Re: Re: Who is Finovan?

From: Andrew Solovay <asolovay_at_...>
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 18:06:02 -0700

jeffrichard68 <richj_at_...> wrote:

>

> Greg may correct me on this, but I view Finovan (or for that matter,
> any other subcult of Orlanth) as being a limited (and therefore more
> approachable) aspect of Great Orlanth. Is he the son of Orlanth?
> Yes. Is he another name for Orlanth? Yes. Is he independent of
> Orlanth? Yes. Is he subsumed by Orlanth? Yes.

If the example of Vinga means what I think it does, Finovan could even be an historic figure--i.e. a raider who was so skilled and famous that he was a worshipped hero, and eventually developed a mythos which identified him as a son of Orlanth. (e.g. Every time he enacted an impressive heroquest, the heroquest's source myth could end up identified with *him*. He was enacting the "Orlanth Raids the Emperor's Herds" myth in a heroquest, but a thousand years later, people know it as the "*Finovan* raids the Emperor's Herds" myth.)

Since (as I understand it) all the magic in a god's pantheon comes ultimately from the Great God, I suppose there really isn't much difference between a "son of Orlanth" cult and an "aspect of Orlanth" cult, or even a "hero mistaken for a son of Orlanth" cult. Ultimately, it all comes from Orlanth.