> Which is a problem because? Given that many mythologies exist
> in glorantha, some degree of relativisim is necessary. How else
> would one resolve the question of whether Lunars are good or
> bad?
I don't know. How could I then be expected to draw any conclusions about Glorantha from Glorantha's myths? Why don;t
> I fail to see why myths should never be used to infer real
> behaviour to avoid us arriving at a erroneous conclusion,
> on the grounds that hypocrisy can exist in glorantha.
That is not the problem. the problem is that UNLESS myths are to be taken as literal, they cannot be claimed to be a substitute for cultural description.
> If another Orlanthi people thought of the Orventili myth
> as involving a blanket that was used to bind the two sides
> together, then they would use blankets rather than rugs to
> bring peace.
As you opiinted out above, there is much relativism and people don't necessaruily follow myths literally. So why do you think that heortlings use either blankets or rugs? If the only data point you have is the myth (which it may not be) then you have no necessary indication that this happens in practice.
> Because Orventili the Peacemaker is a living goddess whose
> rug of peace is a real magic. The Ernaldans remember the
> myth because it works - if it did not, they would have no
> need to remember it and the myth would exist only in the
> dusty tomes of some sage.
And this is the infamous circularity. First of all, we cannot necessarily conclude that Orventili is a living goddess, becuase we know that contradictory and distinct veresions of the same deity often appear. There may or may not be a magical act which occurs with some predictability. But this still depends on a spurious argument: the Ernaldans remember it because it works, and it works because they remember it.
>
> > Knowing the content of myth does not,
> > apparently, grant the ability to predict actual behaviour.
>
> What do you think gloranthans remember myths _for_?
I have no idea. They are fictional, and when asking that question what I get mostly is that "you don't understand Glorantha" or several varieties of "the gods are ineffable"
> Garreth, the women are not throwing real blankets over real
> swords to bring peace, they are invoking the Orventili
> magic to attempt to bring peace.
So does this or does this not involve the throwing of actual blankets? All I'm pointing out is that knowing a myth does not mean that you therefore also know behaviour, and that therefore mythology is no substitute for actual description.
>
> --Peter Metcalfe
Powered by hypermail