>Given that my Gloranthan Lore is still under 15%, I'm not going to try to
>add anythiing to the numerous learned debates going on here; but I do have
>some (no doubt trivial) questions that some of you experts might be able to
>help with.
The only experts on the digest are those with good ideas and can present them eloquently enough to be acknowledged as such. Access to obscure trivia doesn't an expert make. Your skill in Glorantha Lore equals your Idea Roll.
>3) I've read most of the debate on Lhankor Mhy literacy, but one point
>remains unclear. The clan Loremasters: presumably they're L.M. initiates?
>How are they tested, assuming they're not literate? I can see that the
>incumbent Loremaster for their clan could adminster the test (assuming the
>subject they go for mastery in is Clan Law/Lore), but what if the previous
>is dead? Does that clan just lose its Lore, or did it somehow get written
>down, or what? And wouldn't the incumbent be suspected of favoritism to
>his/her own apprentice, anyway?
The clan Loremasters are indeed initiated into the mysteries of the Knowing God and quite possibly the Speaking God as well, though in some clans these two are subcults of Orlanth or merely spirit cults.
If they are from rural areas i'd say they're illiterate, and the tests are oral. Urban Loremasters could well be literate. Most of the urban LM sages in Sartar are of the Nochet variety and highly literate. So in some areas there is a cultural divide between redneck Lhankoring Lawspeakers and civilised Lhankor Mhy Sages. A rural Lawspeaker/Loremaster is more of an acolyte than a priest, with limited access to spells.
The Loremaster of the clan (there is usually only one) has only a handful of apprentices and only the best will be made Loremaster. The ones who don't pass the tests become advisors and helpers of the new Loremaster. If the Loremaster dies before any one of his apprentices have learned enough, the clan will indeed lose a lot of their myths and history if the spirit of the dead Loremaster can't be summoned to pass on his knowledge. It would be a disaster for the clan to lose its traditions and mythtory.
>4) In King of Sartar, at the bottom of page 195, it says: "Orlanth and
>Ernalda created the Foreigner's Wedding so that Elmal could marry their
>horse-loving daughter and join the clan". Who was the horse-loving daughter?
>The only daughters documented seem to be Mahome (married to Barntar), Voria
>(not married, by definition!) and arguably Vinga (who also seems unlikely as
>a bride).
I know Vinga is an unlikely bride, but it makes sense to me. In a way it is a reversal of the traditional orlanthi married couple: the husband stays at home and the dominant wife does not. It creates a nice symmetry. The foreigner who marries into the clan is IMG of lower status than his wife.
Vinga is a way out for women tired of traditional expectations, but the cult is still integrated with society, and i think vingans marry (mostly because i see Vinga as the cult for warrioresses who want to preserve their bloodline and family status, and Babs Gor as the cult for warrioresses who has nothing left to lose), and when they do they marry elmalites who take care of stead while they are out doing what vingans do.
The myth of Elmal's marriage into the pantheon is of course known only among people who believe Elmal was originally a foreigner to the pantheon. I don't think the quote from KoS is at all relevant for the majority of orlanthi cultures. If Elmal is important enough in the culture to warrant his own cult, he is propably married to a substitute Ernalda (Grain Goddess, Vinga, Asrelia). If Elmal is more important than Orlanth, then he is married to Ernalda. If Elmal is of less importance, he is unmarried and quite possibly an Orlanth subcult.
If the Elmal cult is for the elder orlanthi (retired windlords or godi or storm voices) and/or a subcult of Orlanth (Orlanth the Elder or Clearsky) then Asrelia might be his wife. Ernalda embodies the Earth and Asrelia is an aspect of the Earth, and can thus be explained to be a daughter of Ernalda and Orlanth. Asrelia is of course tied to darkness, which makes the idea questionable.
The quote from KoS doesn't name the horse-loving daughter because the specific goddess will vary from region to region.
I hope this gives some answers to your questions, Jane.
WARNING! HERETICAL IDEA BELOW. Why not make Elmal the goddess Elma/Elme/Elmale who incorporates Mahome and is married to Barntar, the horse-loving son of Orlanth and Ernalda. Barntar is pacific, or at least a non-warrior, and Elmale is the defender of the stead. A perfect couple. In fact, i like this idea so much i'd like to claim that the praxian orlanthi farmers actually believe this. They have mixed the myths of Mahome and Elmal so much over the years that they have become one deity. The praxian orlanthi are a heterodox people anyway, and this idea shows how orlanthi cultures can differ and still be orlanthi.
This of course means that there is a major mythical divide between the orlanthi farmers and the Sun County Yelmalions. Could result in real fun! The praxian orlanthi curse Monrogh as a heretical madman and a trickster, and the yelmalions hail him as the bringer of truth.
Is this an Interesting Idea or just plain old nonsense?
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