Re: Re: Heortling men and their beards

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 08:32:16 -0800

> >The hero, Njal, is definately considered less of a man and
> ridiculed for his lack of beard growth. It's one of the
> themes that run through the saga... Vikings are as good a precedent
> for Orlanthi as anyone, I'd say.
>
> And IIRC correctly the Hound of Ulster was similarly afflicted.

unique heroes have unique problems :-)

> We also know that Lhankor Mhy requires all his worhsippers to have
> beards (and women wear fakes) so a LM worhsipper might fit your
> needs. This does imply the rest of Heorlting culture is not as
> prescreptive (else why mention it) but... remember that while we have
> a meta-picture of Heorlting life from TR, individual clans and tribes
> also have local differences. Maybe one of their ancestors made a
> commitiment that all men of the clan must grow beards for magical or
> religious puposes.

The beard of LM indicates (to me, anyway) that the person is "wise" more than "manly". (Sure, LM's a wacky off-beat cult, but he *is* the only canon example we have of beard rules and roles). I agree that individual clans might have proscriptions on what you can do with your facial hair, or even just fashions that they prefer. The Saxons and Gauls had their own shaving styles (mustaches only), and they are as much the inspiration for Orlanthi as the Vikings and Irish...

RR