Yinkin Story

From: Stephen P Martin <ilium_at_juno.com>
Date: Fri, 09 May 1997 02:39:48 EDT


To All:

Since Paul asked for my Yinkin story, I went ahead and read it. I was surprised -- it's not half as bad as I recalled. In fact, I think it's pretty good. So, I'm gonna share it. Sorry for the formatting -- my mouse froze up, and since I'm going to bed when I'm done (and after Springsteen finishes this song), I don't want to restart everything.

WHY MEN HAVE BEARDS      In the Gods War, Orlanth saved us from our enemies, and so we joined his armies. We helped him fight his battles, and he protected us and gave us a share of his treasures.

     After a while came the Ice Age. Orlanth didn't mind the cold, but we had no hair, and so began to freeze. We went to Orlanth to ask for help, but he didn't know what to do for us. He went to his brother, Yinkin, to see if he knew a way to help us. Now Yinkin is the Alynx, and he had a coat of fur to keep him warm. So he came to our tribe, and taught us how to grow hair to keep us warm. All of us, men and women both, grew thick coats of fur, and the cold did not bother us anymore.

     After a long time, though, the ice retreated to the far north, and the world grew warm again. But even though we did not need our hair anymore, we men decided it would be too much trouble to cut it all off, and so decided to keep it. Besides, who knew if the cold might come back, and it would be foolish to be cold while we had to grow all the hair back, right?

     However, the women disagreed. They said that lice were living in their hair, and that it itched, and that it smelled bad when it got wet. But the men told them to be quiet, and to go back to their cooking. They did so, complaining that the hair smelled even worse when it burned, but what could they do, fight their husbands?

     Our leader in those days was Odayla, Orlanth's own son, and his wife Inella was the daughter of Inora, Snow Queen. Inora used to be Yinkin's wife, but she left him because she said he was not faithful to her. (Actually, Yinkin left her because she was frigid.) Inella went to her mother for help, and she gave the women razors made of ice, and showed them how to shave their hair off. They did so, but not before their heat melted some of the ice; that is why they still have hair in some of the parts they could not reach, and why they are always trying to cut the rest of their hair off. When the men saw this they were angry, but what could they do? It was already done.

     This was fine for a while, but eventually the women started complaining agin. They said the men's hair made them itch at night, and that the men always smelled of dirty hair, and demanded that the men cut their hair off too. The men refused, of course, and sent the women back to their cooking. The women went, but decided they would take matters into their own hands again. They went back to Inora, and asked if she would give them razors to cut their husbands' hair as well. She agreed, but said they would need more help, since the men were already suspicious of them.

     Inora went to her friend the Poppy Flower, and asked for some of her Sleep Pollen to use on the men. The flower-goddess agreed to help, and made the women a special potion to put the men to sleep. At the next feast, the women put the sleeping potion in the mead which the men drank. Soon they all began falling asleep, and the women took out their razors and began shaving the men.

     Yinkin's son, Yininor the Snow Leopard, had smelled something funny in his mead, and drank only a little of it. When his wife came to cut his hair he woke up quickly, and so kept his pelt. He did not wake up quite fast enough, however, and she managed to shave some of his hair offf, which is why we always have a bald spot when we turn into cats.

     Yininor then howled and went to wake up the other men of the clan. The women had already cut the hair off of their bodies, and so the men kept only the hair on their head and faces (plus a few spots the women could not get at). One man still had all the hair on his back, and another the hair on his arms and legs, which is why some of us have more hair than others. And one old man had lost all of his hair (his wife was quicker than most), which is why men go bald when they get old. But all men kept the hair on their faces, and so men have had beards since then.

     After a while, the women began to regret cutting off their own hair, since the men complained all the time about how ugly the women were without any hair, not even a little bit of brown hair on their heads like the men had. So they went to all of their relatives and friends to see if they could get some hair to wear on their heads, so the men would think they were pretty again.

     The first woman gathered some of the poppy flowers and used them to grow hair on her head, which is why some of the people in our clan have red hair. But she did not share this secret with any of the other women, and so red hair is rare even today, and is most common in her bloodline, Raska's family.

     Another woman's husband had taken slaves from a rival clan who had hair the color of the Sun. She convinced him to let her have some of this yellow hair, which is why some of the people in our clan are blonde. There was only enough hair for her and her best friends, though, and so blonde hair is not very common.

     The third woman went to her grandmother's folk, the People of the Shadows, to see if they could help her. They took some shadows and wove them onto her head, which is why some of the people in our clan have black hair. She shared this with everyone in the clan, and so many of us have black hair. And since all the men retained a little hair from Yinkin, brown hair is common too.

     Inella Odayla's wife was the oldest woman in the clan, and she was the last one to try and get some hair. She went to her mother Inora, who made her some hair out of snow and ice. It was white, of course, which is why old women have white hair.

     Yininor and his brothers later ate the poppy goddess, which is why poppy flowers no longer grow in Dragon Pass. And since that time, men have never quite trusted their wives, and cut their hair themselves, to make sure there will be some left when they are done.

Stephen Martin
ilium_at_juno.com

- -----------------------------------------------
The Book of Drastic Resolutions
drastic_at_juno.com

End of Glorantha Digest V4 #393


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