Re: Humakt in risen from the dead shock

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_...>
Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 20:12:02 +1200


At 23:54 15/08/01 +0000, you wrote:

>1) how did Humakt get there?

He was looking for Death, which had been lost to him since Orlanth stole it. Hell is the place where he found it again.

>we know that Orlanth buckles on his
>sword called Humakt before setting off on the LBQ - so was he carried
>in?

No. Orlanth gave up Death so that he could enter the land of the Dead (KoS p68)

>on the other hand, Humakti myth is that the big H helps Orlanth
>head west with a well aimed blow, not that he was carried.

Storm Tribe didn't say that Humakt helps Orlanth west with a well-aimed blow, it says Humakt kills Orlanth in an unspecified place. In fact, Humakt kills Orlanth in the Underworld, Orlanth having arrived there by other means.

>2) the implication is that Humakt is dead - he's bent and rusty. who
>offed him? come to think of it, are there any myths of Humakt's
>great anti-chaos crusades during the darkness?

There's an old mention (Tales #5) of Jotimam, the Monster that devoured the world, which Humakt slew. Magasta later filled in the empty void there with his waters. After Humakt killed Jotimam, he goes to Hell.

>3) if he was dead, then he must have been resurrected along with
>eveyone else during the compromise.

Not really. The old mythology also states that in Hell, Humakt slew the Well of Death, thus allowing Life back into the world. One might connect this with the secret that Humakt shows Orlanth of how to live again.

--Peter Metcalfe

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