Angels not in Glorantha

From: Simon Hibbs <simon.hibbs_at_marconi.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 14:23:12 -0000


It seems to me that here on Earth, the term Angel refers specifically to a particular type of spiritual being according to a particular group of related religions.

The term Angel is meaningless, even here on Earth, outside that particular religious context. What are Angels in the context of Wotanism, Shinto or the Aztec religion? The question is next to meaningless.

Setting the references to Angels in Dara Happan sources for a moment, I think talking about Angels in Glorantha is just as meaningless as discussing them in the context of Wotanism, etc.

Going back to the Dara Happan references, it seems to me that if the term Angel is meaningful there then that is no reason to suppose that it is meaningful in the context of any other Gloranthan religion.

As an aside, concerning the real world origin of the concept of Angels, you might want to look at some ancient Mesopotamian art for images of winged heavenly beings that look uncannily like Judeo-Christian angels, albeit with culturally appropriate hair-dos. The fact that Abraham himself supposedly came from Mesopotamia, and the parallels between Genesis and some Mesopotamian creation myths are a fun area of speculation. My guess is that these connections and the similarities between the Dara Happan and Mesopotamian religions are what led to Angels featuring in DH myth.

Simon Hibbs

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