Me>> Moiraides did not marry the Feathered Horse Queen. He did marry the
>> Feathered Queen of the Kerofini Temple in an effort to become King
>> of Dragon Pass. These are two seperate Queens.
Despite the alleged chronological hash in the sources that making this identification would cause, Nick comments:
>I still think it's preferable to have just ONE sovereignty-conferring,
>sought-after-by-kings, feathery queen in/of Dragon Pass, rather than
>cast aside old William of Occam's cut-throat and duplicate this
>position unnecessarily.
I agree. I did however say that _both_ the Sartarites and the Tarshites are _wrong_ in thinking that marrying _their_ preferred queen confers sovereignity over Dragon Pass.
>Without far more justification, I don't believe there need be any
>difference between the "Feathered Horse Queen" and this proposed
>"Feathered Queen".
Far more justification, eh? You asked for it! (Don't howl, Joerg)
The First King of Dragon Pass mentioned in KoS is Ironhoof. He gains sovereignity over Dragon Pass by coupling with the Lady of the Wild, Daughter of Kerofin. After this HeroQuest, KoS says:
'And after this, he was called King of Sartar while he reigned'.
At this point of time, there is no Feathered Horse Queen for such a position was not established until Sartar's time.
We'll skip over Yanasdros whom we know little about save for there being no FHQ during his reign.
The next King of Dragon Pass is Arim the Pauper. He arrives in Tarsh and marries Sorana Tor. This is dated as 1330 ST.
But Arim is not reckoned as King of Dragon Pass until 1345 ST (according to the King List in the First Zin Letter)! Fine. The date of his formation of the Kingdom of Tarsh and the date of his marraige to Sorana Tor (which made him King of Dragon Pass) are two seperate events.
Then in the Tarsh King List we find that Illaro marries Sorana Tor in 1455 but is not reckoned as King of Dragon Pass! However, his cause of death:
'He died during sexual intercourse during a religious ceremony'
has a faintly familiar ring. Turning back to Ironhoof, we find that during his HeroQuest:
'...the greatest test which he had was whether he could mount
the howling, untamed fury at all, and maintain his connection
with her'.
The nature of Illaro's death becomes clear. He attempted to mate with the Lady of the Wild to become King of Dragon Pass, 'lost his connection' and was struck dead.
Thus Arim the Pauper attempted the Quest in 1345 and succeeded thus becoming King of Dragon Pass. This is a seperate matter from his marriage to Sorana Tor for Illaro married her too and was not King.
Therefore marrying Sorana Tor does not confer Kingship over Dragon Pass. Any need to identify the Feathered Queen of the Kerofini Temple and the Feathered Horse Queen as the one and the same vanishes. Ditto the claim that marrying the Feathered Horse Queen confers sovereignity.
If we still wish to maintain that they are the same, then we will have to explain why Tarkalor and Moraides who are both considered Kings of Dragon Pass at the same time in 1579-1582.
Implications: Sartar is said to have married the Feathered Horse Queen. The contest is more of a trial of wits rather than the trial of ... er.. strength and dexterity that Ironhoof and Illaro engaged in. Thus I am inclined to believe his claims are puffery. Tarkalor's and Moraides' claim to Kingship of Dragon Pass fail for the same reason.
Argrath is said to have married the Feathered Horse Queen (twice!) but he is not reckoned as King of Dragon Pass until 1643. Argrath first marriage is to the Feathered Horse Queen in 1627 or so (before Harrek caused trouble in the Holy Country according to Argrath's Saga and Minaryth Purple's 'Events of my life'. The next marriage of the 'Feathered Horse Queen' occurs when Argrath is invading Tarsh. This happened circa 1630. Because he was invading Tarsh at the time, I suspect this was a political marriage to cement the Tarsh Exiles to his side. As corroborating evidence, Argrath has coupled with Sorana Tor according to the Sacred Kings List of Jain in KoS.
Argrath does marry again in 1640 or so, but that is to the Infant Queen of _Saird_. Since Holay which incorporates the plains of Saird had fallen to the Conquering Daughter _causing_ Arim to enter Dragon Pass, marrying the Queen of Saird cannot confer Kingship of Dragon Pass.
So the only possible event is that he attempted to couple with the Lady of the Wild, remained plugged in and became King of Dragon Pass in Fact as well as in name in 1643.
So whaddaya think? Occam's razor does yield elegant solutions sometimes.
Joerg Baumgartner:
who has heard all this before (but still does not Believe!) poses a few objections:
JB>Only that there is no mention ever which connects the priestesses of
>Sorana Tor with feathers. The feathered dress is a distinctive mark of
>the Pentan horse goddess, a remnant of the Hippoi/Hippogriff myth of
>the Hyalorings.
Just because feathers play a large part in some horse rituals does not mean that all feathered regalia are related to horses.
>What is the Feather connection of the priestesses of Sorana Tor? Where
>is any Earth myth having feathered beasts, or people? Sorana Tor's
>beasts of choice are the Earth Shakers aka dinosaurs. Are these
>feathered, or have they ever been?
For the definitive answer, one should ask Greg. IMO such regalia stems from the EWF. Alternatively, she may be wearing flayed skins (a la Xipe Totec) made from Ducks (being the only defenceless creatures to prey on).
In defence of my charges that making them the two Queens the one and the same makes a mockery of the texts, Joerg replies:
>Not really. Tarkalor's queen "Mother of Lands" is said to have been killed
>at Grizzly Peak, but may have made her Heroic Escape, or otherwise been
>resurrected. Her rule continues for a few years.
But then she would have to marry Moraides for her successor was:
> "Splendid among the Proud", who did not marry,
whereas Moraides is King of Dragon Pass according to the first Zin Letter in 1579 which is also before Tarkalor died. Like I said, this makes a hash of the Feathered Horse Queen List and assumes the scribes in Dragon Pass are brain-damaged at best. My intepretation causes less headaches.
And finally:
JB>>>Are Pharandros of Tarsh and Estal Donge the children of Moirades>>>are they the offspring of an earlier, unmentioned marriage (or
>>>marriage with the Feathered Horse Queen "Riches Without Tears", or
Me>>Moirades did not marry the Feathered Horse Queen.
>Peter still did not answer my question who did, instead.
Yes, I did! Moraides married the Feathered Queen of the Kerofini Temple. Her name is not known, but she is undoubtedly the mother of the two kids, IMHO.
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