Verses, Kennings, Rhymes, oh my...

From: TERRA INCOGNITA <inarsus-ferilt-z_at_mrg.biglobe.ne.jp>
Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 17:44:51 +0900


*Poem of Glorantha

BA p.6 [Balmyr Tribe]
<<King Willandring Clever-Kennings used to be a poetic Orlanth Rex worshipper. Now, however, he worships Doburdun, and his poems are flat, full of funny words, and unpleasant to good Heortlings. Many Lunars go out of their way to listen to him recite, which shows how stupid they are.>>

I think Poetry, Verse is most difficult genre of literature for translation to foreign language.

For its system firmly attached to characteristics (it firmly attaches to its grammar and bacgorung culture) of each languages. Poetry of Great Li Pai might fail to remain its power when translated to English, same can be said to many other great western poets like Tennyson to Japanese, or anything else, especially for not directly relating groups of language. Poetry usually starts from wordplay, and its tradition like kenning of skalds or 5/7/5 of haiku cannot be easily converted to other language.

 In Glorantha, maybe ability of poetry directly relates to ability of magic,
(Maybe you can find good Orlanthi example in Jeff Richard's Rastalulf's Saga
(Enclosure #2), though HQ rules set seems to choose set of magical nature of
Glorantha ubiquitous, neither secular as D&D nor mechanical as RQ. And not firmly attached to Storm Speech, as I suppose formerly in RQ)

John Hughes wrote some excellent article in his website and added links in HQ mailing list page.
http://home.iprimus.com.au/pipnjim/questlines/skald.html http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HeroQuest-RPG/links

Another Great Poet of Glorantha is Gudny Stormchaser in Gwandorling Saga as far as I know. (Currently, his site is forbidden to outsiders for unknown reason.)

Maybe heortlings have some ability to make poems to empower their magic, as Egil or Grettir in Icelandish Saga. But how it can be incorporated to HQ rules....? I don't know narrators should pay bonus to character making of Heortling by verse Narrative.....

(Maybe curses and blessings are incited in poems in North Heortland, and
esvulari priests are busy to harass pagan sources in their poems....)

But before cockroaches would begin to convulse over wall and die for my terrible poems, I want to stop and wait your comments about this idea.

(And uz poems....What kind of poems uz make in their Darktongue.....? Alwoon
the "Poet"....)

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End of Glorantha Digest

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