There are no mainstream paperback books published, but there is a large body of quite good fiction produced by fans. Most of this fiction is in the form of stories and myths for specific times and places in Glorantha. Much of it is available on the net. Start at David Dunham's website, and then search out the Gloranthan links to the websites of Loren Miller, Nick Brooke, and oodles of others. (A search for "glorantha" will yield the addresses.)
> Our plants and animals have domesticated us as much as we have
domesticated them.
with:
>This is a very humanocentric, guilt alleviating view.
On the contrary. IMO, it views humans as just another organism, changing its environment and adapting to that change as much as any colonizing plant or animal. I intended to imply nothing about the morality of human/environmental/animal interactions. Just that humans are now just as dependent on our domesticates as they are on us.
The corrolary is that, for an animal, adapting to live with humans is as good a survival strategy as forming any other niche. Which are more numerous today today, domestic cats or bobcats? Cows or bison? Chickens or pheasants? The biological measure of survival is reproductive success, not quality of life. Genetically, our domesticates have made it in spades. And so have the 5.75 billion humans, most of whom are dependant on our domestic crops. Sure, it may all crash in a few centuries, but wild organisms don't have any better odds.
I think it illustrates that domestication is not a consciously chosen destiny for humans or any other organisms - it just happens, and all us organisms live with the consequences.
Humans do not live in harmony with their environment, nor do animals or plants. All will overuse their resources given the chance - but humans have such a huge adaptive advantage that they can much more easily stress their environments. But when they do, they don't always starve like other organisms. Humans can move on an figure out how to use other environments.
How does this relate to Glorantha?
>Elves respect the forest and the forest respects them. They do not waste
plants on human-like trifles like clothing or writing.
IMO, Elves, like humans or any other organism, do what's best for them. Even as plants, they are ruthlessly concerned with their own survival and reproduction - and usually in the short term. So, if elves are independant organisms in the forest, they will modify the forest to best suit their needs, and treat it as humans treat their fields. (Which can be quite well.) If they are nothing but mobile forms of other, non-mobile plants, they will act in the interests of their parent plants.
Do not make the mistake of looking at a forest community as a harmonious bunch of happy plants and animals who all love each other. A forest consists of thousands of different species all competing for sunlight, water, and nutrients, each with its own set of strengths, doing its best to out-compete or eat the others. IF there is a balance, it is because none can dominate further.
>To my way of thinking, the Elves serve the forest more than vice-versa which
implies the Elves are more likely to be engineered NOT the trees. Some
myths of Elvish origins place them entirely as a somewhat artificial or
deliberate forest creation.
Er - by what aspect of the forest? If you're going to presume a forest deity who orchestrates everything and forces species to remain stable, then I can buy your argument. But where is that force for the rest of Glorantha?
Perhaps stuck too much in RW biology...
Pam
Powered by hypermail