Re: Celtic influences on portrayal of Orlanthi

From: Nick Brooke <Nick_Brooke_at_...>
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 18:03:42 -0000


Jarec wrote:
>> Ignoring the Celts is a choice, not an inevitability. I think
>> it's a bad choice myself, and one which the evidence and sources
>> neither encourage nor support.

> Agreed, but I see the Celts as one of many potential sources.

So do I, so we are on the same wavelength. Perish the thought that I would ever say something as crude as, "the Orlanthi are just like the Celts" (or Anglo-Saxons, or Vikings, or Dark Age Germanic Tribes, or whoever else is flavour of the month). Likewise, perish the thought that a statement as crude as "the Orlanthi owe nothing to the Celts" would ever stand up for long. Which is, I hope, what this discussion has demonstrated.

> If the Orlanthi are like Celts it is because their environment
> and beliefs are similar enough to create a semi parallel culture,
> not a direct copy.

Again, if you look at where this discussion originated, it was with a rather crude, sweeping and unfounded statement (that the Orlanthi were nothing like Celts). Many elements of the Orlanthi cultures were obviously inspired by (or lifted from) Celtic cultures. Belittling or ignoring these is a matter of choice or taste, not a hard and fast rule to which all Gloranthan gamers must adhere.

> Even Celtic culture was non uniform in either region or time.

Of course.

> Sure some, maybe most Orlanthi equate well to Celts, but many
> groups will not.

More to the point, bits of Celtic imagery, mythology, material culture, etc. can appear throughout our portrayal of the Orlanthi. I don't think anyone wants to say "This group of Orlanthi are like Celts, that group are like Vikings, the other group are like Median hill tribes..."

> They will still be Orlanthi if only because the core of their
> belief system remains largely consistent to the cultural norm.

And that cultural norm certainly includes woad, torcs, chariots...

Which is where we came in, isn't it?

Regards, Nick

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