If this is the case then perhaps when Elmal finally died, defiant at his post, his body remained behind to provide a cooling lump of light and warmth for Heort and the surviving Vingkotlings. I'm sure the Heortlings have a variety of beautiful and poetic ways of expressing it. 'Even in death Loyal Elmal remained at his post', or 'Even though Death called him to hell, the loyalty of Elmal was so great that part of him, stronger even than death, remained on Kero Finn', or 'When Arachne called the gods to witness her great binding, Elmal alone refused to leave his post, and sent instead his horse to witness in his place.' The story, after all, is only a pointer to the meaning. Elmali themselves have stood the lonely silver watch, and have experienced directly what their god endured.
We are variously told that Elmal's torch (from Orlanth) or horse (from Arachne) returned to Kero Finn, and that the first day began at noon.
And the explanation for night? Well Orlanth's realm is vast, and each day Elmal rides to patrol the tula's boundaries. This ride takes him everywhere - from Storm Home to the middling realm to the underworld. Or, for some clans, Elmal rides forth to battle Darkness each night, as he did in the Great Before, and returns bloody yet triumphant each rosy dawn.
John
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