This is, of course, if you accept the rather unlikely (IMO) proposition that the name of the Second Age Yelmalio was in Auld Wyrmish. At the risk of offending you Peter, I find this to be a fairly ridiculous notion. Nowhere is it implied, in any writing, that Yelmalio has any draconic connection. Why then would any part of his name, or cult litany, be in Auld Wyrmish? The EWF connection alone is not enough.
Michael Raaterova and Goats
Me>>I have heard Greg state this on a number of occasions -- the Orlanthi
do
>>not have, or eat, goats, because they are anathema to them.
>So? Has Greg stated any *reasons* why orlanthing cultures should have
>these total taboos against goats and dogs? How does he justify it?
AFAIK, >Sandy has said on several occasions that orlanthings *do* have
goats.
Well, I guess it is my day to get into Flame Wars.
First of all, in any disagreement between Greg and Sandy on Glorantha, it seems to me that Greg wins. It is his world, after all.
Second, the cultural prejudice against dogs is different than that against goats. Goats are evil, chaotic, the children of Ragnaglar. Broo are goat-kin, goatmen. To understand this, think about the following:
Urox has a very strong Bull connection
Orlanth has a weak Sheep connection
Ragnaglar has a fairly strong Goat connection
Elmal has a weak Horse connection
Yinkin has an extremely strong domesticated Cat connection
Do you see where I'm going here? Most of the important Orlanthi gods (and many of the goddesses, though that is much weaker, and I ignore it here) have a distinct and unique animal association. Even Humakt has a weak connection to Wolves, though they are not domesticated, so I ignore them here as well.
Ragnaglar and his children allied with chaos. Whether or not they wanted to, all of Ragnaglar's spawn were affected by this, from an Orlanthi perspective. There were probably some tribes of broos in the Darkness who just wanted to be beastmen, and live happily in their peaceful valley (now surrounded by glaciers). But they had no choice -- Daddy chose Chaos, so they are now chaos. This applied to his non-sentient children as well. To an Orlanthi, eating a goat is like eating a broo -- the occasional foreign importation of Walktapus steaks aside, Orlanthi do not eat chaotic things. Do you wipe the slime off 20-day old meat and eat it? Would you eat a slime deer? I think that most Orlanthi, especially Uroxi, would kill any goats that they saw -- even if they don't trigger Sense Chaos, you never know, they might be illuminated.
Dogs is a cultural thing, IMO, not a Darkness thing. I am sure there are some Orlanthi tribes in southern Peloria that do use dogs, or at least there used to be. But the Alynx is so firmly entrenched in Orlanthi society, and the animosity between alynx and dog is so pronounced, that you can only have one or the other. Thus, if I, a good Orlanthi cottar, want to keep dogs on my farms, I will never even see an alynx prowling around. And do you think Orlanth will favor anyone who rejects his favorite brother? Not just doesn't worship him, but actually rejects him? Does the Catholic Church consider you a faithful worshiper if you reject Mary or Saint Peter?
That's how I think the Orlanthi view this stuff, anyways.
Chris Bell on Orlanth Adventurous
I agree with everything Chris Bell said in Digest #234, with no
hesitation. I think he has zeroed in exactly on what OA is, or should be.
Though I would caution that many Gloranthan lands would not know any
aspect of Orlanth, in areas like Prax, southern Peloria, parts of
Fronela, and perhaps even Balazar, Orlanth Adventurous would have drifted
in over the centuries, and be a more or less tolerated religion.
Stephen Martin
ilium_at_juno.com
- -----------------------------------------------The Book of Drastic Resolutions
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