female sun of the embyli: maybe the gender of a godly entity
>really only depends on what the worshippers think or expect of IT. (????).

Just because they point at the Sun and worship it doesn't mean they get Yelm (or Somash) The Orlanthi get Elmal, the Elves got Yelmalio, Darjin got Manimat (I can't remember where I know this from, but it's pretty certain ;^).

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