Glorantha's based on the Joseph Campbell/Jungian view of myths, that they denote archetypes. So you have Orlanth as the rebellious young man who disrupts the old order, and then contritely repairs the damage he has done in taking his place in the world. You have Humakt as the archetype of the grim but noble warrior. You have the Red Moon as the archtype of the idealist who is corrupted. Lhankor Mhy as the archetype of the pedantic (and squirrel-like) academic, or the honourable (but avaricious) lawyer. And so on.
But another way of reading myths is in Robert Graves' "The Greek Myths". In those books, Graves takes the opinions that the Greek myths give us insights into the political and (pre-)historical events in Greece. For instance, he suggests that the myth of Athena being the "daughter" of Zeus , springing from his head, is relic of the political subordination of Athena-worshippers in Athens to Zeus-worshipping conquerors.
He takes this idea of myth-as-coded-history way too far, of course (this was the guy who proposed that the Druids had a "tree alphabet"), but there's a certain value in reading myths in a historical/political light.
Just for fun, let's take Yelm/Elmal/Yelmalio: Let's suppose that the ancestors of the Orlanthi in Dragon Pass at one time (pre-"Dawn") were under the subordination of Dara Happans. They rebel against the suppression of their customs and their ability to govern themselves (or the freedom and authority of their own nobles). There's a contest/conflict, and the "Orlanthi" defeat/slay the Emperor and Empire, effectively decapitating it.
Now, the "Orlanthi" are OK, but there is chaos and disorder around them from the collapse of the empire. Some of the former peoples in the empire defect (the "Elmali"), and ally with the "Orlanthi". As they are in the borders of the "Orlanthi" realm, they end up effectively defending the border from the disorder from the collapse of the Empire. As trade collapses and other bad things happen, the "Orlanthi" realise that they have to restore some order to the Empire, and either literally or figuratively resurrect the Emperor and his authority (except over them). The political roles/individuals/collections of individuals become mythologized as gods.
So, in this analysis:
Yelm: Emperor/aristocracy of a Solar Empire
Orlanth: King/aristocracy of subject storm people
The contests: Conflict and victory of aristocracyking of storm people
over solar people aristocracy/Emperor
Storm Age: period of freedom for Orlanthi after empire collapse
(probably when they went looting a lot)
Great Darkness: Troubles caused in Orlanthi realm from empire collapse
(bigger bad guys muscle in)
LBQ: Restoration of Imperial authority by Orlanthi.
Elmal: Mythic representation of solar people who defected to rule by
storm king/aristocracy during "storm age".
Yelmalio: Mythic representation of above solar people politically and
religiously distancing themselves from the Orlanthi.
Any thoughts on this way to look at Gloranthan myth?
Tom
Powered by hypermail