Re: The Glorantha Digest V8 #19

From: Graham Robinson <gjrobinson_at_ntlworld.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 22:40:25 +0100


Peter Larsen wrote :
> This has been bothering me as well. Who is the sun seems to be such
> a basic thing, I find it difficult to imagine that people could get
> confused about it, especially since the sun can be, in effect,
theistically
> emailed for a ruling.

As opposed to "who is the earth?" and "who is the wind?"

Multiple gods embodied by the same object (element, whatever) is inevitable where belief systems collide, or where the object (etc.) is considered highly important.An obvious RW example would be the number of basically solar dieties the Roman Empire acknowledged.

For my money, the answer to the original question ("What is the sun called?") would depend on who you asked, how much they thought about it, and exactly which question you asked. I suspect that if asked "What is Yelm?" most heortlings would include "the sun" in their answer. While some might come up with a sophisticated answer such as "The sun is the torch that was Yelm carried by Orlanth's thane Elmal" but most would just accept the mutual contradictions without thinking too much about it. Not questioning the contradictions is an essential facet of belief.

Of course, all really good Orlanthi should clobber anyone asking too many such questions anyway - only Godlearning and Illumination lies down that path!

Cheers,
Graham

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