From: Saravan Peacock (saravan@perth.DIALix.oz.au)
Date: Tue 10 Sep 1996 - 13:58:02 EEST
Hey there all.
Ian Gorlick asks if otter-hating is a common Orlanthi trait. I think yes
(common) but no (not universal)...
I've had this problem in the past in thinking about goats in Orlanthi
ecology. Apparently Orlanthi view goats with extreme distaste due to their
generally pain in the neck attitude which may be linked to chaos origins,
hence the prominence of Goat Broo etc. Personally I quite like goats so I
found this a little hard to take, and I also quite liked the idea of
goat-herders in the mountains, taking care of their difficult but hardy
stock which can survive in harsh terrain. However, I have since come to
appreciate the distaste for goats, and see it as good
psycho-mytho-ecol-ogy.
I have a similar problem with otters. They're cute and playful, so I quite
like 'em, but they have a pranksterish nature, so probably they are looked
down upon in mythology and in day-to-day affairs (after all, the Far Point
people have to live with 'em not just watch 'em on TV, and in zoos).
In the Germanic myth cycle of the Siegfried and the Niebelungelied, I
believe the cause of the whole tragedy was that Loki killed and skinned an
otter to prove his skill, not realising it was actually the transformed son
of the chief with whom he and Odin spent the night shortly after. From
there, the chief demanded enough gold as recompense to fill the otterskin
and cover it - which was the Rhinegold... I won't continue. Hence, gold was
referred to in some poems as Otter's Ransom. It doesn't seem to me that the
Otter was at fault in all this, but it is another connection between the
otter and the trickster aspect. I do like John's linking of these, and see
it as good background.
As he and Pam say, though, there are groups (even within the Far Point) who
respect otters and even have them as totem animals. And why wouldn't
they... they're cute!
On that, remember the Boy and the Otter from the River of Cradles campaign.
If you wanted to ake that approach to add background spice, you could make
the boy outcast from the village because of his otter links... but I think
the river people would probably accept all water life as part of their
environment. Mutual respect and all that.
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