> My main problem with this is one of origins. What did Orlanth I believe?
IMG(loranthan)O, Orlanth I worshipped the raw, ravening power of the storm, which was named Umath, and the pristine, frozen majesty of his mountain home, Kero Fin. He was the perfect barbarian warlord, violent, careless, proud, jealous, and ambitious, and after being apotheosized he was worshipped himself for the good fortune he had always had in his endeavors and the affinity he had with storms and mountainous regions.
> Did he worship anything and if so what? And did he have magical
> power from the 'gods' or forces of nature or whatever?
Yes, from gods and forces of nature both, and from the Otherworld.
> In fact where did the world come from?
Well, IMGO he would have said that the world formed from melting ice, or something like that. Or maybe that it was formed from Chaos, which is cold, still, and terrifying, through battling forces which were able to create the world.
> Are we talking Evolutionism here? If so, I'm disappointed. I really
> rather like the notion of gods interacting to create the world
> through exercise and development of their 'natures'.
I'm sure there were such gods, frex Glorantha and the other members of the celestial court who are all extremely abstract. And I'm equally sure that the most anthropomorphic gods resulted from the apotheosis of one or more heroes and their assumption into the Divine principles of which they were a part.
And to fly completely off the topic, my favorite explanation of the nature of Arachne Solara is this: The goddess Glorantha performed a draconic utumna using Kajabor as the tool of sacrifice, and dismembered herself in order to guarantee the continuance of her body, the world, in the face of hostile Chaos. Her soul continues on in the form of a spider, as do many souls of the dead, and we know it as Arachne Solara, who watches the web which is formed from the digested and regurgitated ligaments and guts of Glorantha.
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