>The Heortlings and Dara Happans did not evolve as separate cultures because
>they are geographically separate from one another but because during the
>Godtime
>the forefathers of each culture adopted vassal like relationships with the gods
>in question. Worship in return for aid and protection. The various godtime
>myths have continuity between the two cultures (because a) the events occurred
>and b) the myths are not just explanations for the phenomena the occur in the
>world (such as the sun setting) but are the genuine reason for such phenomena.
They are indeed geographically separate, however. The Dara Happan history in GRoY and FS reveals little interaction.
>This view means that myth, religion and culture are largely inseparable from
>one another. In their art the Heortlings may well have portrayed the Evil
>Emperor as a parody of a Zistorian for much of their history, but i believe
>that they would still clearly identify this character as Yelm, god of the sun.
I think you'll find in the Broken Council Guidebook that the two myths (Orlanth killing the Evil Emperor, the Sun being slain by Rebellus Terminus) were joined as part of the Council of World Friends cooperation. One could argue that it always was one myth, simply not properly understood until that point. But in Glorantha, I think it's just as likely that the opposite is true, that both myths were expanded until they were the same. This doesn't mean that the myths aren't the genuine reasons, but myths can be changed.
>the major culures of Glorantha are defined by their
>religions and the results of some of the major mythic events are experienced
>on a daily basis by their people so to expect the inhabitants of Glorantha to
>have a world view that doesn't involve religious antipathy to foreigners is
>pretty tough.
That doesn't follow at all. Why should a worshipper of Orlanth have religious (rather than cultural) antipathy towards a Praxian or even a Sun worshipper? Neither one worships the right gods, but it's more important that they're not kin.
>By the way, anyone care to suggest how much direct worship Shargash gets in
>Dara Happa? I would suggest very little, probably less than Issaries in
>an Orlanthi culture. The occiasional prayer and offering to protect against
>storm damage or to bless a wild and precipitous action.
Probably true, except in the metropolis of Alkoth, where he's sort of the patron deity (even if they do keep him chained in the basement, as it were).
On a similar vein, Nils Weinander says
>I try to avoid speaking of
>Orlanth killing Yelm etc. preferring instead to say that Storm killed
>Sun
This isn't what it says in GRoY, and it doesn't fit the original Orlanthi myth of the Evil Emperor. As an example, note KoS.57, where Umath goes against not Yelm, but the Emperor.
Simon said
> I realy like Hsunchen, you
>can learn a lot about Glorantha from them, they're like a living
>cultural fossil from waaaaaaaay back.
True, but only to a point. Frex, I believe the East Ralian hsunchen didn't know spirit magic until they were contacted by the Theyalan missionaries (they dealt with totem spirits and spirit friends; see the Pendragon supplement Beyond the Wall for one way this could work). They quickly adopted the more flexible spirit magic, even when they didn't convert to Orlanth. I think there's more on this in the Bemuri information in my Web pages.
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