Re: Good Tricksters, Hare?

From: narsham01 <Narsham_at_65vAXkSoU_BtwwUH5xXFHUO6zRKFaitUnfTzDs17C8fpSqfjSfuKBrNsfR3RhB9luYt4>
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:33:59 -0000

Well, it's not that hard unless you actually want to have a functional CULT of Yelm the Trickster... as I'd expect anyone who worships Yelm or an associate would want to kill you for belonging.

Think in terms of a trickster whose tricks depend, not upon his own actions undertaken to satisfy his desires (lust, hunger, etc), but upon actions which those around him take on account of his own innate characteristics.

So while Brer Rabbit has to convince someone to throw him in the briar patch, Brer Yelm is simply the kind of being you can't resist throwing in the briar patch. He doesn't have to DO, he just IS.

I suppose the Monkey's Paw story might be a rough cognate, in that you could see the Paw as a trickster (in that it perverts wishes or grants them overly literally) but it takes no action except in response to its possessors.

>From this perspective, Yelm didn't just teach Orlanth a lesson, he
tricked Orlanth into teaching himself a lesson by being the sort of Emperor Orlanth couldn't resist killing. The rest then fell into place...

David            

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