>But it's not common knowledge that Elmal is just a cheap Yelm
>impersonator, it's common knowledge that he was once in the
>Fire Tribe and Yelm is the head of the Fire Tribe. You are
>confusing the issue between the recognition of Yelm as the
>Great Fire God and how Elmali come to terms with Yelmic Sun
>worship.
Is Yelm always the Great Fire God? I thought that whole Evil Emperor thing was becasue the identification wasn't certain (although it seems pretty fixed by 3rd Age Glorantha). Other than that, I see your point.
>But whether these powers are greater than other solar powers
>is the issue here. Yelm's solar powers are better than the
>solar powers of Yelmalio or Elmal.
OK, again (and OK to most of the snipped stuff that follows). Although I still think that the powers a god can offer and the powers the worshipper knows to ask for are not necessarily the same. I can even see the wrong blessings being asked for -- Elmal fights a water daimon. People misidentify the water daimon as a big fish. They have a shrine to Elmal the Fisherman which doesn't help them much.
>Do they? From the descriptions of the ceremonies, it looks
>like they just simply participate. I don't see how this can
>be compared to Dara Happan sages engaging in heavy
>philosophizing in their day-job.
In an inferior way? Besides, the average Orlanthi participant in a ritual is hardly a match for a Dara Happan philosopher. I assume the Godar and priests spend more of their time thinking and arguing about "What It All Means." Joe Farmer is just happy for his potatoes.
>>Surely it's possible to discover new myths about Elmal? There could
>>be whole Aspects left undiscovered.
>
>No. As Elmal is not a great god, he has only _one_ aspect.
>One might discover a new subcult for him but they would
>be no greater in power than existing subcults. Adding a
>new subcult isn't what I consider deeper solar understanding.
Woops, I meant subcults. I suppose it would depend on what the subcult was about, whether it deepened the Elmali's solar understanding. After all, Elmal is the sun, and learning more about him suggests that that worshipper has a better idea of what it means to be Elmal and (for the Orlanthi at least) the sun. I refuse to speculate on whether Elmal is great or not.
Peter Larsen
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