> - --Peter Metcalfe
>
> The whole relationship of Shargash with Yelm is the stuff of Myth
> and is _known_ to every Alkothi from the very start. It is replayed
> every year. It is the equivalent of the Ring of Orlanth or the
> Necklace of Pamalt. Are the Lightbringers seperate from Orlanth?
> Mere appeals to reason (look up in the sky!) to disprove that
> Shargash is seperate from Yelm do not work because the Alkothi
> knows in his heart that they are.
Pardon? Why does the Alkothi "know in his heart" that Shargash is the same as Yelm? There is no evidence for this whatsoever. The two have seperate myths, astronomical bodies and aspects! I can see no myths ahere Telm and Shargash can be conflated - even the nature and prupose of the way they dance is different. On a trivial level the instrument of Yelm is the harp - I personally cannot see a bunch of Shargashi sitting around plunking gently away. The real kicker is that every Alkothi knows in his heart, and his bones and blood, that Shargash is chained below the city of Alkoth - they can feel him every moment.
I think that you have let your theory about Yelm being the everyman cult and a conflation of the various sun-gods of the cities making up Dara Happa run away just a tad. While there is a fair amount of merit this particular bit is stretching too far (IMHO). Greg's figures on cult membership in the empire just don't support the contention that everybody and his dog is a member of the Yelm cult.
Yours,
Yak
- --
Dave Pearton
pearton_at_u.washington.edu
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care; +
They pursued it with forks and hope; +
They threatened its life with a railway-share; +
They charmed it with smiles and soap. +
+
"The Hunting of the Snark" Lewis Carroll +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
------------------------------
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #139
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
Powered by hypermail