Skip to content
The Well of Daliath
Menu
Menu

A few more notes on gods and spirits

Posted on April 6, 2014

A few more notes on gods and spirits from around Glorantha. The various ways gods and spirits are classified gives an example of the amount of diversity that exists concerning how they are perceived and understood by different cultures. And yet there is a certain amount of commonality, although the labels over cover different groups or mean different things.

Theyalans

The Theyalans (Orlanthi and associated peoples) traditionally classify the supernatural entities connected to the Otherworld as follows:

Gods: Entities we offer (or could offer) sacrifices and prayers to and who eternally exist in the Gods Time. They include such great powers as Orlanth, Ernalda, and Yelm, down to lesser powers like Vingkot, Yinkin, personal guardian deities, and so on.

Spirits: The discorporate entities that are present individually in all parts of nature – animals, plants, rocks, winds, fire, soil, waters, and so on. Sometimes they are servants of the gods (and confusingly, the personal guardian deities sent by the gods to protect priests and devotees are typically called “allied spirits)); more often, they are independent of the gods and serve nothing except their own needs.

Heroes: Also called demigods, these are mortals who also exist in some manner in the Gods Time. Examples include Harmast, Arkat, Sartar, Argrath, and Harrek.

Demons: Malevolent and harmful entities that might otherwise be classified as gods, spirits, or even heroes. Some evil people worship them as they would a god, spirit, or hero.

Jrusteli

The Theyalan system is hardly the only common classification scheme in Glorantha. The even more widespread Jrusteli system classifies such supernatural entities as follows:

Cosmic Court: These are abstract personifications of the elements and powers. Traditionally numbered 12 or 13.

Great Gods: These are the current owners of the elemental and other runic powers of the Cosmic Court. Most are burtae (hybrid entities that combine more than one rune power). Widely worshipped by barbarians and krjalki.

Srvuli: These are individualized portions of the Great Gods, lesser versions of the greater. Each Great God has their own srvuli, often several generations worth. Each generation is successively devolved from the original Rune power, and typically weaker and less significant. Most are burtae (hybrid entities that combine more than one rune power). Individual srvuli are often worshiped by barbarians and krjalki.

Spirits: The weakest srvuli and burtae are the spirits, a lowly, mindless form of energy without identity or individuality.

Vithelan

The Vithelans have a completely different scheme for classifying supernatural entities:

High Gods: Called the Avanparloth, these are the gods of the gods, the entities that created the world. They are too distant for mortals to meaningfully worship them.

Gods: Called Parloth, these are the overseers of the world, beings of permanence and unchangeability who seek to perceive, record, and exist in harmony with the unchangeable laws of the universe. Examples include Karkal, Prosandara, Veldru, and Yothbedta.

Anti-Gods: Called Adpura, these entities are changeable and impermanent who act against the unchangeable laws of the universe. Examples include Bandan, Dogsalu, Oorsu Sara, and Orlanth.

Small Gods: Called Parondpara, these are the supernatural entities who are worshiped on their home islands but almost never away from there.

Spirit: When embodied with a material form, spirits are the life energy. When disembodied they can be malevolent ghosts, unless appeased through rites, ancestor worship, and spirit magic.

Jeff Richard

Next
Previous
God Learners, Sorcery, spirits

Sections

  • Search Tips
  • Current RuneQuest Glorantha Publications
  • RuneQuest Glorantha Corrections and Q&A
  • Catalogue
  • References for Glorantha
    • Gloranthan Canon
  • Gloranthan Documents
  • RPG Systems & Versions
  • Gallery
  • Role-playing in Glorantha
  • About This Site
  • Get involved!

Latest Posts

  • Defunct Sartar Tribes

    The Dundealos tribe was “destroyed” by the Lunar Provincial Government …
  • CHArisma

    CHA is arguably the most important characteristic in the game …
  • Sartarite Names

    Many Sartarite names combine prefixes and suffixes as per below; …
  • Dragon Pass Map Forest Overlay

    Just because I find it interesting, here’s that composite map …
  • Ramalia

    So the last major polity in Maniria is Genertela’s answer …

Links

  • Chaosium
  • Glorantha on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest Glorantha on MeWe
  • Glorantha Wiki on Fandom
  • Prince of Sartar Webcomic
  • Glorantha G+ Archives on Tapatalk
  • Search mailing list archive

Latest from BRP Central

  • Looking for VTT players for Pol Joni campaign
  • Sorcery Runes and Components
  • the length of spirit magic spells ?
  • 5th session in and Vishi was having a bad night.
  • Clarification sought on Jonstown Compendium
  • Daily life expenses in Sartarite cities
  • What Prevents Dead Trolls from Self Resurrecting by Returning Back to the Surface World?
  • Shargash Crown (not Helmet)
  • Orlanthi crafting
  • The Scared Girl

Popular Tags

2007 Avalon Hill Boldhome Chaosium Chaos pantheon Cult demographics Cults of Glorantha (preview) Deprecated cult Doraddi pantheon Ernalda Esrolia (homeland) FR G+ post Greg Stafford Guide to Glorantha Guide to Glorantha (preview) Humakt HW Issaries Jar-eel Lhankor Mhy Lunar Empire Lunar Pantheon Magazine Map Michael O’Brien Mongoose Nomad Gods Oriflam Orlanth Orlanthi pantheon Prax (homeland) RQ2 RQ3 RQG Sandy Petersen Sartar (homeland) Solar pantheon Spirit Cult Subcult Tales of the Reaching Moon Tatou Troll / Uz pantheon Yelm Yelmalio

Recently added or updated

  • CHA4034 Red Book of Magic – Chapter 02 Rune Magic Q&A

  • Defunct Sartar Tribes

  • CHA4029 RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack – Q&A

  • Red Emperor

  • Notes on The Red Emperor

  • Takenegi

  • Thed

  • Daak

  • Dakkalesilla

  • DonKivis the Aesthete

  • Barntar

  • Yelmalio

  • Entekos

  • Runes (2004)

  • Bagog

  • Shargash

  • Entekos in the Lunar Heartlands

  • Buserian

  • Myth of the Month: Clouds (2000)

  • Welcome to the Glorantha Resource Site

©2023 The Well of Daliath | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme