> There seems to be a major gender equation for the
> Heortlings: Storm Acts, Earth endures. To put it in binary terms
>
> MALE : STORM : ACTION :: FEMALE : EARTH : ENDURANCE
Waitaminit -- Maran Gor is the Active Earth, and Babeester Gor is an
Earth goddess who does not endure suffering, but avenges it. Only if
you equate "female" and "earth" with Ernalda does the above hold.
> Ernalda, in practical terms, often gets ignored (sadly)
This has always annoyed me. In principle, it should be possible to build stories about healing, endurance, and diplomacy for an Ernalda campaign, but the reasonably complete, heroquest-ready mythology that you would need is not there. You might be able to turn a few Orlanth stories inside-out to make them Ernalda myths, like "The Making of the Storm Tribe" or "How Peace Was Made", but I'm told by those in the know that that's not something Orlanthi would do.
In passing: I note that a lot of the fuss about Vinga and gender roles mostly goes away if you assume that her worship is mostly temporary, for women whose lives and homes are threatened, or who are determined to get justice when their men have failed. Then the question of who Vinga's worshippers sleep with is entirely beside the point -- they have better things to do.
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