Humakt's Mother?

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_quicksilver.net.nz>
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 19:59:55 +1300


Bryan Thexton

>This came up recently on the french language glorantha yahoo group.
>The question was in general who were the mother's of Umath's children
>other than Orlanth? The poster was wonder specifically about Humakt.

>I'll add that I've never seen is specifically said that Kero Finn is
>not the mother of other children by Umath--we know she is also mother
>by other fathers or Yinkin and Quivin, but I don't think it has been
>stated that that is the limit of her children.
As Ian Cooper pointed out on the HeroWars list, the Bad Uncles of the Brothers are from (KoS p64) are: Genert, Kalt, Lodril, Dehore and Magasta. There's one for each of the five brothers - Vadrus, Urox, Other One/Ragnaglar, Humakt and Orlanth.

A problem arises in that any sons of Gata and Aether would be Umath's brothers and so qualify as uncles to his sons. Genert as a son of Gata and Lodril as a son of Aether become Uncles to all five brothers. Yet other relationships are less clear - the relations of Magasta and Dehore are known yet it is not known how they fit into the family tree. Knowing the Orlanthi, Uncle could be mean little more than an older male relative.

Reasoning it schematically, we observe the following relationships: Dehore (Darkness), Magasta (Sea), Lodril (Fire) and Genert (Earth). Kalt cannot be Storm but could be Chaos or Moon. Looking for correspondances with the various pits, we can arrive at any number of possibilities such as Dehore being associated with the Fighting Pit because it is "frightening", the Sex Pit because of the "demons", or the Strange Pit because of the "alien powers".

My thinking is to link the uncles and pits to what the Storm Gods eventually become. Vadrus is probably Magasta's nephew not only because he was thrown into the Deep Well but because he was the first to defeat the Sea Gods when he conquered the serpent Enkoshons. The best bet for his mother would be Natea.

Humakt because he ends up as the Lord of the Underworld is related to Dehore. His mother might be Subere, Styx or Dame Darkness, none of which are overly convincing.

Ragnaglar could be related to Lodril because the latter is associated with Sex. Lodril's father isn't known although Yelm is said in HonEel's Wane Chonicle to have a step-mother. Perhaps Uleria?

Alas an already shaky scheme begins to break down because if Urox becomes Genert's nephew, then Orlanth becomes related to Kalt. But if Urox is related to Lodril (due to the heat of his winds, Lodril's marriage with the earth), then Ragnaglar becomes related to Kalt and Orlanth to Genert (through Kerofin). But the relationship isn't the only possible interpretation.

> Also I think some of
>Orlanth's brothers were killed or have been forgotten. We know about
>Vadrus and Urox and Humakt, but there was probably more originally?

You've left out Kolat/Umbrol and Ragnaglar. Also Brastalos is said to be Orlanth's Sister in some myths (ST p208).

--Peter Metcalfe

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