>From: "Coridan" <coridan_at_telocity.com>
>Subject: Orlanthi at Sea!
>Orlanth Adventurous seems to me to be an ideal sailors god
Apart from Wolf Pirates, I doubt many sailors run along the mast to get to the crow's nest, and jump to get down to the deck. I think Orlanth Adventurous has too much warlike connotation. Also, he's all about individual prowess, which is not the primary concern of a sailor IMO.
>I can imagine, aside from God Learner experiments, that Orlanth's worship
>has spread to places like Fonrit and other sections of Pamaltela via Holy
>Country sailors.
Inferior aspects of Orlanth at least.
>Orlanth wouldn't hold as much of a place as the Sea Gods or Dormal, but I
>can see variants of him as important.
Mostly for piracy and adventuring IMO.
>Storm Tribe and some of the writings at www.glorantha.com seem to imply to
>me that all storms and winds are Orlanth's domain, except in certain
>localised areas - for example, where Durbadath and Entekos are worshipped.
I've got that theory that on sea the wind daimones are more difficult to control, because they're constantly fighting the waters and can't be disturbed. That's why sorcerers are more efficient to control winds at sea. And that's why it's better to worship Brastalos if you want any control of the winds, because she is the sea's ally (others would say slave...).
>Further, Brastalos is a Storm Tribe Goddess, yet is also the wife of
>Magasta. I suspect that in some myths a hostage exchange was made after
>the great sea wars? Brastalos for Heler. I know, this sounds really
>monomythic, but it makes sense to me.
Hasn't Nordic mythology such hostage exchanges between the gods and the giants? The Heortlings could say Brastalos was given as a hostage to the Sea Tribe and it wouldn't be monomythic at all.
According to the Magasta cult writeup (TotRM #10) she was given as a hostage to Magasta (do Heortlings have another name now?) by Vadrus.
Brastalos's special affinity with the sea is due to her powers of still air. On sea, Magasta only rules the lower half. Where the winds blow and the sea is high, the air powers are dominant. Where Brastalos stands, the sea powers are dominant (and Doom Currents are especially lethal in the Doldrums). Wise sailors keep to the areas where both powers are balanced, because being caught in the Doldrums usually means attacks by nasty sea-things and being too far from Brastalos usually means nasty sea-storms.
Jerome
End of The Glorantha Digest V8 #445
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