> In particular, (formally) leaving your clan is probably at the high
> end of the kinship severing scale. The starting point is probably
> severing your direct connection to your closest kin -- in particular
> your brothers. The most direct re-anacting of the myth, the most
> bang for your proverbial buck.
Indeed : the whole point of the myth from a mainstream Orlanthi POV is that you can do something bloody stupid (ie Humakt to his brothers "I'm going away, and I never want to see you ever again, you're all idiots, and I'm not even your brother any more !") and still be forgiven for it and welcome back in your clan, no matter *how* pig-headed or monomaniac you happen to be.
So, Orlanth still thinks of Humakt as his brother no matter what Humakt thinks. Which *is* a metaphor this time : a metaphor for the inclusion of all the bloodlines within the clan, and all the clans within the Tribe and all the Tribes within the kingdom. And it's a parable that shows what family actually *is*, and that Humakt belongs to it.
Although I suppose that an imaginative(?) Humakti could even sever his ties with his kingdom couldn't he ...
Julian Lord
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