From: Alex Ferguson (alex@dcs.gla.ac.uk)
Date: Wed 11 May 1994 - 00:34:23 EEST
Joerg, 3886.
> Alex Ferguson in X-RQ-ID: 3865
> > You mean his parents are weavers, or merchants? If the later, one presumes
> > they're members of some Malkioni(sed) merchant class, likely including an
> > element of Issaries worship.
> His uncle is an Aeolian with St. Issaries as patron Saint, yes.
No, I really did mean "his parents". They sound more like proto-capitalists than "weavers" as such.
> So is the
> boy (now), at home. Additionally he took St. Dormal as a patron for his
> sea voyages. I didn't charge extra POW sacrifice.
> >> But a male Orlanthi, even if he
> >> is a town dweller, couldn't really be expected to worship a handmaiden
> >> of Ernalda (one of these would be the weaver) as primary deity.
> > If he's an actual weaver, I think he probably would. [...]
> > the province of Orlanth Maker, Voriof, or an aspect of Ernalda or Asrelia
> > accordingly.
> Orlanth Maker: This sounds like a God Learner construct to me.
It does? Is that a compliment, Joerg? ;-) I'm not sure where Orlanth Maker sprang from, but if a culture developes specialised tasks it didn't have a mythic rationale for, they have to be tacked on somewhere.
> I view Orlanth much as the tribal chief who has his
> retainers for such tasks, and who plows mainly to please his wife, now and
> then.
More closet Yelmism. ;-) Orlanth is the god of Everyman, as well as King.
> > Regarding the son, I would say he wouldn't necessarily join his parents'
> > religion if they knew and approved of his wish to become a sailor: he could
> > have been sponsored by, apprenticed to, or conceivably fostered by his
> > uncle or other likely patron to enable him to join the necessary cult(s).
> Being caring parents, they wanted him initiated where his family lives, and
> the uncle could sponsor him mainly for St. Issaries at the local temple.
> There is a small shrine to St. Dormal, but that is mainly there for
> completeness' sake, and to honor the heroquester who overcame Zzabur's
> curse, not the sailor.
Due to the presence of the word "Saint" in front of each of the deities' names, I'm having increasing difficulty in imagining a Heortlander, of a culture still described as "Orlanthi", pronouncing them with a straight face. Given that they believe them to be divine, and distinct from "ordinary" saints, why confuse them with the use of the title? Personally I believe that "even" the thoroughgoingly Malkionised henotheists of Ralios don't use the term in this way. Of course, where to draw the line between a manifest god and a (once) mortal Saint is another kettle of kumquats.
> I bet that in Karse or Nochet Dormal is one of Orlanth's associates as well
I don't doubt it.
Alex.
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