Re: Oh no! It's Yelmalio!

From: Shannon Appel <appel_at_erzo.berkeley.edu>
Date: Sat, 17 Dec 1994 23:42:17 -0800

>Hey, does anybody have any quick thoughts on the following, which
>will be going into Codex #3? Sorry to revive this thread, but...
...
> The elves of central Genertela clearly worship a god whom
>all agree is the same as Yelmalio, although the elves have a
>different name for him: Hurril. Hurril teaches the Sunripen
>divine spell (as per Yelm). Hurril's associates are Aldrya,
>Arroin, Flamal (Bear Fruit), Vrimak, and Yelm (who provides Fight
>Disease). Hurril's gifts are oriented toward elvish skills and
>needs. His geases relate to symbolic avoidances (such as not
>drinking Calfonilla tea) and relations with humans and animals.
>Hurril does not have any geases relating to eating meat,
>celibacy, or relations with elves, dwarves, horses, or trolls.

Thoughts? sure.

Not only do the elves of central Genertala worship a god that we recognise as Yelmalio, but, in fact, they worship the god from which the name Yelmalio and the central Yelmalian characteristics come from.

This is backed up by King of Sartar in "Making Gods" (pg 195-197), where it talks about Monrogh Lantern establishing the Sun Dome Temple:         

	"Monrogh is the one who traveled to the sun god to
	find the truth which was needed.  He traversed the worlds,
	met with the elf lords and the wandering souls who had still
	been seeking the vision.  They were assembled as the
	Witnesses, who have brought their magics to the cult.

	"Monrogh did not know the name of the god for whom he searched,
	but when he returned to the world he brought back Yelmalio.
	This deity was already known among the elves, and was
	said to be the wounded body of the sun limping across the
	sky..."

Now, to the elves, light and warmth are growing forces, while fire is a taking force. That is why their sun, Yelmalio, is a creature of light, but not fire. The humans who took the Yelmalio myths from the elves needed a different story to explain the lack of fire, and that's where the hill of gold explanation came from (no doubt heavily influenced by the Antirius story... the Elmal worshippers were incorporating Dara Happan culture anyways). [Digression: The elven Yelmalio was indeed hurt during the Darkness, and is now half as powerful as he was, but he just lost his ability to remain rooted always in the middle of the sky, not any non-existant fire power.]

As for the question of associated deities: Arroin (water), Gata (earth) and Yelmalio (light) all came from The Grower. They nourished, protected and warmed the seed, which was Flamal. Aldrya was Flamal's first seed that fell upon Gata, and thus she is the mother of all plants grown upon the land. The other important elven deity is Voria, who is probably Flamal reborn, to save the world from the first winter. [Digression: I noted above the three growing forces, which are water, earth and light. The three taking forces are fire, stone and darkness, and I don't know the correct elven names for them.]

Thus, I'd put as associated deities for the elven Yelmalio, for sure: Arroin, Gata and Aldrya, quite possibly: High King Elf, maybe: Flamal and Voria. Yelm and Vrimak are, of course, Dara Happan, and should only go in if you think the God Learners enforced those mythic connections upon the elven deity.

>The Waha style Yelmalio cult is like the version in Sun County, with
>some exceptions. ... They call their god Surio. Their gifts are like
>the normal Yelmalio cult's, substituting the tribal animal for horse.
>Their geases are generally the same as Yelmalio's, again substituting
>the tribal animal for horse.

I actually think that this role is adequatelly covered by Yelorna in the third age. She is named a "light in the darkness", and the God-learners recognised the close connection, and made her into Yelmalio's brother. It should also be noted that Yelorna was present when Splendid Yamsur was cut down, and Yamsur is very likely the sun god of the Praxians.

Shannon

---