>Now, as opposed to the Orlanthi, and Orlanth. Orlanth's reponse to the "I
Fought,
>We Won", was to change himself and strive to re-create the world,
personally.
Orlanth did not participate in IFWW, so this can be a bit misleading. Heort's actions in IFWW (and the Unity Battle) parallel Orlanth's accomplishment in the LBQ. Heort saved mankind from destruction, Orlanth saved the gods from destruction.
>Up until the quest for Heler and the
>meeting with Aroka, the Blue Dragon, Orlanth simply watches out for himself
and
>his kin, performing quests, deeds and battles to protect Ernalda and the
stead of
>the Storm Tribe. However, the encounter with Aroka and learning Aroka's
secrets
>spurs him to accept responsibility for his actions, and become entangled in
the
>affairs of the greater world, feeling compassion for *everyone* and
*everything*.
>At the moment of his accepting responsibility and becoming entanngled into
the
>world, Orlanth transcends it, caring not for himself.
I've never organized Orlanthi myths in this matter, but I tend to be a Heortling, not a Wyrmfriend. This may very well have been a key Orlanth Dragonfriend mystery, but I do not think that it is a widespread myth among the Alakoringites.
>This is also expressed in
>the quest for Daliath's Well of Wisdom, and the learning the secrets of the
Sea
>Gods. I always felt that the Gods of Storm and Sea would have much mutual
>understanding, anyway.
Actually, Orlanth stomped the gods of the Sea. The mutual understanding is that Storm stomps Sea.
>The "I Fought, We Won" that nearly all Theyalans experience as part of
their
>initiatory vision lies in direct contradiction to the Lunar experience. In
the I
>Fought, We Won, the individual must make, on his or her own, the choice to
live
>and fight and not give up despite being doomed to lose (IE - Orlanth and
the
>Lightbringers being defeated and losing parts of themselves in Hell.)
IFWW as an initiatory experience is largely peculiar to the Heortlings (and possibly the Ralian Orlanthi). For instance, the Talastari, the Brolians, the Syllilans, etc., all have different myths of surviving the Darkness.
David Dunham responds to Ian's question:
>> Why cant Orlanth and the Red Goddess co-exist ?
>I believe they can (even if they tend to be opposed). I think it's likely
>that High King Rascius is a devotee of both Orlanth Rex and the Lunar
>pantheon (I'd guess Seven Mothers).
I agree with David on this. In fact, I suspect that the mysteries of the Seven Mothers can co-exist with Orlanth worship. However, I do not believe that initiation into Rufelza's deeper mysteries can co-exist with the core Orlanth/Heortling mysteries. On the other hand, worship of certain Orlanth aspects - like the Great Bear - certainly can co-exist with Rufelza. Confusing, eh? In other words, you can't be a Heortling and be privy to Rufelza's inner mysteries, but you can be an Orlanthi and make sacrifices to the Seven Mothers.
>Certainly the Lunar Empire has expanded into Orlanthi areas for quite some
>time, but I think the rabid anti-Orlanthi sentiments typical of the 1620s
>are a fairly recent phenomenon, perhaps two generations old (Martin Laurie
>probably recalls the details better than I). Once again I point to Aggar,
>part of the Lunar Empire despite being full of Orlanthi. This is because it
>was incorporated during a more tolerant time.
I agree whole-heartedly with this, except that I think it is about three generations old.
Jeff
End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #266
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