I don't want to do anything to make Hon-Eel less important or less interesting: on the contrary, I'm trying to save (this aspect of her) from the Dire Fate of being relegated to a boring Generic Grain Goddess. So there, Alison, I'm trying to save you from yourself. ;-)
> Alex still doesn't think that she qualifies as a
> Grain Goddess, describing her instead as the cultural hero who found grain
> not the goddess responsible for its spread and nurture.
I didn't say that; she's certainly the entity who would be credited with its spread to date, and whose cult would do any further spreading. And I don't say she's not involved in its nurture; just that she doesn't go around providing (*yawn*) Bless Crops and Command Gnome.
> If there can be grain goddesses that are not land
> goddesses, then she assuredly is one.
I again disagree. She isn't the land goddess, that's true, and I don't think the equation is as strong as some people have implied. (It's true for the Barbarian Belt, the GLers obviously took the ball and ran with it.)
I think Alison and I may just be disagreeing about a couple of capital G's. By "qualifies as a Grain Goddess", I assume someone would mean "has a cult substantially like that of GoG, pp 39-40". Since this very cult description says Hon-Eel is _not_ a Generic Grain Goddess, I'm forced to disagree with (this interpretation of) this statement. Now, if the proposition is "is associated with maize", there's no difficulty.
> I am inclined to think that the second category is a valid one.
I agree here (though not really with Sandy's example of the Rice Mother; as I said before, she isn't really either, I believe). I don't think the Doraddi ones are Land Goddesses in the Genertelan sense.
> However, Hon-eel is not a land goddess, but a goddess tied to the
> culture of maize. As such, she can be exported wherever maize is grown,
> unlike Pelora, who remains tied to her country.
Not _strictly_ true; after all, it seems Pela was "exported" to the rest of the Pelorian bowl from her (I believe) native Pelanda. But I agree wrt to Hon-Eel, I just don't think this makes her a GoG-pp39--40-style Grain Goddess.
> The other question that could be debated is what kinds of corn did Hon-eel
> bring back, because corn is a very highly-derived grain these days.
I'd guess something like flour corn, since I'm sure it is mostly baked. Less human-edible strains were probably known before Hon-Eel.
> If the seed is not shelled from the cob, no plants will successfully grow,
> because the seeds can't fall off and the multiple seedlings will choke each
> other. It also requires more water than most cereals, and generally a longer
> growing season.
There's a couple of possiblities for areas of magical intervention, as well as mundane skills taught by the cult, to facilitate healthy, wellprepared seed, and sufficient irrigation.
> A very special magic might make the corn so nutritious that
> you didn't have to eat anything else.
Funny you should say that...
> Repel Corn Borer, anyone?
Probably done by propiatory Gorakiki worship. (Maybe subsumed by Bless Crops, but I don't think so.)
Pam Carlson:
> Maize- I remember learning that if maize is eaten with lime (calcium
> carbonate) two additional amino acids become available.
Ah-ha1 Flash of revelatory light! There we have it: Hon-Eel's _real_ contribution is to discover this useless, indigestable weed, fit to be fed to cattle at best, and discover (firstly that it can be cultivated, if it wasn't already being, as goat-fodder, bit more importantly) how to successfully _feed_ people with it. (This exaggerates the earthly situation, but what the hell, isn't that why change stuff to make it plus funque'?)
So perhaps her special magic is related to preparing some suitable form of lime (limestone quarries? chalk? gypsum? Huge Mostali factories using industrial-scale alchemical processes to turn bonemeal (the calcium) and coal or organic matter (for the carbon) into pure CaCO3? <shudder>). At any rate, this presumably also makes up for the calcium debt in the crop as a staple.
<pats Pam's ascii dog onna head> ;-)
She probably also has special maize-fertilising magics, too. Monocultures tend to be rough on the soil, so it will need some help over and above Bless Crops, which does, I think, _not_ allow growth of crops in an exhausted (of the particular nutriments needed by the given crop)
> Which begs the question - are there really many monocrop cultures?
I think so. Peloria may not be _too_ badly off, though. I think the bowl consists of several _different_ (local) monocultures. So even if one fails, there are still other crops in the Empire, which can be, thanks to the foresight and beneficience of the Emperor, Peace and Light be Upon Him, shipped in from other areas and from stocks in storage.
> Joerg goes on:
He does a bit, doesn't he? <duck> ;-)
Alex.
Powered by hypermail