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Is the Man Rune always male?

Posted on October 6, 2025

No, there is a Grandfather Mortal AND Grandmother Mortal in many stories. So the gods made Grandfather Mortal and Grandmother Mortal collectively.

Now this tracks with Mayan mythology, as detailed in the Popol Vuh, the four original men—created by the gods from maize—were initially alone and too perfect in their wisdom and sight, which concerned the creators. To address this, the god Heart of Sky clouded their vision with a mist, causing them to sleep. While they slumbered, the gods then fashioned four women, also from maize, to serve as their companions and wives. These women were not derived from the men but were independently created in a parallel manner, emphasizing balance and partnership in the human lineage.

But we mainly know the Orlanthi and Praxian version of this. Grandfather Mortal in their stories was created by all the gods, and he took wives among the feminine forces of the world. Nymphs, dryads, goddesses, elementals, you name it, and said to be feminine purely because Grandfather Mortal is said to be male – although it probably could be reversed with little change. Those Runic entities were usually far greater than Grandfather Mortal himself. Some stories even imply that Grandfather Mortal became something of a toy passed around by the various gods. As a result, we are all a little bit divine and can challenge the old gods.

The Yelmites and Lodrili have a variant of this. All the gods gathered together and made Man and Woman to serve them. Although some gods were degenerate enough to mate with the descendants of Man and Woman, for the most part all mortals exist to serve.

If you wanted to be precise it is the Mortal Rune.


Jeff Richard

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