> I feel that no one owns Ernalda's sexuality, not even her many husbands.
In her role as societal deity, her sexuality is limited to her marriage, however durable that may be for the time being.
If you want a deity for female sexual experimentation, I'd look for a not so childish version of Voria. When you look into it closely, flowers are a plant's sexual organs, and Voria has them all over...
The practice of the Demivierge of Rhigos seems to point in this direction while laying great importance to the merely physical aspect of virginity.
And since Ernalda the Healer subcults are for unmarried women, with Enferalda singled out as seductress of Orlanth, there seem to be some such aspects. I note that the Esrola aspect doesn't necessarily follow strict marriage bonds either, taking the fertility any way it may come.
> I would assume that before marraige, Heortling women can sleep with
> whomever they want,
Provided they rank as adult and avoid kin and bloodline. Dirty jokes nonewithstanding.
> and that Ernalda has a number of stories of various wanton affairs
> that equal those of her husband and best lover, Orlanth.
There is the mythic cycle of Orlanth's exile and her taking "husbands" in Orlanth's stead (oops, pun unintended). And of course her "previous experience" before her liberation from Yelm's court and the formal marriage to Orlanth.
> I'm not exactly sure what the rules for Heortling women are in
> regards to having lovers once in marraige, but I'm sure that the
> social restrictions that do apply are distinct so as to preserve
> the family and the happiness of the married couple. From my
> understanding, adultery is also a severe crime for Orlanthi of
> either sex, but I'm not sure of this exactly means in regards to
> the common c21st conception of it, or the actual stipulations
> detailed in the type of marraige bond that an Orlanthi couple
> share. As marraige and child rearing have much to do with Orlanthi
> customs in regards to inheritance and clan structure, I'm sure it
> would all be important.
Adultery is a wergild-inflicting crime against the marriage contract. It weakens the hearth wyter.
I guess the Orlanthi have a fair number of "excuses" for extramarital sex under certain conditions. A fertility priestess in her rites won't commit adultery, and the wife of an outlawed or exiled husband would be able to claim precedent from Orlanth's exile. Some sort of temporal widowhood... Being taken as a thrall might lift the status for a while, too (see below).
> I can even see a whole body of myth that surrounds Ernalda and
> Dendara. Although in the Hero Wars scheme Dendara is now "simply" Yelm's
> wife and not Ernalda's sister nor an Earth Goddess, I can see a series of
> myths based on how Dendara is the wife that is best for Yelm, but that
> Ernalda is the one he always wanted.
I don't think your average Heortling is aware of Dendara's existance. Yelmalions might be, and to them this story could be significant.
While we're at the subject, what is the attitude towards sex with thrall women? Ernalda once was a thrall, and quite certainly had her encounters with various courtiers or servants of the Emperor.
> More charitably, it makes sense that there would be an aspect of Ernalda
> that would bless secret romance, affairs,seduction, love against all odds,
> and on a darker note, sexual manipulation.
"Dark" (or rather "dusky") Voria, or Esrola, IMO.
> This perhaps could be a subcult or invoked hero cult for Heortling
> women who want to catch that perfect man
That's what the matchmaking is for.
> or simply carry on and be the object of desire for all the nearby men. Of
> course, the proper social role would be for unmarried women, and I see as
> part of such a subcult's teachings a strong run of morality, since breaking
> hearts can start feuds and destroy families. Such a cult or heroine would
> be passion and sensuality used for all the right reasons in Heortling myth,
> and is an aspect of Ernalda that needs to be explored.
> In any case, time to back away from subject drift :) Any Digest ideas for
> an "Ernalda The Love Goddess" ?
Ernalda the Teen aka Voria, Ernalda the Thrall, Ernalda Steadkeeper of exiled Orlanth, Enferalda the Supporter, generous Esrola (who giveth and taketh away?).
End of The Glorantha Digest V8 #284
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