_Are_ riddles spells? I would have said not. I believe they are psychological exercises aimed at breaking down a particular barrier in the minds of sentient beings. There's a danger in Glorantha of assuming, because of the existence of magic, that everything strange that is encountered must therefore be magical.
As to magic being a non-verbal concept, I agree, though I assume that the "language" or sorcery is more akin to mathematics than to language. Or, rather, I suspect that the language/symbolism/notation of sorcery is rather ill-suited to day-to-day communication. Try going to the corner shop and ordering a pint of milk and twenty Silk Cut using Newton's calculus.
The problem, IMO, with formalising riddles is twofold. Firstly, the answers may become known ahead of time. Since the point of a riddle would seem to be the time spent puzzling over its meaning, to have already heard the answer robs it of its effectivness. Secondly, I suspect that many riddles are subconsciously tailored to circumstances at the time of riddling.
However, I doubt that it is possible to get a second-class illumination. Sadly, because there are possibilities in the alternative, I think it would be a pure on/off sort of thing. Pity really...
Nick Fortune nick_at_nymar.demon.co.uk ===========================================================================+++ Sense Of Humour Down For Maintainence +++ Witticism Unavailable +++
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