>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.
I'm not convinced of this. If you compare the name Yelmalio to the elven names in Elder Secrets, you don't see that much similarity. (You don't see that much consistency, either; but certainly no -io endings.) Furthermore, Yelmalio is clearly a derivation from Yelm and/or Elmal, which are undeniably human names for the sun god.
As I remarked several months ago when an earlier version of this article appeared, there is no discernable root for Sun in the elf names in ES. That is, unless the language has some transformations that put Cymric to shame. Compare Lowin (Sunshine) with Seomale (Sun Follower).
>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: <quotation omitted>
This very pointedly doesn't say what the elf god's name was.
Presumably the author would have said that Yelmalio was the name of the god
known to the elves, rather than being the same as the god known to the elves,
if that was what he meant. Even saying "Yelmalio was already known among the
elves,..." rather than "This deity..." would establish what you seek to
prove, but the
author did not repeat the name Yelmalio.
Then I generally agree until we get to:
>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.
I should explain that, by "Arroin," I mean one of the two roots of the composite cult which the Godlearners created and called Chalana Arroy(n).
High King Elf I didn't include because the official cult write-up makes it a subcult of Aldrya, and I didn't want to confuse things. Certainly, in a mythic sense, they are associates.
Yelm I included because I think the elves recognize some sky powers other than their sun god. The elves might deny the primacy of those powers, but they know they're there. If you tell them that Hurril's associate sky god is the fiery sun father of the Dara Happans, they'll say, "That's interesting" and do whatever the elven equivalent is of yawning. So making Yelm an associate is really more of a game mechanical thing than a present cultural truth.
Vrimak was known to the ancient Dara Happans, among others. There might be an elven name for the paramount bird ancestor, but I was pressed for time.
>I actually think that this role is adequatelly covered by
>Yelorna in the third age.
Beg pardon? Yelorna, with its anti-male bias, was the sun god of the politically incorrect animal nomads? I must be misunderstanding you here.
Ian Gorlick proposes that Yelmalio was the uncouth sun god of the Pelorian hill people. Works for me. This could even be the source of the name, which would satisfy all those people who don't want to rewrite history (among them Mr. Gorlick).
I don't think that Antirius died at the Hill of Gold in the way that Yamsur died, for example. He certainly got beat up. Lots of gods died in the Godtime and have worshipers. Sandy mentioned a few. Of course the biggies are Yelm, Ernalda, and Orlanth. [Aside: I subscribe (in a fuzzy way) to the theory posted in this forum that Antirius and two other guys (Shargash was one) were the sun gods of the three surviving Dara Happan cities at the dawn, one per city.]
>You suggest giving Antirius a spell of Divine Justice. I would
>disagree with that. I would prefer that judges have the
>responsibility to find justice and set penalties themselves (and
>the freedom to be corrupt too).
Well, they do. For one thing, you can't use the DJ spell every time. But from my read of Glorious Reascent, it's a reasonable spell.
I said:
>>Hurril does not have any geases relating to eating meat,
>>celibacy, or relations with elves, dwarves, horses, or trolls.
To which "Peter Metcalfe" replied:
>*No* Geases for Relationships with Dwarves and Trolls? I would
>have different ones for an Elf Sun God.
Do you need a geas "continue breathing till you die"? Elf hatred of dwarves and trolls is instinctive, not learned. The Yelmalio geases are to make the Yelmalians closer to elves.
Generally agree with Mr. Metcalfe about the local gods, & stuff.
Another possibility is the Amon Ra (or Chalana Arroy) type
composite.
While we're on the topic of Chalana Arroy, I propose that all Gloranthan
cults with double (and triple) names (with the exceptions noted below) are
composites of the God Learners: Daka Fal, Lhankor Mhy, Argan Argar, Ty Kora
Tek, etc.
They did this in cases where two (or three) cults were big enough that they had to mollify both by giving them part of the "official name."
Exception one: those whose second names are clearly titles: Arachne Solara, all the Gors (Tipper, et Al.), and probably Harana Ilor, Kargan Tor, and Kyger Litor.
Exception two: post-God Learner cults, such as Irrippi Ontor.
Mee Vorala seems to be a special case, being the human understanding of a troll name for the Voralan experience of divinity (possibly not an entity at all).
I admit I have trouble with all the troll names. They may represent some other principle entirely.
Peter Metcalfe goes on the say:
>You forget the Dara happan concept as elucidated by Pletonius is
>'Denseb' or 'Divine Order'. Although this was translated by
>Pletonius as Justice, in _my_ opinion Imperium is a better word.
>Antirius is the Bringer of the Divine Order, the Perfect reign
>of the Sky. He creates the order of correct worship (and
>consequently government - cf Antirius's persuausion of Anaxial
>to try the ten tests) not dispensing criminal justice.
You'll have to be more specific than what you say here, as Denseb is not in the index to Glorious Reascent (I assume that's what you're referring to, though it was authored by Plentonius, not Pletonius). Any hoo, you can't have divine order after divine disorder (which is when Antirius came to the fore) without some way of judging. Note that the Divine Justice spell does not single out criminal cases (if that distinction is even known in Dara Happan law--ours is derived largely from the medieval English notion of the King's Peace, under which bad acts in the King's presence were an offense against him). You can use the DJ spell just as well in a case where you're arguing over who the oxen belong to.
End of Glorantha Digest V1 #62
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